Sooner or later, children will need to summarize and discuss a book that they have chosen themselves or that the school has recommended for a specific subject. Here we give some guidelines to follow to know how to summarize a book as well as comment on it.
Summarize and comment on a book: steps to follow
The summary
1. When and where?
During reading it will be important to identify when and where the story takes place.
2. Who are the main characters?
In addition to the protagonists there will also be less important characters. While reading you should pay attention to details such as each person’s age and personality, and how the characters are related.
3. What is the middle and end?
In every story there will be a problem and a solution.
The comment
1. Compare
For this part of the writing it would be convenient to compare the book with other texts by the same author or from the same time.
2. Select
The student will choose a paragraph, or several, that they consider representative of the main message of the book. She will comment on why she has selected these paragraphs and why they are important.
Additional Tips
1. Read carefully
Losing concentration and not finding out what is happening in the book will not allow us to understand what happens in readingand we might lose interest in this book.
2. Take notes
As you progress through your reading, you can underline phrases in the book or make notes of ideas you would like to include in your commentary. With them you can write your interpretation of the book without forgetting the details.
3. Write a draft before
To summarize and comment on a book, it is preferable to make a draft; you can edit it and then write the final comment.
4. Paragraphs must be related
Do not write the book summary and commentary as two different works, nor explain the historical moment in which the story takes place and the details about the characters without joining all these details. When writing your comment, refer to your summary, and explain why these characters were important at the specific historical moment.
5. Pay special attention to spelling
Your writing should have no errors.