Book Review – The Schwa was Here
DUE MONDAY 8/25
Assignment: You have just joined Lusher’s newspaper staff. Your first assignment is to review The Schwa was Here. No one else at school has read this book yet, so you know that you’ll have to include some information about the plot. However, the newspaper only has enough space for a small column, so you know you have to limit yourself to only the most important information. The main point of your review is to critique the book: tell your audience whether or not it’s worth reading – and why. Your editor has promised that if you do a good job with this review, you’ll get to take over the critic column – which includes free tickets to all the hottest new movies – so you’re determined to make this the best book review ever.
Details:
Grading:
10 possible points: Title
10 possible points: Hook
15 possible points: Thesis
10 possible points: Quality of supporting details
10 possible points: Explanation of supporting details
15 possible points: Conclusion / closing thought
20 possible points: Conventions
10 possible points: Publishing
+5 possible points: Introducing and refuting a naysayer
= 100 possible points + 5 possible bonus points
DUE MONDAY 8/25
Assignment: You have just joined Lusher’s newspaper staff. Your first assignment is to review The Schwa was Here. No one else at school has read this book yet, so you know that you’ll have to include some information about the plot. However, the newspaper only has enough space for a small column, so you know you have to limit yourself to only the most important information. The main point of your review is to critique the book: tell your audience whether or not it’s worth reading – and why. Your editor has promised that if you do a good job with this review, you’ll get to take over the critic column – which includes free tickets to all the hottest new movies – so you’re determined to make this the best book review ever.
Details:
- Your book review must be a paragraph that is at least 10 sentences long.
- Include a title that reflects your thesis.
- Your paragraph should begin with a hook, an introductory sentence or two to get your reader interested in your topic.
- After the hook is your thesis statement – a sentence that clearly states your specific opinion about the book.
- You must include at least three specific supporting details to justify your thesis. Don’t just list things that happened in the novel - explain how each detail supports your thesis.
- Bonus: introduce and refute a naysayer. Think about why someone would disagree with you and address that concern. (Ex: Even though some people may think _____, the novel really is ____ because of _____.)
- End your review with a conclusion. Your conclusion must relate directly to your thesis statement. Although you should not introduce new information at the end of a paragraph, you also need some sort of closing thought, such as whether you felt the strengths outweighed the weaknesses (or the opposite), other books that you feel are similar, appropriate audiences for the reading, and so on.
- Proofread your work. Check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.
- Publish your work on your kidblog. Remember: even though you’re using electronic media, this is not a text message to your friends. This is an assignment for English class. Be sure to use appropriate language. (No abbreviations!)
Grading:
10 possible points: Title
10 possible points: Hook
15 possible points: Thesis
10 possible points: Quality of supporting details
10 possible points: Explanation of supporting details
15 possible points: Conclusion / closing thought
20 possible points: Conventions
10 possible points: Publishing
+5 possible points: Introducing and refuting a naysayer
= 100 possible points + 5 possible bonus points
