V4 - Book Review lesson

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

V4 - Book Review

www.cityam.com

www.yahoo.com

1. What aspects are reviewed in each article?

2. What language is used by the reviewers?

3. Which review did you like best and why?

                                                             > Write your answers on an A4

Book review

• Part of your assignments for literature.
• About a book that fits into one the literary movements or genres that we have discussed this period.
• Will be in line with the CAE writing exam requirements
• A sufficient review will earn you a bonus on the test.
• Hand in via Magister - Opdrachten. Mind plagiarism! It has to be your own work. Hand in a word file, not a .pages!

Example assignment

Structure

Remember, there are two or three main questions for you to answer here. It makes a lot of sense to give each of those questions their own paragraph as they talk about different aspects of your review. Additionally, you should add an introduction (with a title) in which you create some anticipation and engage the reader as well as a conclusion where you summarise your main points and make a recommendation (because that’s why we read reviews). In total, that comes to four paragraphs which could look like this:

• Title/Introduction
  
• Body: per question a separate paragraph
• Conclusion/Recommendation

So with three questions you'll have three body paragraphs and a total of five paragraphs.

Keep in mind!

A review is more than a just summary of the story! 

It should show a more in-depth understanding of the work and your opinion about it.

Model review

Tips

• Think what you are trying to achieve and, in the introduction, of the structure of your review.
  
• You should also start a new paragraph for every item/aspect you are addressing in your review.
  
• Try to make it interesting by using a wide range of vocabulary comparisons to describe something; specialized topic vocabulary.
  
• Give your assessment of what you are reviewing and points mentioned in the task input.
  
• Include a final recommendation or evaluation
  
• Don’t forget! The target reader is specified in the question, so the student knows not only what register is appropriate, but also has an idea about the kind of information to include.
  
• Language of opinion (positive, negative), recommendation, description is necessary.

Tips:

• Use descriptive language but you also need to tailor your writing to the target reader. Think about this when deciding what type of language to use and whether or not your ideas are appropriate. Try to practise with review questions which target different readers. Write and Improve is a good website with a variety of questions.
• Use a wide range of vocabulary: colourful, lively language; comparisons to describe something; specialised topic vocabulary, make use of synonyms if necessary.
• In an CAE exam the target reader is specified in the question, take your reader in mind and decide what register is appropriate, and think about the kind of information to include.
• Use language of opinion (positive, negative) but in an appropriate register.
• Finished? Check your work for mistakes.

Tips:

• Read a wide variety of different reviews to help you with learning appropriate language use, such as the right adjectives, and it will help you learn how to describe and explain. Furthermore, it teaches you how to give an opinion, positive or negative, and make a recommendation.
• Check to see if you can find any reviews written by published or well-known authors. If you find any of these reviews, check whether they give recommendations and try to copy the style of these and the language they use in your own writing.
  

• 
  

• What I liked most was …..
• I was pleasantly surprised by …..
  
•  ….. would appeal to …..
  
•  If you get a chance to ….

• What I disliked most was …..
  
• I was (very) disappointed by ……
  
• I was (intensely) disappointed with …..
  

• I recommend/suggest [title/name] to + person
  
• I recommend/suggest + -ing
  
• I recommend/suggest that …
  
• You should + base verb
  
• You might want to + base verb

• "Did you know.....?" - Ask a question in the review to make the reader more interested in what you're saying.
• "give it a miss" - this means do not watch or read the book/film/television series.
• "It will have you in hysterics" - this means when you cannot stop laughing.
• "...gives a great account of..." - this means the book/film summarizes or describes something very well. 
• "the plot was dull..." - this means the story line was boring.\

• I would strongly encourage you not to miss/not to waste your money on...
• I would definitely recommend reading/having a look at ...
• Being a bit of a film buff/book worm, the news that … released a new film/book had me itching to see/read it.
• Having never seen/read… before I approached … with a sense of trepidation, not knowing what to expect. Soon however, all fears were allayed.

Useful phrases

Vocab to describe the book in general:

a page-turner / a white-knuckle ride / a tearjerker / a laugh a minute / I couldn’t put it down.

Vocab to describe specific parts:

a slow start / a gentle introduction /gripping climax / nail-biting conclusion / cliff-hanger ending/ a shocking twist in the tail

Setting:

The book is set in _______(place/time)

The action takes place in ______ (place/time)

the present day (now)

an alternate reality where vampires / wizards walk the earth

a sleepy village in the USA

the bustling city of New York

Plot:

The plot centres around / focuses on (the adventures / lives of _________)

The plot follows the adventures of _________(character name)

The plot struck me as completely bizarre / absurd / incomprehensible.

Characters:

Villain / hero / heroine / anti-hero / main character / protagonist

The characters are believable / well-crafted / a bit 2 dimensional.

The characters are appealing and true to life.

 

Killer Lines:

• Were I to sum up … in one word, it would be…
  
• … left a lot to be desired (wasn’t good enough)
  
• …more than lives up to the hype (is as good as everyone says it is)
  
• … is by far and away the best … you’re likely to … this year
  
• … really raises the bar (sets a higher standard)
  
• … sets the benchmark for other (others will be judges against how good it is)
  
• … ticks all the right boxes
  
• … holds up well in comparison with …
  
• …comes off badly in comparison with …

Book review assignment

• Coming Thursday you'will receive the review assignment about your book.
• Bring your laptop or IpPad (fully charged).
• Type your review and use a neutral to formal register. 
• Hand your review in at the end of the hour via Magister - Opdrachten. 
•  Use arial 12, 1.5 line spacing, and of course use the grammar/spelling checker available in Word. 
• Good luck!

Assignment

Write your review about the book you've prepared. Focus on the genre/literary movement the novel belongs to, the main character(s) and the theme of the book.

What is theme? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives. 

Themes are sometimes divided into thematic concepts and thematic statements. A work's thematic concept is the broader topic it touches upon (love, forgiveness, pain, etc.) while its thematic statement is what the work says about that topic. For example, the thematic concept of a romance novel might be love, and, depending on what happens in the story, its thematic statement might be that "Love is blind," or that "You can't buy love."