Choosing a book for literature class can be tough if you weren’t given a specific book to read. But while choosing from a wide variety of option and reading a book takes time, it’s even harder to write an essay especially when your grades depend on it.

That’s why we’re teaching you a few tricks on how you can nail the essay about a book of your choice for literature class.

Choosing a Book

The success of your essay will depend on the type of book you have chosen. If your professors have asked for a book on a certain genre or topic, make sure that you explore all your options. Read excerpts and reviews so you can find the book that best suits your preference while sticking to your professor’s requirements.

But why is your book choice important?

In order to write a good and compelling essay about a book, you need to fully understand the message of the author, the overall tone of the book, and the story itself. That said, you need to find a book that you can commit to. The closer it is to your preference, the better your understanding will be.

Parts of an Essay

Any essay consists of three parts:

? Introduction - where you introduce the book you’re writing about
? Body - includes the main parts of the book and your thoughts about it
? Conclusion - brief summary of the entire essay

How to write an introduction

The introduction can be simple, but it should be able to get the interest of your readers. It can contain the title of the book you’re writing about, who wrote it, and perhaps some background on it. For example, you’re writing an essay about “Romeo and Juliet” and you can say that it has become one of the most famous love stories and tragedies of all time.

But in order to make it more interesting, you’ll need to have a theme statement. This is basically what defines your essay.

To get the right theme statement, list down the themes surrounding the book and then choose one or two themes you’re most drawn to. From there, ask yourself what are the causes and effect of the theme in the book and then what do you think the author’s message is relating to that theme.

This can be the hardest part of all so you can get academic help if you need. There’s no shame in wanting to ask help, especially from professionals.

How to write the body

Although you have gone through the most challenging part of your essay, you still need to continue and be consistent with your work. The body should also be as strong as the introduction.

Basically, this is where you can explain a few things to your readers. For example, why you chose the book and the theme you like most. You can also add an interpretation of how you understand the story and its theme based on excerpts from the book.

It’s also wise to add things you didn’t like about it and why. Note how the author could’ve made it better and why. In general, the body is where you can continue adding your thoughts about the book.

As much as possible, don’t try to summarize the story anymore. If you want to do a recap, do it in one paragraph or a few sentences only. This is especially true when you’re already in college.

How to write the conclusion

End with a bang. It should leave a lasting impression to your readers. If you find that harder, you can stress on the importance of your theme statement or that you can synthesize the whole essay and make it complete.

Edit your Draft

There’s a lot of students who often the mistake of not editing their works. Although you think you have made some good points and an overall great essay, you’re still bound to get a lower grade than what you really should be getting because of mistakes.

Regardless of how good you are, we always make grammatical and spelling errors that could ruin the flow of our work. That’s why you should double check you work for these minor errors.

In addition, you’ll also be able to know if the flow of your work is smooth or you need to interchange a few paragraphs. Read your work aloud as some of your sentences may be constructed in a better way.

Conclusion

Avoid using passive voice and write with shorter sentences and perhaps a few long ones. Change the rhythm of your paragraphs for an easier flow. And most of all, read and comprehend the book you’re writing about.