Sample Starters

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Writing About Reading: Some Openers

  • I was surprised when/angry about/satisfied with/moved by/incredulous at/puzzled by/…
  • I like the way the author…
  • I noticed how the author…
  • I don’t get why the author…
  • If I were the author I would have…
  • I’d compare this author to…
  • This book [character, place, event] reminded me of…because...
  • The main character…
  • The character development…
  • The narrative voice…
  • The structure of this book…
  • The climax of the plot…
  • The resolution of the main character’s problem…
  • The character I [like best, admire, dislike the most] is....because...
  • The genre of this book…
  • I’d say a theme of this book is…
  • I like/dislike...
  • I wish that...
  • I didn’t agree with…
  • I understood…
  • I couldn’t understand…
  • A question I have about this book is....because...
  • Why did…
  • This is how I read this book...
  • When I read this, I felt…
  • The book makes me think about [an important social issue, a problem, and so on]...
  • I rated this one because…
  • If I could talk to one of the book's characters I would (ask or say)....
  • If I were this character, I would...
  • [Character] reminds me of [myself, a friend, a family member, etc.] because...
  • I predict that.....because....
  • Some important details I noticed were....They were important because...
  • The author got me interested when...
  • The book is really about....
  • After the book ends, I predict....
  • I learned...
  • After reading the first [paragraph, page, chapter] of this book, I felt....
  • This book makes me want to [action, further reading]....
  • What I want to remember from this book is...
  • The most important [word, phrase, idea] in this book is...
  • My feelings about the [book, characters] changed when...
  • This book was an effective piece of writing because....
  • As compared to other books [by this author, on the same topic], I think this book is....
  • If I were the author, I would have changed...
  • This book helped me to...
  • I thought this book was [realistic, unrealistic] because...
  • I noticed that the author...
  • The big ideas in this book were....
  • I think this author wrote this book to....