My Book Report.

[Engler]

This could probably go in Literature, but no one looks there.----------




Engler
6/11/07



The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
by Stephen King


The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is about a girl named Trisha that gets lost in the woods of New Hampshire. By the time Trisha realizes that she is lost, she is already miles away from the nearest road. Over the course of the story, Trisha learns to face her fears (both real and hallucinatory). After an epic battle with a supposedly unreal nightmarish beast, she is found lying unconscious on the ground by a man. She was hundreds of feet away from a highway after being lost for days and walking for more than 30 miles when Trisha was found.
I would definitely recommend this book to my peers. This book has some suggestive material, as well as profanity. It is also gory enough to make a squeamish person feel nauseous. I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 12. The book itself was actually written for adults.
I enjoy Stephen King’s books because they are so attentive to details. I am just beginning to enjoy horror books, and horror is Stephen King’s “forte”. I plan on reading more of his books in the future.
This book is eerily realistic, and I’m sure similar scenarios have taken place. The book’s events remind me of countless news headlines such as “BOY LOST IN WOODS”.
I hope Stephen King continues to write excellent books like The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. He is my current favorite author.

Stars: (4 out of 5)

[Ground_Breaker]

Re: My Book Report.

What grade are you in? I haven't done book reports since eighth grade, but you used the words hallucinatory and forte which sort of tells me you might be above that grade level.

Are you asking for constructive criticism? I think you used the words "this book" and "the book" way too many times, though I wouldn't want to write out that long title every single time either.

Personally, I would consider this a rough draft. I don't know what kind of page or word requirement you're trying to fulfill, if you even are, but it seems kind of short. Expand a little more on conflicts in the story, because usually the plot centers around them. (Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Himself, etc.)

[Tps222]

Re: My Book Report.

Novel is always a good substitute for "booK".

Don't use "like", us "such as" or other variations. Try to avoid "I" when you can.

Make sure the book title is underlined.

"

She was hundreds of feet away from a highway after being lost for days and walking for more than 30 miles when Trisha was found.
"

This is a run-on. Don't use "She" first, use Trisha. Then you can use the pronoun "she" before "was found".

Use this instead:

When Trisha was found, she was discovered to be hundreds of miles away from a highway, and had traveled at least 30 miles in the days she had been missing.

I think that still fits the context.

I hope Stephen King continues to write excellent books like The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. He is my current favorite author.

It should be "currently" before favorite. Also, if you want to impress your teacher, take out the period after Gordon and insert a semicolon. It signifies and new sentence is made, but it relates to the previous one so the structure can still exist. Also, replace book with novel, and like with such as.

I hope Stephen King continues to write excellent novles such as The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon; he is my currently favorite author.

[tsugomaru]

Re: My Book Report.

Your lack of sentences disappoints me.

~Tsugomaru

[mfelten86]

Re: My Book Report.

Shouldn't it be:
"I hope Stephen King continues to write excellent novels such as The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon; he is currently my favorite author."


Correct me if I'm wrong.

[g4z33b0]

Re: My Book Report.

who needs quality sentence structure?

[mfelten86]

Re: My Book Report.

Just trying to help him out with his report. By the way, is this for school?

[magirocker]

Re: My Book Report.

Shouldn't it be:
"I hope Stephen King continues to write excellent novels such as The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon; he is currently my favorite author."


Correct me if I'm wrong.

a period or semicolon are okay
or a colon
no commas though! that would be a comma splice

[g4z33b0]

Re: My Book Report.

I was talking about his bad sentences mfelton, not your fix.

[devonin]

Re: My Book Report.

Also 'nauseous' means "Has the quality of making things feel ill" rather than "The state of being in which one feels ill"

So the book is nauseous because it makes people feel nauseated.

Also, as a general thing, the review lacks a certain flow. There is an awful lot of

Thought. Unrelated Thought. Thought unrelated to the other two.

without really creating a start to finish point you're making. Group like thoughts together, and expand a little more on them. Less plot synopsis (unless you're supposed to) more about what makes the novel good from a literary standpoint (How the story is told, not necessarily what the story is about)

[Ground_Breaker]

Re: My Book Report.

When Trisha was found, she was discovered to be hundreds of miles away from a highway, and had traveled at least 30 miles in the days she had been missing.

Or, "Trisha had traveled thirty miles on foot in the few days she had been missing, and was eventually discovered hundreds of miles away from a highway."

That, to me, makes a little more sense.

[Tps222]

Re: My Book Report.

That sounds better.

Mfelten is right, silly mistake by me.

I also agree with devonin, it could use some flow or something.

[PsYcHoZeRoSk8eR]

Re: My Book Report.

The last book report that I wrote was 18 pages.

[smartdude1212]

Re: My Book Report.

I read this book and wrote an epic 3 page poem on it.
Same with Bag of Bones.
Seems fine to me, I guess your teacher wants a small book report. :P

[GuidoHunter]

Re: My Book Report.

Less plot synopsis

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. While your point about making the literary device analysis more important is certainly valid, I think the synopsis isn't nearly detailed enough. Really, though, that just applies to this sentence:

"After an epic battle with a supposedly unreal nightmarish beast, she is found lying unconscious on the ground by a man."

WHAT HAPPENED?! Sounds pretty important! An epic battle? "Supposedly unreal" nightmarish beast? If the nightmarish beast isn't all that important, why the reader thought it was unreal probably is, and then why it was ACTUALLY REAL is probably even more important.

And then the man! If he's important enough to include in this sentence, then he's at least owed the revelation of his identity.

I've READ this book and I have no idea what that sentence is referring to.

Another thing: Short. Choppy. Sentences. Turn a pair of short sentences into a complex one, provided they're related (be sure to note devonin's comment about unrelated sentences next to each other).

Next point: forte is an English word, so don't put it in quotes (and if it were foreign, you should italicize it; only use quotation marks if you're intending sarcasm or irony).

Next: I doubt you've had (and passed up) many chances to recommend this book to kids under twelve, so you should probably say, "would not recommend" instead of "do not recommend".

Lastly: listen to everyone else's suggestions.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com