Prewriting for Fiction Reviews
To write a great review, you need to choose a book you enjoy and spend some time gathering key details from it. These prewriting activities will prepare you to write a first draft.
Prewriting for Topic and Character Details
Your first prewriting step is to choose a work of fiction for your review. Make sure the work is something you like and remember well. You can also read something new—a mystery, an adventure book, a novel, or even a play.
Fill in a topic matrix.
Fill in a topic matrix to think about a book you might want to review. Consider books you really enjoy or that you read recently. Make a copy of this Google doc or download a Word template.
|
What is the book’s title? |
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu |
|
Who is the author? |
Wendy Wan-Long Shang |
|
What is the book about? |
It is about a Chinese-American girl whose life changes when she has to share a bedroom with her great aunt. |
|
What do you like about the book? |
I like Lucy. She doesn’t always feel like she belongs, and I feel like we would be friends. |
Teaching Tip
If necessary, students can complete the topic matrix for multiple books to help them decide the best topic for their review.