How to Write a Book Plot Summary Essay

A book plot summary essay helps discern an author's intent.

The objective behind penning an essay that summarizes a book's plot is to not only demonstrate your awareness of what the author was trying to communicate to her readers, but the application of that content to your own life as well. If your book review is intended for publication, a thoughtful and in-depth analysis of the book's merits and flaws can influence whether prospective readers decide to invest the time and money in reading the material themselves.

Things You'll Need

• Word processing software

Instructions

1. Identify the novel's genre, principle themes and target audience. Speculate how these choices may have been influenced by the author's gender, ethnicity, social/political/economic status, and the time period in which the work was originally written. For publications that are older than 50 years, discuss their degree of relevance to contemporary culture.

2. Provide a general overview of the plot. Within this context, describe the setting, identify the central conflict, the incident that sets the story in motion, and the motivations of the protagonist and the antagonist. Analyze what these opposing parties have at stake as well as what they are respectively prepared to risk in order to achieve success. Include mention of significant supporting players who serve as helpmates, sounding boards, catalysts and expendable flunkies.

3. Cite specific scenes in the book and lines of dialogue that either moved you or made you scratch your head in confusion. Examine the overall pacing and structure of the story and whether it flowed smoothly or tended to get bogged down in superfluous details and back-story. Explore how the author incorporated symbolism and motifs as foreshadowing and to reinforce core messages. Discuss whether red herrings were used effectively to keep readers off-balance.

4. Compare and contrast the quality of the book with existing novels that have embraced similar themes and subject matter. If the author has written other stories that you've read, discuss whether the one you have just finished was a surprise, a disappointment or pretty much what you expected in terms of plot development and characterizations.

5. Delineate what you liked and didn't like about the book. Be as specific as you can. Identify what you think could have been done to make the story stronger, the characters more compelling or the novel's ending more satisfying or plausible. If the novel has been adapted to a film, you may want to talk about the modifications that were implemented to translate the text in print to a visual medium.

References

• "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing"; Mayra Calvani, Anne K. Edwards; 2008
• "The Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs"; Catheryn Kilgarriff, Rebecca Gillieron, Meryl Zigarek; 2007

Resources

• "Book Rags: How to Analyze a Novel"
• "Los Angeles Valley College: How to Write a Book Review"