How to Write a Book Report in First Person
From first grade until you complete your last high school or college English class, you will be writing book reports. According to Homeworkspot.com, writing about the works of others is one of the best ways to expand your literary horizons.
Book reports can be written in a variety of ways and can be interesting to the writer as well as the reader. One way of writing a book report is in the first person. Writing in the first person is writing as if you are telling the story. In writing a book report in first person, you use pronouns such as, "I," "me," "us," "we" and "our."
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
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Choose a book you will enjoy. Any writing assignment is easier if you are interested in what you're doing.
There are several ways to choose a book for your first-person book report. You can ask a friend to name a book he enjoyed. You can ask your teacher what she recommends. You can ask your parents, a librarian, an older brother or sister, or you can search online for a topic that interests you.
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Choose a quiet place to read. Relax and enjoy reading the book you have chosen. Try to read in a place that is quiet and doesn't have a lot of distractions. This will help you become involved in the characters, the setting and the plot of your book.
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Write a short outline of your book report. If your teacher has supplied a book report outline or template, follow it. If not, make up your own short outline using "Characters," "Setting," "Plot" and "Lesson" as your headings.
Beneath the headings jot down the names of the major characters, including the hero (or protagonist) and the villain (or antagonist), as well as where the story takes place, what happens in 20 words or fewer, and how the book applies to your life.
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Organize your outline notes into a standard book report writing format. As listed by the Writing Help-Central website, this format includes the following five paragraphs: Introductory (including the title and author's name), main character(s) including the name and importance to the book), other characters, plot summary (including the genre, setting, time period, and outcome), and Personal Impressions and Conclusion (summarizing your overall impressions).
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Write your book report from your point of view, or in the first person. In first-person sentences, you use words such as "I," "me" and "myself" to express your thoughts.
For example, if you are writing a book report on "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in first person, you might write, "I found myself lost in the children's world of Narnia. It wasn't until I was almost finished with the book that I realized it was filled with Christian symbolism. That is what struck me as the most important aspect of the novel."
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Don't change from one point of view to another as you are writing your book report. Stay in the first person throughout your writing. Words to avoid in the second person are pronouns such as "you," and "your."
Pronouns to avoid in the third person include "they," "their," "his" and "hers." These would signal that you have changed point of view in the middle of your book report.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit woman reading image by Miguel Montero from Fotolia.com
