The English Department Website

My Reading Diary

Your Name

Year Group

Book Title	Author

1) The Opening of the book

What is your immediate reaction to the book? What kind of book is this going to be?
What is the setting? What atmosphere does this setting create?
Is there a narrator? Is he/she one of the characters?
What sort of person is the main character?
Which relationships do you think will be important in the novel? How? Why?
Do you think this story will rely on plot, humour or character for its principal means of creating interest?
How is time used? Are there flashbacks, memories, indications of future events? Is it told in the past or present tense?
Is it written in first or third person?

2) Later

Looking back on your initial ideas, how has the development of the story fulfilled your expectations/surprised you?
What do you think are the themes of the story? What does the writer feel about this? How do you know? Do you agree with him/her?
What is the balance of narrative/dialogue/description in the text?
What are the three best moments so far? Why?

2) At the end

Was the ending as you expected?
Are there any questions left unanswered?
Would you have preferred a different ending? Why?
Who was the most interesting character in the book? Why?
What, overall, were the strengths of the book?
What were its weaknesses?
Who would you recommend this book to? Why?
What mood did it leave you in?
Did it remind you of any aspects of your own life or of others’?

4) Afterwards

After discussion with your teacher, choose one of the following tasks or suggest a topic/approach of your own

Discursive Essay

· Compare two contrasting characters. Show how they are different. Move from general points to specific examples. Show how the writer creates their character. You will need to look at what they say & do, what other characters say about them, how the author describes them, what their relationships are like, how they change and develop

· What is the main theme of the novel? How does the writer develop this? Do different characters represent different ideas? With which does the writer seem to sympathise most? Are similar situations found in the novel showing different aspects of the theme? Is there any use of symbolism or direct comment by the author?

Formats

· Write to the author and explain your reaction to his book.

· Book Review – Title, plot, Characters, Themes, Setting, Style, Evaluation

· Write a letter to a friend describing this book you are going to send him

· Write 2 newspaper reports based upon events in the novel

Creative

· Pretend you are a character in the novel and describe the other characters in the novel and what you think of each of them. Explain why

· Dramatise your favourite incident.

· Make a TV script for one scene of your book

· Write a different ending for your book.

· Write an obituary for one character

· Think about who the narrator is: then write one scene from the point of view of another character and explain the switch

Text Interpretation

· Tell what you think happened before the story began.

· Describe what you think happened to the main character after the book ended.