How to Write an Essay on the Book You’ve Never Read

So, it’s the essay time again. However, now, you don’t only need to write a paper but you have to read a book for it first. What’s worse, you never really had a chance to read this story and now you are in trouble. Or are you? Of course, writing an essay on a book you’ve never read may seem like an impossible mission at first. Yet, we want to assure you that it can be done. In fact, there are several simple tips on how to write an essay on a book you’ve never read that you can learn right now. Let’s see how to have a great essay even when you haven’t had time to read the book.

Read the description and reviews

First and foremost, you need to learn the very basics about the book. For example, what is it about? Who are the main characters? What genre is it? What is the plot? These and similar questions should help you dig deeper and learn the essential facts about the story you should have read. Fortunately, these days, finding answers to such questions is easier than ever before. All you need is Internet access and a computer or a smartphone.

Start by reading a book’s description and reviews online. These two usually have all the basic information you need for a start. Next, research some analysis or summaries of the plot. You need to have a proper idea of what is going on in the story. Of course, you can always ask for help from some of your friends or parents who might have read this book before. Overall, your goal now is to find out the main characters and events in the story, how it starts and ends.

Research its background

Sometimes the time, conditions, and author’s life matter almost as much as the plot of the book. Hence, it is important to learn more about when and how the book was written. Such information will help you better understand the essence and purpose of a book. Moreover, you may also use the specifics of the period or author’s personal life when discussing the book. For instance, the book you have for an essay can be based on the author’s real life. Hence, you definitely need to learn more about this person’s biography before starting writing. Perhaps, find what might have inspired an author to write what they did. Maybe even try to compare this book with others in the same time period or genre.

Draft the main points

Once you learn about the context and main ideas of the story, you may as well write the very first draft. See if you have collected enough evidence and information to write a whole essay. Find out where your weakest spots are and see what you can do about them. Overall, your first draft should be the foundation of your future paper. So it’s important to have everything you need for a good paper in that draft. Also, check if you have enough to meet the given paper instructions.

In the end, your draft is not an essay yet. So you can add there as much as you want, whether those are ideas, facts, citations, etc. The main trick here is to focus on the ideas, characters, and themes of the book that you have understood after your brief acquaintance. However, while you are working on your draft, it should get more organized, comprehensive, and structured. Thus, in the end, you should be able to turn your draft into the foundation of your essay.

Add extra sources

Whenever in doubt, go for extra research. Follow this rule rigorously, and you should be fine. When you feel like you don’t understand the characters’ motivation, main idea, plot changes, or else, you can begin the research again. Perhaps, seek additional sources to add more credentials to your paper. Look for academic articles that can either add to a literary analysis of the book you are writing about or to the issues discussed in a paper.

Overall, as a student, you should know how to find reliable sources and use them wisely. You can also read the awakening essay sample to learn more about the usage of references and in-text citations. Also, another good piece of advice is to use more quotations from the text. By doing so, you are forced to explain the citations rather than the whole book at once. Hence, by offering several citations, you can focus solely on analyzing them, which can help you extend the word count and actually look familiar with the topic of your writing.

Final thoughts

Sometimes, students simply don’t have enough time to read certain books. It’s understandable. We’ve all been there. However, you should fall into despair. There are ways to write essays on books you haven’t read. You just need to be efficient with your time and well-skilled in research. These are just a few tips you can use next time you have to write an essay. Good luck!