Persuasive Essay
Book (Novel) Report Project
Skilled experts are also skilled readers, reading often and carefully. To support this goal, students must select one full-length, published novel to read, annotate, and build into a formal, persuasive essay. Fiction is recommended but non-fiction is also acceptable. Projects must also review more than two other scholars’ views (secondary texts) of the novel (primary text) and focus on your own arguments regarding why the novel is important.
Due dates: 1. Sept. 14 (Fri. Week 4) – Draft 1 of 3 due (2 pages total)
2. Oct. 26 (Fri. Week 10) – Draft 2 of 3 due (2-3 pages total, built on Draft 1)
3. Apr. 20 (Fri. Week 15) – Draft 3 of 3 due (4 pages total, built on Drafts 1-2)
Audience: Your audience for this project can be all or some of these populations:
1. All readers in an English-speaking college atmosphere (undergrads, grad students, teachers, administrators)
2. All readers of Global English (that is, not only USA readers but India, Australia, UK, and all people who read English). If you prefer, you may limit this audience to all USA citizens/visitors.
Draft 1 – length: about 2 pages
Read at least the first third of the novel. Describe the main idea (or what you can guess about it so far.) Briefly explain what is happening in the chapters you have read so far. If applicable, introduce two or more main characters. Explain what drew you to select this book, how keen your interest in it is now (compared to before beginning it), and why. Consider what makes this book interesting or relevant to all readers of Global English today.
Optional: Include one secondary source in your draft. For example, find another writer (not on “Amazon” nor “Goodreads” dot-com, but an individual with a first and last name, a published date, etc. for their work) who has written a published review or analysis of the book. Consider in what ways you agree or disagree with this secondary source’s views on the primary text. You may also use a source that is not about the book directly, but that is about a relevant idea from the novel.
Draft 2 – length: 3-4 pages (This draft should include, and modify and improve significantly, the 2 pages you already wrote for Draft 1)
Read more than half of the book. Required: Include one or more secondary sources in your draft (See Draft 1: “Optional” above). This draft of your “book review” should build on, and enrich, Draft 1, and include detailed in-text citations from at least two areas of the book (beyond Chapter 1) that you find interesting, relevant, and worthy of your own creative analysis.
Draft 3 – length: 4 pages or more (This draft should include, and modify and improve significantly, Draft 2)
Finish the book. Polish the content you have developed so far in previous drafts. Include two or more secondary sources in your draft (See Draft 1: “Optional” above). Include detailed and revised in-text citations, from at least three areas of the book that seem most relevant and worthy of your own creative analysis.
Examples for novels:
Allende, Isabel. Zorro. 2005. ISBN: 78-0007201983. 400 pages.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. 1998. ISBN: 978-0385490818. 311 pages.
Beatty, Paul. 2016. The Sellout. ISBN: 978-1250083258. 304 pages.
Castillo, Ana. So Far from God. 1993 (2005 edition). 978-0393326932. 256 pages.
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. 1961 (2011 edition). 9781451626650. 544 pages.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. 1987 (2004 edition). 978-1400033416. 321 pages.
