How to Start a Book Report

No matter what youre writing, be it the next great novel, an essay for school, or a book report, you have to capture your audiences attention with a great introduction. Most students will introduce the title of the book and its author, but theres so much more you can do. A strong introduction will help you engage your readers, hold their attention and explain what is coming up in the rest of your report. Giving your audience something to look forward to, and perhaps even creating a little mystery and excitement, can be great ways to make sure your readers stay engaged with your report. How do you do this? Check out these three simple steps: 1. Hook the Audiences Attention Think about what you experience in your daily life that captures your attention. The news and radio shows promo upcoming stories with a little teaser, often called a hook (because it hooks your attention). Corporations use snappy subject lines in emails and enticing headlines in social media to get you to open their messages; these are often called clickbait as they get the reader to click on the content. So how can you grab your readers attention? Start by writing a great  introductory sentence. You may choose to begin by asking your reader a question to hook his or her interest. Or you may opt for a title that hints at the topic of your report with a dash of drama. Regardless of the way you choose to start a book report, the four strategies outlined here can help you write an engaging essay. Starting your book report with a question is a good way to grab your readers interest because youre addressing them directly. Consider the following sentences: Do you believe in happy endings?Have you ever felt like a total outsider?Do you love a good mystery?What would you do if you discovered a secret that changed everything? Most people have a ready answer for questions like these because they speak to common experiences we share. Its a means of creating empathy between the person reading your book report and the book itself. For example, consider this opening to a book report about The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton: Have you ever been judged by your appearance? In The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton gives readers a glimpse inside the tough exterior of a social outcast. Not everyones teenage years are as dramatic as those in Hintons coming-of-age novel. But everyone was once an adolescent, and odds are everyone had moments when they felt misunderstood or alone. Another idea to hook someones attention is, if youre discussing a book by a well-known or popular author, you might start with an interesting fact about the era when the author was alive and how it influenced his or her writing. For example: As a young child, Charles Dickens was forced to work in a shoe polish factory. In his novel, Hard Times, Dickens taps into his childhood experience to explore the evils of social injustice and hypocrisy. Not everyone has read Dickens, but many people have heard his name. By starting your book report with a fact, youre appealing to your readers curiosity. Similarly, you may choose an experience from the author’s life that had an impact on his or her work.   2. Summarize the Content and Provide Details A book report is meant to discuss the contents of the book at hand, and your introductory paragraph should give a little overview. This isnt the place to delve into details, but draw off your hook to share a little more information that is crucial to the storyline.   For example, sometimes, a novels setting is what makes it so powerful. To Kill a Mockingbird, the award-winning book by Harper Lee, takes place in a small town in Alabama during the Great Depression. The author draws on her own experiences in recalling a time when a small Southern towns sleepy exterior hid a vague sense of impending change. In this example, the reviewer might include a reference to the books setting and plot in that first paragraph: Set in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Depression, we learn about Scout Finch and her father, a prominent lawyer, as he desperately works to prove the innocence of a black man wrongly accused of rape. The controversial trial leads to some unexpected interactions and some  terrifying situations for the Finch Family. Authors make a deliberate choice when selecting the setting of a book. After all, the location and setting can set a very distinct mood.   3. Make a Thesis Statement (if applicable) When writing a book report, you might also include your own interpretations of the subject matter. Ask your teacher how much personal interpretation he or she wants first, but assuming that some personal opinion is warranted, your introduction should include a thesis statement. This is where you present the reader with your own argument  about the work. To write a strong thesis statement, which should be about one sentence, you might reflect on what the author was trying to achieve. Consider the theme and see if the book was written in such a way where you were able to determine it easily and if it made sense. As yourself a few questions: Was the book meant to be entertaining or informative? Did it accomplish that goal?Did the moral at the end make sense? Did you learn something?Did the book make you think about the topic at hand and assess your beliefs?   Once youve asked yourself these questions, and any other questions you may think of, see if these responses lead you to a thesis statement in which you assess the success of the novel. Sometimes, a thesis statement is widely shared, while others may be more controversial. In the example below, the thesis statement is one that few would dispute, ​and uses dialogue from the text to help illustrate the point.  Authors choose dialogue carefully, and a single phrase from a character can often represent both a major theme and your thesis. A well-chosen quote included in your book reports introduction can help you create a thesis statement that has a powerful impact on your readers, as in this example: At its heart, the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is a plea for tolerance in an atmosphere of intolerance, and is a statement on social justice. As the  character  Atticus Finch tells his daughter, You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Quoting Finch is effective because his words sum up the novels theme concisely and also appeal to the readers own sense of tolerance. Conclusion Dont worry if your first attempt at writing an introductory paragraph is less than perfect. Writing is an act of fine-tuning, and you may need several revisions. The idea is to start your book report by identifying your general theme so that you can move on to the body of your essay. After youve written the entire book report, you can (and should) return to the introduction to refine it. Creating an outline can help you best identify what you need in your introduction. Article edited  by  Stacy Jagodowski

Five Body Weight Exercises For Success - 1219 Words

Five Body Weight Exercises For Success By Dale NM Bateman | Submitted On April 23, 2012 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Dale NM Bateman As you know by now, I am a firm believer in body weight exercises, or what I like to call REAL exercises. What does this mean? Well, based on my experience, I find that too many people tend to take the easy way out when it comes to the exercise they do to try and lose their unwanted body fat. A perfect example is that mystery machine that seems to be so popular, called the Elliptical Trainer. Body weight exercises can beat this type of exercise hands down in many ways. For example, it s been proven that the movement that is replicated by one of these elliptical trainers is unique unto itself, and doesn t mirror any natural movement that the human body performs on a regular basis. In other words, doing a regular workout on one of these machines is like practicing your golf swing for hours upon hours and then going out and playing a game of soccer, hoping that those practice sessions will help your game! Plus, let s face it, once you get on the machine and get it moving, you re pretty much just going through the motionsShow MoreRelatedThe Best Way Tackle The Problem Of Obesity1393 Words   |  6 Pagesparticipants to change their eating habits and add exercise into their daily activities. Focusing on both the food environment, as well as the social environment, may lead to extreme health benefits for the overweight population.9 The aim of the MOVE! program is to encourage Veterans to be successful in long term weight management. 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Management Practices Consistent Treatment

Question: Discuss about the Management Practicesfor Consistent Treatment. Answer: Introduction An organized style of management will always ensure the unquestionable loyalty of the employees towards the organization, and consequent organizational success of the company. In case the employees are able to receive fair, consistent treatment from the employers, and find the organization working actively for ensuring their well-being, the employees will not only consider working in the company for a prolonged period of time, but their utmost dedication and zealous effort to work harder will ensure higher profit margin for the company. In the given case study, it has been observed that the change of the yard manager in Top Trucking Company brought in an incredible change at workplace, making the employees work more energetically, ensuring larger number of contracts for the company (Beske et al., 2014). Accordingly, it is important to critically evaluate the workplace policies of the company, as introduced by the new manager, as well as the potential challenges that the company might encounter in future. Discussion: Effectiveness of the Workplace Practices Introduced by the New Yard Manager: The recent theories of employee relations claim that it is futile to expect that the employees would work with great zeal, simply because they are being paid a fair sum of money. The recent studies have stated that improving employee relations play an important role, as a fair, positive workplace will always help the employees keep motivated. The new yard manager introduced a variety of workplace policies that are complementing each other. New Leadership Style: Unlike the former yard manager, the new manager believes in Participative o Democratic style of leadership, unlike the autocratic style. Consequently, he is able to have proper control and authority over the employees, and he is able to render a sense of democratic dimension in the management scenario. Unlike the former times, the truck drivers do not feel de-motivated, exploited and deprived, as every course of action is being communicated, prior to its implementation. This new style of leadership has allowed him to create an intimate rapport with the staffs, who would otherwise have resisted the management decisions, forming alliance with the union, and this gave him minimize the scope of unnecessary union intervention in managerial decisions. Research suggests that the union intervention can be easily ruled out in case the managerial staffs exhibit compassion towards the well-being of the staffs (Ogbonnaya Nielsen, 2016). Effective Communication System: An integral feature of Participative Leadership style is that it enables the leader resolve workplace conflict by communicating with the staffs at regular intervals. Considering the fact that the yard manager is not using an autocratic style of leadership, dictating the employees every now and then, a proper control over their actions, can be established by periodical communication (Deegan Islam, 2014). Hence, the new manager also communicates with the staffs at periodical intervals, so that he can keep himself updated about the performance of the employees, and offer them any advice, if necessary. Maintenance of Positive Relation with the Union: In order to ensure workplace stability and a positive workplace, good relation with the union leaders is a must. The new manager was well-aware that even after creating an intimate body with the employees, the union leader can resist George can exhibit resistance and opposition towards the management decisions. Hence, in order to ensure a smooth functioning at workplace, the manager regularly keeps in touch with the Union representatives, so that the demands and the needs of the Union leaders do not get unnoticed. Reports suggest that if the union groups are not being regularly communicated with, they can protest against trivial things, leading to workplace strikes that ultimately affect workplace productivity (Billett Choy, 2013). Employee Motivation: A motivated workforce is always productive, and enthusiastic about taking up any challenge. In order to help his staffs deliver work with greater efficiency, the new manager realized it was important to listen to their needs. Hence, he has brought new trucks for them that enable them to complete tasks with greater convenience, and even gave each one of them a uniform, that provided them with a sense of belonging (L?z?roiu, 2015). Since he has mandated the use of uniforms, the employees started feeling more obliged to perform their duties, being now an integral part of the Top Trucking Company. Risks of Sustaining Workplace Changes in the Company: There are potential challenges that the stable, positive workplace can encounter if George or even the new yard manager moves on, leaving the company behind. First of all or any organization to operate effectively, an effective relation between the management and the union is required (Henderson et al., 2013). Here, the new yard manager with his Participative style of leadership has been able to create a balanced relation with the Union leader. In case any of them leaves, the stability of the workplace can be instantly threatened. In case a new union representative comes up, he may not be able to adjust with the management style of the manager, and may encounter many conflicts, before getting to know each other fully. Again, similarly, if the yard manager leaves the organization, a new manager with his new management style or communication style may find it hard to adjust with the employees (Dobre, 2013). Usually, employees are resistant to change, and especially a change occurs in t he managerial position itself, the employees tend to feel de-motivated and become less productive, and start apprehending the problems that may occur at workplace (Tedeschi, 2013). Engagement of Blue Collar Unions in Workplace Changes: As far as the blue collar unions are concerned, it is needless to state that they play an important role in a construction or a transport based organization, at least from the employees perspectives. However, studies suggest that the blue collar unions are usually more opposed towards the organizational changes brought within a company, and since the workers in these jobs usually engage in tough, hardy and manual jobs, the union leaders are often more concerned about getting their demands fulfilled, rather than developing an understanding of the current scenario (Form, 2015). In such a situation, it becomes obvious that as and when any workplace change is being introduced, the blue collar unions may resist the change, without seeking to understand why the change was imperative in the organization. Research reports suggest that communication will play an important role. Unless the employees along with the Blue Collar union leaders are being communicated regarding the impending change, expecting union participation would be meaningless (Alexander, 2013). Conclusion and Recommendation: To conclude, it should be remembered that the Top Trucking Company has been able to achieve much success lately, given the impressive management style and leadership control of the new yard manager. While on the one hand, he has been able to build a close bond with the existent employees, he has also developed a good relation with the union leader as well. An effective leadership strategy has helped him create a positive workplace that keeps the employees motivated, increases the productivity of the employees and maximizes the organizational revenue as well. The Top Trucking Company under the leadership of a new leader explains how important a role does the management authority of an organization play in determining the future success and growth of a company. Employee motivation, employee well-being , leadership and organizational success are inter-related concepts, and the existence of the one helps in complementing the other. Although the Top Trucking Company has been able to achieve the needed organizational growth, it is important to have a look at some of the strategies that can be recommended to help the company prosper in future. First of all, the management authority must ensure that the new manager regularly communicates with the union groups, or otherwise as mentioned, blue collar unions would end up in creating workplace conflicts. This would hamper the workplace productivity, and hence the management authority is being recommended to communicate any change through proper interactive sessions and meetings that will facilitate the explanation of the reason behind the change. Further, it is important to ensure that transparency exists between employees, union members and the employers. Hence, the management authority is also advised to host meetings with both the union leaders as well as the employees, once in every week to ensure mutual understanding among all the stakeholders. Besides, since the employee unions are mostly concerned about the employee welfare, an organization is less likely to suffer from management-union conflicts, if it seeks to invest in employee benefit programs. As far as the organization is concerned, it has started investing in career development opportunities of the workers, while also ensuring employee protection from the workplace hazards. It is recommended that the company also starts revising the wage scale of the workers, and offers compensatory leaves on need, and acknowledge the contribution of the workers through lucrative incentive schemes. Besides, the union members may often feel marginalized, and their importance lessened with the arrival of an efficient manager, and this may compel them to conspire against the management authority. Hence, it is also recommended that for the successful expansion and growth of the company, the organization ensures co-participation of the employers and employee unions in discussing issues affecting the busi ness, the employers and the employees. Reference List: Beske, P., Land, A., Seuring, S. (2014). Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature.International Journal of Production Economics,152, 131-143. Billett, S., Choy, S. (2013). Learning through work: Emerging perspectives and new challenges.Journal of Workplace Learning,25(4), 264-276. Deegan, C., Islam, M. A. (2014). An exploration of NGO and media efforts to influence workplace practices and associated accountability within global supply chains.The British Accounting Review,46(4), 397-415. Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance.Journal of Management and Socio-Economic, (1). Form, W. H. (2015).Blue-collar stratification: Autoworkers in four countries. Princeton University Press. L?z?roiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance.Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, (14), 97-102. Ogbonnaya, C., Nielsen, K. (2016). Transformational leadership, high performance work practices, and an effective organization. Henderson, C., Williams, P., Little, K., Thornicroft, G. (2013). Mental health problems in the workplace: changes in employers knowledge, attitudes and practices in England 2006-2010.The British Journal of Psychiatry,202(s55), s70-s76. Tedeschi, J. T. (Ed.). (2013).Impression management theory and social psychological research. Academic Press. Alexander, K. (2013).Facilities management: theory and practice. Routledge.