A Book Review is a thorough decription, critical analysis, and/or evaluation of the quality, meaning, and

significance of a book. Reviews generally range from 500-1000 words, but may be longer or shorter depending on
the length and complexity of the book being reviewed, the overall purpose of the review, and whether the review
is a comparative analysis examining two or more books that focus on the same topic. Professors assign book
reviews as practice in carefully analyzing complex scholarly texts and to assess your ability to effectively synthesize
research to reach an informed perspective about a research problem or issue.
There are two general approaches to reviewing a book:

1. Descriptive review: presents the content and structure of a book as objectively as possible, describing
essential information about a book's purpose and authority. This is done by stating the perceived aims
and purposes of the study, often incorporating passages quoted from the text that highlight key elements
of the work. Additionally, there may be some indication of the reading level and anticipated audience.
2. Critical review: describes and evaluates the book in relation to accepted literary and historical standards
and supports this evaluation with evidence from the text and, in most cases, in contrast to and in
comparison with the research of others. It should include a statement about what the author has tried to
do, evaluates how well [in your opinion] the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this
assessment. For course assignments, most professors want you to write a critical review.

Book review and book report

This evaluation of strengths and weaknesses is central to another key difference between book reviews and book
reports. Book reports often ask you to provide a personal opinion as to whether or not you liked a book. A book
review asks you to move beyond your personal likes or dislikes and provide a reasoned argument as to the merits
or problems contained in the book. In a book review, it is not enough to say that a particular book was bad or
excellent. You need to provide detailed analysis as to what factors, such as scope, theoretical perspective, or use
of evidence made it so.

Introduction. The opening statement should set the tone for the review. Colford (2000) suggests a statement
about either (a) the review's thesis, (b) the author's purpose or (c) the book's significance as good options for the
opening sentence.

Body. The body should develop your thesis in a clear, organised manner. It should weave together description and
evaluation, providing evidence in support of its judgements.

Conclusion. The concluding paragraph may sum up or restate your thesis or may make the final judgement
regarding the book.

When You Are Ready to Write

Begin with a short summary or background of the work, but do not give too much away. Many reviews limit
themselves only to the first couple of chapters or lead the reader up to the rising action of the work. Reviewers of
nonfiction texts will provide the basic idea of the books argument without too much detailed.

The final portion of your review will detail your opinion of the work. When you are ready to begin your review,
consider the following:

Establish a Background, Remember your Audience: Remember that your audience has not read the work;
with this in mind, be sure to introduce characters and principals carefully and deliberately.
 What kind of summary can you provide of the main points or main characters that will help your readers
gauge their interest?
Does the authors text adequately reach the intended audience?
Will some readers be lost or find the text too easy?

Minor principals/characters: Deal only with the most pressing issues in the book. You will not be able to
cover every character or idea.

What principals/characters did you agree or disagree with?

What other things might the author have researched or considered?

Organize: The purpose of the review is to critically evaluate the text, not just inform the readers about it.
Leave plenty room for your evaluation by ensuring that your summary is brief. Determine what kind of balance to
strike between your summary information and your evaluation. If you are writing your review for a class, ask your
instructor. Often the ratio is half and half.

Your Evaluation: Choose one or a few points to discuss about the book.

What worked well for you?

How does this work compare with others by the same author or other books in the same genre?
What major themes, motifs, or terms does the book introduce, and how effective are they?
Did the book appeal to you on an emotional or logical way?

Publisher/Price: Most book reviews include the publisher and price of the book at the end of the article.
Some reviews also include the year published and ISBN.

Revising

When making the final touches to your review, carefully verify the following:

Double-check the spelling of the author name(s), character names, special terms, and publisher.

Try to read from the vantage point of your audience. Is there too much/enough summary? Does your
argument about the text make sense?

Should you include direct quotes from the reading? Do they help support your arguments? Double-check
your quotes for accuracy.

Definition of Attitude

Generally, attitude is a behavior a person adopts toward other people, things, incidents or happenings. In
literature, the term attitude can be referred as perspective or tone of the writer he adopts in a certain work.

It is the way a writer develops his characters, describes his stories and designs his narratives. His attitude explains
the real nature of the characters and the story. He makes use of an appropriate attitude to provide an in-depth
insight into a characters personality. The attitude of a writer can be serious as well as humorous. In certain cases,
the attitude can be critical or witty. It is through the attitude readers come to know the feelings of a writer
regarding his topic, subject or belief.

Flat characters are two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the
course of a work. By contrast, round characters are complex and undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to
surprise the reader.
A one-dimensional character constitutes the "walk on" parts of the story. These are your waiters, your cab drivers,
bartenders, a mother walking down the street, or the random pikeman your hero stabs through the face (though
not always). They are briefly seen and do not speak. One-dimensional characters that spend more than several
pages in your story should be made two-dimensional. Beside possible subplots, adding realism to an environment,
or even promoting general interest, any interaction with a main character serves to flesh out the personality of
both characters and add dimension to a scene or personality. Any walk-on that could successfully be made into
two-dimensional character should...unless doing so awkwardly upstages an important character/moment or
harmfully dilutes the pacing of a scene.

A two-dimensional character is the same as one-dimensional character except for the fact that they show one
emotion or character trait. They are also known as "cardboard" characters, your cutouts, because they lack
dimension. They show a little bit of character through their words, actions, or emotions, but everything they reveal
is of a one-track nature that's somewhat undeveloped and often lacking in background, explanation, or depth.

Unlike the one-dimensional character, they must react through speech or gesture to reveal an emotional trait.
Their reactions and integrations in the story are often brief, but not always. Though a main character may be
present the majority of the story, if he/she is lacking in depth, complexity, or history, that character becomes two-
dimensional. One of the biggest dangers to believability or engagement of readers in a story is a lack of depth to
main, or even secondary characters.

A three-dimensional character however, plays an important role in the story and constitutes all major characters,
including villains. They have complex emotions and sometimes conflicting motives, troubled pasts and deep
worries. They are alive with passion and ambition and desire, never apathetic (and if they are, they are overly
apathetic).

Character development

Character development may refer to:

Character arc, the change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a
narrative.
Character creation, especially for games
Character advancement, increase in scores and other changes of a game character for example, in role-
playing video games
Moral character, a term used in many educational systems to indicate a strategy for the maturation of
individual students.

Character Delineation

I refer to characters' unique speech patterns as "dialogue fingerprints." If you're delineating dialogue well enough,
readers know who a character is without needing the speaker tag to reveal it to them.

Theme Definition

Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or
indirectly.

Major and Minor Themes

Major and minor themes are two types of themes that appear in literary works. A major theme is an idea that a
writer repeats in his work, making it the most significant idea in a literary work. A minor theme, on the other hand,
refers to an idea that appears in a work briefly and gives way to another minor theme. Examples of theme in Jane
Austens Pride and Prejudice are matrimony, love, friendship, and affection. The whole narrative revolves around
the major theme of matrimony. Its minor themes are love, friendship, affectation etc.
Didactic

intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.

Escapist

a person who seeks distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially in the form of entertainment or
fantasy.

providing or seeking distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially in the form of entertainment or
fantasy.

Encapsulate

enclose (something) in or as if in a capsule.

synonyms: enclose, encase, contain, envelop, enfold, sheathe, cocoon, surround

"seeds encapsulated in resin"

express the essential features of (someone or something) succinctly.

"the conclusion is encapsulated in one sentence"

synonyms: summarize, sum up, give the gist of, put in a nutshell; More

COMPUTING

enclose (a message or signal) in a set of codes that allow use by or transfer through different computer systems or
networks.

Succinct

(especially of something written or spoken) briefly and clearly expressed

Guest Author
A person who was not involved in research or in writing a paperespecially in a peer-reviewed journal
who nonethelesss shares author credits

An argument is the main statement of a poem, an essay, a short story, or a novel that usually appears as an
introduction or a point on which the writer will develop his work in order to convince his readers. Literature does
not merely entertain.