3 FI Book Reports

All students must present an English book to the class.

This book must be a text that was originally written in English, i.e. it must not be a translation from another language.

It has to be an original text, i.e. it must not be a shortened or simplified edition of the text.

It has to be a text of some length, i.e. it may not be just a short story, a fairy tale, an essay or a newspaper article. It should contain more than – say – 100 pages. On the other hand short stories, fairy tales or other shorter texts may be chosen, but in the form of a complete collection, e.g. three or more stories – according to size.

Before your final decision, discuss your reading ideas and intentions with your teacher!

What is a Book Report?

The presentation of your book should be a lively and interesting affair. Nobody should fall asleep during your presentation!

Your presentation should contain the following parts:

A short description of the book: Is it fiction or non-fiction? A story for children or for grown-ups? A play, film-script or a novel? Has it got a message or a purpose? For whom? In short: What kind of text is it?

A short summary. Emphasizing the word short!

Your summary should not contain more than a few sentences about the most important aspects of the plot, so that we are able to follow the rest – the more interesting part – of the presentation.

· A part in which you look at the text in detail: You talk about characters, about the setting (time and place), about the problem described, about the message it may have (Do you agree with it?), maybe about the language, the structure (Who tells the story? How is it organized? What is it that makes it interesting – or not?). Etc.

· Reading: You must read one page from the story to illustrate your points.

· Discussion: You must present a main point of the story or a passage (as a hand-out or overhead projection) for discussion. In this part of the presentation you lead the discussion and your class mates join in.

Here everybody should join in. This is an opportunity to participate!

· Wind-up: Finally you talk about your reading experience and give your own opinion and recommendation about the book.

Additional rules:

Ø Talk freely, do not read a written text.

(You may use notes.)

Ø Bring the book along and show it to the class

Ø Talk to class and not to the teacher.

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