Writing a summary-response essay

      When someone goes to a movie or reads a book, and you want to know what it was about, you say, "How was the movie?" or "How was the book?"  Maybe you want to know a little bit about the book/movie to help you decide if you are going to read the book or watch the movie.  So if someone asks you that question, they don't want a long, 30 minute,  detailed description of the movie or book, they just want a short summary, a couple of minutes speaking or a few paragraphs writing. They want you to summarize the book or movie's main points (not details) in a few words and give your opinion about what you liked or didn't like.

     My daughters like to watch movies. When I ask them about a movie, they think they have to give me all the details from beginning to end. I have to stop them after a few minutes and say, "Could you just give me the short version, and please don't tell me the ending?"  I'm asking them for a summary of the movie and their response, if they liked it or not, and why. That's all. I don't need to know all the details. I'll get those if I decide to see the movie.

     That is basically what you do when you write a book report essay. You write a summary of the book and then evaluate the book, telling what you like, or didn't like, and why. And don't give away the ending, especially if it has a surprise ending. Then the reader won't even want to read the book if they already know the ending.