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Guidance for Writing Blog Posts

Guidance for Writing Blog Posts



  • Tell about your experience as a reader of the book:  Explain how the book makes you feel.  Provide the specific passages that you found most moving/shocking/poignant/surprising/interesting, and explain how they affected you.   Describe what you noticed about how the author wrote.  Comment on the author’s diction (language choices), writing style, the cadence or rhythm of the language.
  • Tell what you think the themes might be. Tell what surprised you.  Pose your wonderings—your questions about the author, the characters, the structure, the voice, and yourself as a reader.  Include evidence to support your discussion of theme.

  • Respond to the text:  Choose a chunk of text or a section that you think shows something essential.   In your blog post, quote—copy—the passage you chose, and write about what you think it shows about the book, the author, or your response to either.


  • Comment on:
    • the narrative voice the author chose— first? third? a rare second?—and how it worked for you.
    • how the author develops the so what? or theme
    • the tone of the narrative or the overall feeling you get
    • the visual descriptions and sensory details: could you see it? feel it? hear it?
    • the plot and how it moves, makes sense, transitions among situations
    • the climax or high point of the action
    • the dialogue: is it realistic? does it reveal character? did the author create a style or break rules?
    • the setting and how the author describes it—or doesn’t
    • the main character as an invented person: did you believe in him or her?
    • how the author developed the main character:
      • a change in the character (note: this is often a source of the so what? or theme in action)
      • their problem
      • thoughts and feelings
      • personality traits
      • actions and reactions
      • relationships with others, including family and friends
      • conversations with others
      • possessions, habits, and hobbies
      • the resolution—or lack of resolution—of their problem
      • how/whether you connected with the main character and/or the supporting characters
    • your first impressions as a reader of this book vs. your final impressions
    • how a book resembles another genre, e.g., a novel that’s written like a poem
    • the lead: was it inviting? gripping? slow? intriguing?
    • the conclusion: was it resonant? satisfying? logical? a cliff-hanger? unsatisfying? confusing? ambiguous?


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