Okay... well Hans, you can write about anything you choose.
I'm not sure how to write a proper book report, so I'm just going to write a summary on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, talks about the adventures of two hitchhikers, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect.
The story starts with Arthur waking up to find that his house is about to be destroyed by cranes. Ford Prefect takes him away from his beloved house to tell Arthur that the world was about to be destroyed. After 15 minutes, aliens of the species, Vorgon, came and destroyed the earth. Luckily, Arthur and Ford Hitchhiked onto the Vorgon ship. Unfortunately, the Vorgons didn't like hitchhikers and kicked them off the ship. While they were floating in space, a friendly ship happened to pick them up. It was the stolen ship, the heart of gold. Driving the ship were two very familiar people. One was Zaphod Beetlebrox, Ford's cousin, and the other was Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan on earth. Together, they went to the legendary planet of Magrathea. There they found the residents who were thought to be dead. A resident of Magrethea told them that earth was a super-computer that was five minutes from finishing the 10 million year calculation that was going to tell them the ultimate question to Life, the Universe, and Everything. At the end of the book, they were going to travel to the restaurant at the end of the world.
Alright, then I choose to write about nothing at all, meaning I get away scot free.
ReplyDeleteAs far as summaries go, this is adequate. But from eighth grade forwards, you won't be asked to write mere summaries - instead, you'll have to explicate and analyze what you read. In fact, teachers will dock you points for summarizing rather than analyzing.
So write your next post on another book you've read, but analyze it. Go deeper.
I'm emailing you one of the book reports I wrote last year for a book I read called "House of Leaves." It's long, but read it all the way through - it took me about two and a half hours to write.
You won't be asked to write reports of that length yet, but you'll be asked to write reports in that same vein, in that same spirit. It's not enough to merely tell us what happened - you have to give us something more. You have tell us why a book is good or bad, and what makes it so. You have to tell us what makes this book different, and what the author is trying to get across.
I enjoyed reading Hans' comments. It's a learning experience for me as well :-)
ReplyDeleteThis summary is slightly better than other summaries you wrote before. A few comments are as follows:
1. ”Ford Prefect takes him away from his beloved house to tell Arthur that the world was about to be destroyed"
-- When you introduce Ford Prefect, it would be better if you tell us the relationship between him and Arthur. Are they neighbors? classmate? You may write something like this: "Ford Prefect, a high school classmate of Arthur, takes him away ..."
2. "Luckily, Arthur and Ford Hitchhiked onto the Vorgon ship. Unfortunately, the Vorgons didn't like hitchhikers and kicked them off the ship"
--- You could write a better transition between two sentences. The idea you want to convey is that, they were lucky at beginning, but quickly ran into trouble. The transition could follow the chronicle order such as: "Luckily, Arthur and Ford hitchhiked onto the Vorgon ship. However, their fortune quickly ran out once they boarded the ship. Vorgons did not like them and kicked them off the ship." or "Luckily, Arthur and Ford hitchhiked onto the Vorgon ship. Once on board the ship, they found themselves disliked by Vorgons and were kicked off the ship by Vorgons."
3. "It was the stolen ship, the heart of gold"
--- Readers like me are curious about the "stolen" ship. It will be very helpful if you provide a bit more information about the "stolen" ship and how this ship is related to main characters in the story, something like: "It was the stolen ship, the heart of gold. The ship was stolen from the Vorgon's headquarter by two brave men". Then you give description of these two men.
4. "One was Zaphod Beetlebrox, Ford's cousin, and the other was Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan on earth. Together, they went to the legendary planet of Magrathea"
--- I like this sentence. The proper use of definitive phrases convey a lot of information in a very concise manner.
5. "Together, they went to the legendary planet of Magrathea. There they found the residents who were thought to be dead"
--- I like the use of "together" and "there". These two words are excellent transitional phrases!
6. "10 million year calculation"
--- Is it supposed to be "10-million-year calculation"?
7. Final question - what happened to Vorgons? How is the dying earth related to the Vorgons? You laid out two threads in your summary, but failed to tie a knot between them.