Writing a One-Paragraph Summary of a Novel

1. A template and guide using Gary Paulsen's Hatchet as an example novel. Writing a One-Paragraph Summary of a Novel

2. Writing a Summary When you are writing a response to literature essay or a book review, you should summarize the action of the book, but that should not be the entire report. One big mistake student's make on an essay or report is to just write a big, long, boring summary.

3. Writing a Summary To keep from ruining your essay with a too-long summary, follow this template to keep your plot events in order, show that you read the story, and lead the rest of your essay into what is important, the analysis of the story.

4. In the (genre) novel (title)by(author),(protagonist name) learns/changes/grows through (theme). Example: In the adventure novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Brian grows through perseverence. Summary Template

5. Summary Template • In the exposition of the novel, (character name) is a (age) (gender) who is (a character trait or situation). Example • In the exposition of the novel, Brian is a teenaged boy who is flying to meet his newly divorced father.

6. Summary Template As the conflict develops, (character name faces the challenge of (name the major conflict of the story). Example As the conflict develops, Brian faces the challenge of survival when the pilot of the plane has a heart attack and dies.

7. Book Report Summary • In the rising action of the story, (charactername) (what the character does). Then (something elsehappens). Later, (one more event). Example • In the rising action of the story, Briancrash-lands the plane into a lake. Then, he eats too many berries and drinks toomuch water and gets sick. Later, he builds a shelter and learns to fish and hunt for food.

8. Summary Template • The climax of the story happens when (character name) faces the greatest challenge when (event that turns the story around). Example • The climax of the story happens as Brian faces the greatest challenge when a tornado destroys everything he has created and stored for survival.

9. Book Report Summary • The falling action tells of (character name) (action). Example • The falling action tells of Brian being rescued after turning on a transmitter that he finds in the plane’s survival kit.

10. Book Report Summary • In the resolution, (charactername)(how he is at the end of the story). Example • In the resolution, Brianreturns home a stronger person mentally and physically, and adjusts to his parents divorce.

11. Summary Put Together • In the exposition of the novel, Brian is a teenaged boy who is flying to meet his newly divorced father. As the conflict develops, Brian faces the challenge of survival when the pilot of the plane has a heart attack and dies. In the rising action of the story, Briancrash-lands the plane into a lake. Then, he eats too many berries and drinks toomuch water and gets sick. Later, he builds a shelter and learns to fish and hunt for food. The climax of the story happens as Brian faces the greatest challenge when a tornado destroys everything he has created and stored for survival. The falling action tells of Brian being rescued after turning on a transmitter that he finds in the plane’s survival kit. In the resolution, Brianreturns home a stronger person mentally and physically, and adjusts to his parents divorce.