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

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.

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.

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

Summary Template The exposition of a novel is the background the author gives as a beginning of the plot. 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.

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.

Book Report Summary In the rising action of the story, (character name) (what the character does). Then (something else happens). Later, (one more event). Example In the rising action of the story, Brian crash-lands the plane into a lake. Then, he eats too many berries and drinks too much water and gets sick. Later, he builds a shelter and learns to fish and hunt for food.

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.

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.

Book Report Summary In the resolution, (character name) (how he is at the end of the story). Example In the resolution, Brian returns home a stronger person mentally and physically, and adjusts to his parents divorce.

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, Brian crash-lands the plane into a lake. Then, he eats too many berries and drinks too much 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, Brian returns home a stronger person mentally and physically, and adjusts to his parents divorce.