When studying at school, college, or university, depending on your level of study, you will have to deal with numerous assignments. One among them is the nonfiction book report writing. Especially, for this task, you need to read the entire book thoroughly and present a review or prepare a detailed report by summarizing the key points. Remember, writing a book report is different from the typical review paper preparation. Particularly, in your nonfiction book report, you need to discuss details like the plot, characters, or main concepts. In case, you would like to know how to write a nonfiction book report effectively, take a look at this blog post. Here, we have discussed the steps and tips for writing a nonfiction book report worthy of achieving top grades. Read on to uncover the details of nonfiction book report writing.
What is a Nonfiction Book Report?
It is a kind of book report that summarizes one’s views on a nonfiction book. If you are asked to create a nonfiction book report, make sure to express your views on it. Remember, in your report, you need not write about the plot, characters, etc., used in the book. Instead, your report must analyze the contributions and ideas of a nonfiction book.
Before we move on to learn how to write a nonfiction book report, first let us look at the definition of nonfiction literature.
An Overview of Nonfiction Literature
Basically, literature is classified into five different types of genres such as poetry, prose, fiction, nonfiction, and drama. In specific, each genre focuses on a certain type of content and tone of writing. Here, in detail, let us learn what nonfiction means, its features, and how it is different from fiction literature.
In general, nonfiction is one of the popular literary genres that refer to factual stories based on real events and people. It is a broad category that involves numerous sub-genres such as biography, autobiography, memoir, travel writing, philosophy, religion and spirituality, self-help, science, medicine, psychology, art, and so on. Mostly, the tone of writing used in books of nonfiction genres and sub-genres will be narrative, explanatory, persuasive, or instructive.
When it comes to writing a nonfiction book report, you can choose any book that falls under the nonfiction genre or sub-genre category.
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List of Popular Nonfiction Books
Some best nonfiction books that you can consider for preparing a report are
- Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Autobiography of Mark Twain
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
- Ocean Life: Tide Pool Creatures by Alice Leonhardt
- The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr
- Titanic by Simon Adams
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Nonfiction vs. Fiction
Before we look at the comparison of fiction and nonfiction literature, first let us see the definition of fiction. Typically, fiction is a kind of literary genre that refers to characters, plots, and settings that are developed from imagination. However, it may be based on true events but it will be used only as a background to create fiction.
On the contrary, nonfiction is purely based on real-life incidents and people. Most of the nonfiction books are written by researchers, scientists, and people who are experts in their fields. A few popular types of nonfiction books include autobiographies, scientific documents, and instruction manuals with actionable tips.
Features of Nonfiction Literature
Listed below are the prominent characteristics of nonfiction literature.
- All characters and events are real.
- It focuses on the author’s own experiences or positions
- It contains supporting facts and evidence
- The work has a distinct genre and a well-defined framework;
- It includes some unique opinions, suggestions, and personal reflections.
- The author writes for a certain audience.
So far, we have seen what nonfiction literature is. In the next section, let us look at the steps for writing a nonfiction book report.
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Understand How to Write a Nonfiction Book Report
When compared to other types of assignments, the writing process is different for a book report. Therefore, for your better understanding, below, we have shared some essential tips for writing an outstanding nonfiction book report. Make sure to follow them while preparing a report on a nonfiction book.
Identify your goal
The goal or objective would make your report writing process comfortable. Especially, when defining your goal, get to know what information you want to provide to your target audience and what feelings or emotions you wish to evoke in them. Also, have a clear idea of whether you desire to inspire or guide the readers with your paper.
Sketch an Outline
Before writing the report, develop a plan on what paragraphs and ideas to include. Specifically, while crafting the outline, define the sections to include in your final draft with the title and also get to know what information to fill in the space. If your thoughts deviate from the goal and structure, avoid including them in your paper.
Create the first draft
Next, expand the outline and write the nonfiction book report by including the essential sections. Particularly, in your report, you need to add the book description and summarize the ideas discussed in it after analyzing it from a different aspect.
Proofread
Finally, proofread the book report, after you complete writing it. The report should express your views on the book in a logical manner and it should be original and error-free.
What Should Be Included in a Nonfiction Book Report?
Book report writing is an interesting task that will let you showcase your research and analytical skills to the outside world. For preparing a book report, creativity is not needed. But, you need to read the requirements provided by your instructor carefully and follow them to boost your grades.
A book report will be usually about summarizing and evaluating ideas discussed by the author. Therefore, particularly, when it comes to writing a nonfiction book report, you will have to describe the work, define the key points, and present your evaluation and judgment. Most importantly, you need to include the following in your nonfiction book report.
Description
- Basic details about the author
- Background of the book creation
- Purpose of the author
- The thesis statement of the author
- Structure of the book
- Your summary
Evaluation
- Reviews- both positive and negative
- Contribution
- Strengths and Weaknesses
Creating the Description
To know about the author, check the cover of the book or surf the internet. Next, to get information regarding the background of the book creation, read the preface of the book. In order to determine whether the author is really an expert or not, do a little research on the topic and how it was addressed in the book.
Simply, by reading the book’s introduction, you can find out the goal of the author. Furthermore, after you complete reading the entire book, you can analyze and determine whether the goal is achieved or not.
For a book report, a catchy introduction is necessary. So, after reading the book, by using your own words describe the thesis statement of the author along with the core ideas discussed.
Finally, in the description part, present your summary depending on your target audience. The audience could be your professors who have good knowledge of the text or those who have never read the book once.
Presenting the Evaluation
To evaluate a book, you can refer to some reviews, articles, reports of other students, etc. Usually, it will be tough to identify whether your point of view is unique or not. So, by evaluating, you can determine whether you have missed any vital information, overlooked a critical angle, or misunderstood the author’s original views.
While discussing contribution, it is necessary to present evidence or facts to prove the ideas of the author. Remember, you must have the ability to defend your viewpoint if you believe that the author has utilized inaccurate or deceptive information.
You may also discuss your thoughts on the book in your essay, subject to the rules. Was it motivating? Have you liked the reading so far? Would you recommend the book to someone and to whom?
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now, you will have understood how to write a nonfiction book report. In case, you are still not confident enough to compose an excellent book report, call us immediately. To offer you nonfiction book report writing help online, we have numerous proficient academic writers on our platform with strong knowledge of literature. As per your needs, our literature assignment experts and finest report writers will assist you in coming up with a plagiarism-free nonfiction book report worthy of achieving an A+ grade.
