How to Write Takeaways for Books
Written by Joanna Zuno 9/15/2021
Imagine that you are assigned a book report from school. The criteria state that the assignment should be, in length, one paragraph. Probably shorter, with a very concise summarization of the book. Keep in mind, you have to illustrate the broad picture of it. Now, imagine your adult self, and your boss asks for that same assignment, with the same criteria, except that this time, you don't summarize the entire plot in three short sentences. Your boss wants to know your take on the book, how it made you see things in a broader light. That is a takeaway.
Takeaways are usually small reflection summaries from a reader. Unlike a summarization that states the obviousness of a plot, you're sharing the most profound emotional reflection that impacted you from reading the book in just three sentences. Here are some tips for writing your takeaways, whether that be for your boss, your personal literacy blog, or maybe when you're self-reflecting in your book journal.
Let Your Philosopher Self Come Into Role
Was there something you've read that put a broader aspect? Did it make you see things that can connect with your world perspective? If so, write it down! Takeaways are about embracing those inner thoughts and putting them as unique philosophical perspectives. When I read What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges, I could have told you this was a coming-of-age story in a dying small town of Iowa, or I could have you transfixed by my take like this:
We hate the narrow-mindedness of people, as well as their judgments, but how do we escape it before becoming like them?
With the statement above, are you more swayed to read the book? It's not a whole illustrated take, but it gives way to what it is about. It brings more depth from another reader about the main character, giving him more intrinsic value.
You Are Allowed to Be the Critic of the World
Did a certain book about an event or circumstances give you a connection about more serious events or controversies outside of it? Was your judgment ever so highly? Or did it lapse? Takeaways are personal opinions of something, and sometimes we can link them to a broader scale problem in the world. Take Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser. I would summarize that this is a historical record of the rise to power of fast food corporations, but if I wanted to enthrall someone to read it, I could write how I felt about the other groups involved in this example:
Should the school districts that allowed fast-food lunch programs inherit the responsibility of childhood obesity, or were they just victims of underfunded budgets?
In Schlosser's book, underfunded schools resign to having fast-food lunch programs to help fund them. This is a considerable portion of the book, not entirely the whole book. Still, it drives connection to bigger problems: schools, being part of the public infrastructure, are heavily underfunded.
The Part that Connects to You the Most is The Best Part
As my last example, a book takeaway does not precisely need your personalized summary of the whole book. It can be the part that connects you the most. What chapter was the most appealing? Or, was there something that made an instant click for you? Whatever it was, making that part of your takeaway might be the best persuasion of getting someone to read that book.
We at Vialchemy hope that this article on takeaways helps you share your personalized summaries with others. Please feel free to browse the rest of our archives for other articles to help your reading further.