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Activity 1 Book Review Analysis

The book review provides a summary of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. It discusses how the book follows Mitch Albom as he visits his former professor Morrie Schwartz, who is dying of ALS. Some of the key lessons discussed in the book are appreciating the time we have, living fully rather than taking relationships for granted, and the importance of love and kindness. The review analyzes the book's effective use of language and storytelling to convey Morrie's philosophical insights about life and death.

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358 views

Activity 1 Book Review Analysis

The book review provides a summary of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. It discusses how the book follows Mitch Albom as he visits his former professor Morrie Schwartz, who is dying of ALS. Some of the key lessons discussed in the book are appreciating the time we have, living fully rather than taking relationships for granted, and the importance of love and kindness. The review analyzes the book's effective use of language and storytelling to convey Morrie's philosophical insights about life and death.

Uploaded by

Bien Pascual
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PAOMBONG HIGH SCHOOL, INC.

School Year 2020-2021


ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES (Grade 11)

Name: Bien Oscar M. Pascual


Grade & Section: 11-Mapanagutan
Week: 7 Date: October 5-9, 2020

Activity 1: Book Review Analysis

Directions: Read and analyze the book review on Tuesdays with Morrie and answer the questions that follow.

Family Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom


By Alexis and Ellen Weeren
Before reading Tuesdays with Morrie, I had not read anything by Mitch Albom. I
had not read much non-fiction (at least not much that wasn’t in a textbook), so I wasn’t
sure what to expect. But the story drew me in very quickly. Mitch Albom spent each
Tuesday with Morrie, his former professor, who was very ill. As I read about these visits, I
realized that this book was about how we spend our time.
Teenagers often think they have all the time in the world. We focus on things that
benefit mostly ourselves: enjoying our favorite hobbies, spending time with our friends,
and trying to get into a good college. Even our community service can be more beneficial
to us than to those we are meant to be helping. But this book reminded me that time is
precious, and we ought to pay more attention to how we choose to spend it.
Albom had taken his relationship with his favorite professor for granted, assuming
he would always be around. It wasn’t until he saw a news story featuring Morrie that
Albom realized his mentor was not only sick, but dying. He decided to visit Morrie and
ended up getting the most important lessons of his life.
In the book, Morrie says, “Love is the only rational answer.” That really resonated with me. He also
says, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” These statements
reminded me of the importance of how we treat each other. As Morrie says, “Love Wins.”
Albom says that the thing he misses most about Morrie is his “belief in humanity.” It seems like Morrie
took nothing for granted. He loved people fully and gave them his undivided attention. This book’s message
has really stayed with me. I pay more attention to the moments and people in front of me. I enjoyed Tuesdays
with Morrie so much that I went on to read several of Mitch Albom’s other books. Each one has been better
than the one before it.
Imagine counting your breaths to figure out how much life you have left in you. A healthy adult can
exhale while counting to about 70. A dying man may not be able to get much past 15. That is one of the many
things Mitch Albom learned on his Tuesday visits with his former professor Morrie, who had been diagnosed
with ALS.
I have unfortunately watched more than one person I love suffer through a terminal illness. It is hard,
partly because there really isn’t anything you can do to help them and partly because you can’t truly imagine
what they are going through. It is difficult to get a firm grasp on what “the end” feels and looks like.
Tuesdays with Morrie gives a glimpse into that world. Morrie shares with Albom that “ALS is like a lit
candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax.” Throughout the book, Morrie shares many
valuable insights. One of his philosophies is, “Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.
Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it.”
Morrie admits to crying about his situation, but only allowing himself a few moments each day to
lament. Then he turned his attention to the people and activities he loved most, often giving comfort to those
who visited him rather than receiving it. People might stay away from sharing this book with younger readers.
On the surface it seems to be only about death. But it is truly about living. Morrie says, “Dying is only one thing
to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else.”
The question of Morrie’s that sticks with me the most is, “Are you trying to be as human as you can
be?”
Sometimes it feels easier, and safer, to be quick with our words and reserved with our
kindness. Tuesdays with Morrie reminds us to slow down and appreciate each other. Morrie cautions that at
the end of our lives, we will miss our relationships with people the most. They will matter much more than the
things that seem so important to us. People are always worthy of our time and energy.

Source: https://yourteenmag.com/stuff-we-love/books/book-review-tuesdays-with-morrie
Process Questions:

1. What are the key points present in the book review?

            Tuesdays with Morrie Book Review made by Alexis and Ellen Weeren is a biographical
approach wherein Mitch Albom as the author is one of the protagonists that shares his life experiences
when he meets Morrie Schwartz, his former professor, again. The review discusses that time is
precious and besides, we ought to pay more attention to how we choose to spend it. This key point
matters as it is implied to the discussion of life lessons shared by Morrie when he allows Albom to visit
during his last days. It hits different because Mitch realized that every single time is important for him to
live with happiness and learn to love things that he did not even know that it is essential for him to grow
with humanity. In general, as Morrie suffers from his illness, he tends to discuss that love is a rational
answer on how we treat each other. The key point also is about Albom’s visit to Morrie for remembering
and helping each other to enlighten themselves resulting to gain the most important lessons of his life
through death. Morrie shared valuable insights that allow Albom to cry openly in which he meant to say
that acceptance of ability and flaws without denying it is a good thing to develop yourself. Lastly, it is all
about the disillusionment of Albom about popular culture because he wholeheartedly accepts things
coming from Morrie's perception about life as it continues and ends. 

2. Is the book review effective terms of language, approach to critiquing, and evidence to support
criticisms? Why or why not?

The overall critical approach was able to become effective due to the use of the subjective view
of the author to the review itself, mean to say that Alexos and Ellen Weeren was able to point out the
lesson of the book by placing themselves on the scene in a way of storytelling, in short, they used first-
person point of view. Furthermore, the review used simple and easy to understand words for more
general viewers. The thing that may get the review to become more effective is the incorporation of
shreds of evidence to support the criticism in which the manifestation of every quote mention is
understandable based on the mind of those critique professionals. They tend to think of a scenario that
is applicable to the lesson itself. This book review uses basic languages but engaging also to let the
readers continue the reading. Those pieces of evidence are way more philosophical and they are
integrated into the lesson of the book Tuesdays with Morrie. 

3. In your opinion, is it just and appropriate to just focus on the negative points when writing a review for a
film/book? Explain your answer.

Remember, in writing a critical approach/review, a professional critic must never only focus on
the flaws of the film/book because it will only end up as destructive criticism. Writing a critique paper
must contain fair statements regarding its positive and negative points. When you are reviewing an
output, tend to balance your criticism in the way of finding its beauty and mentioning its mistakes but by
putting shreds of evidence and reasons why it is considered as flaws. In addition, focusing only on the
negative points will make the review worst and it may result in the downgrade of the film/book because
some of the readers based their decisions on what should be an attempt to watch or read by reading a
review. The choice of words is a must to objectify your point regarding the output. Somehow, writing a
review or critique paper is also complicated if you only mention positive points only. It only entails that
you should be fair in giving points that you see to the film/book. Lastly, mentioning negative points with
concrete pieces of evidence and suggestions is a way to say that you are still respectful to the
director/author. In short, be kind but never forget to be honest at all times to avoid wrong perceptions. A
review is made for improvement and appreciation, but not to destroy someone else's work. 

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