1. This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals Writing book reviews Key words, definitions and examples Subject:English Age groups:8 – 11, 12 – 14, 15 – 16, 17 - 18 Topic:Non-fiction writing EAL Nexus resource Licence information | This resource is free to use for educational purposes. © British Council 2014 Source | This resource was originally developed by Charlotte Hurley and has been adapted by EAL Nexus.

2. Paragraph A part of a piece of writing that usually deals with one subject, that begins on a new line, and that is made up of one or more sentences Key term Definition Example

3. Opinion A judgement or viewpoint on a particular matter  The main character is interesting…  The plot is weak…  Many people believe that it is cruel to… Key term Definition Examples

4. Background Information about the story or book, such as when it was written or details about the author. Key term Definition Examples

5. Plot The events that take the story from start to finish Key term Definition Examples

6. Conclude To bring to an end  In conclusion…  To summarise… Key term Definition Examples

7. Character The people or creatures that have roles within the story  Goldilocks  Baby Bear  Katniss Everdeen  Harry Potter  Smaug Key term Definition Examples

8. Setting The time and place where the story takes place  Long ago on a planet far, far away…  In a small town beside the sea… Key term Definition Examples

9. Conjunction A word that is used to link other words or parts of a sentence to make compound or complex sentences and, but, or, because, when, if, so…  The ending didn’t work because …  The main character was unlikeable when …  If the author had written in the first person … Key term Definition Examples

10. Orientate Direct the reader to a particular place in the text on the first page, after that, later on, towards the end, when, after, whenever…  Later on, Katniss needs to make an important decision. Key term Definition Examples

11. Adjective A word which modifies and gives more information about a noun  The second part of the story was boring …  He was a believable character… Key term Definition Examples

12. Author The person or people who have written the book or story Key term Definition Example  Phillip Pullman  J K Rowling  Charles Dickens  Roald Dahl

13. Genre A particular type of story, book or writing with similar themes, characters, setting etc. Key term Definition Example  Horror  Mystery  Crime  Ghost  Adventure  Sci-fi

14. Strengths The good (positive) points about the book or story Key term Definition Example  The detail of description is amazing and the fast pace is incredible

15. Weaknesses The bad (negative) points about the book or story Key term Definition Example  It has a weak plot and unconvincing characters

16. Past tense A verb tense used to show an action that has already happened Key term Definition Example  When I read the final page I found that…  It was surprising when she made it out of there alive…

17. Present tense A verb tense used to show an action that is happening now Key term Definition Example  I think that when the two characters finally become friends…  The author uses a variety of techniques to keep the plot moving…