So, everyone knows that the kids these days are using ChatGPT to write their book reports. Even Big Nate knows it!
But what about ChatGPT’s safeguards? Isn’t it supposed to have some kind of anti-cheating baked in, so it won’t just write essays for kids? Why doesn’t that work?
Sure, it does have safeguards… kind of. If you just ask it to write an essay, it responds with a “helpful” answer about how to write an essay. The thing is that these safeguards are incredibly easy to work around.
Let’s pretend we’re a student who has to write a book report on The Kingdom over the Sea, by Zohra Nabi. Here’s how to write it in 20 minutes without even touching the book.
1. Find a review.
Look up the book online in a search engine. Find a book review that describes it and skim the review. Note the main character’s name and what happens.
In this case, the Kingdom over the Sea was reviewed on Kirkus Reviews. The main character’s name is Yara, and the author’s name is Zohra Nabi.
2. Ask ChatGPT for the first paragraph.
Let’s pretend we’re a Grade 6 student asking ChatGPT what should go in the first paragraph of this book report. Here are the prompts I used:
Hi Im a Grade 6 student and I need to write a baper on a book called, the Kingdom over the Sea.
can you tell me what to put in the first paragraph
Of course! The first paragraph of your paper is usually the introduction, and it should give your reader a brief overview of the book and what your paper will be about. Here’s a basic structure for the first paragraph:
Start with a hook: Begin with an interesting or engaging sentence to grab your reader’s attention. It could be a quote from the book, a surprising fact, or a question related to the story.
Introduce the book: Mention the title of the book (“The Kingdom over the Sea”) and the author’s name if you know it.
Provide some context: Briefly describe the genre of the book (e.g., fantasy, adventure) and its setting (where and when the story takes place).
Mention the main idea: Give a hint about the main theme or what the story is about. For example, is it about a young hero going on an epic adventure, a mystery to be solved, or a journey to a magical land?
State your purpose: Finally, state that your paper will explore and analyze various aspects of the book. Mention the topics or themes you plan to discuss, such as characters, plot, or themes.
Here’s an example to get you started:
“In the enchanting world of ‘The Kingdom over the Sea,’ written by [Author’s Name], readers are transported to a magical land filled with adventures, mystery, and wonder. This fantasy novel, set in a distant realm, follows the journey of [Main Character’s Name] as he embarks on an epic quest. In this paper, we will delve into the captivating elements of this story, exploring the characters, plot twists, and the themes that make ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ an unforgettable read.”
Feel free to customize it to fit your own thoughts and ideas. If you have any specific details about the book you’d like to include in the introduction, please let me know!
3. Fill in and rephrase
Ignore most of ChatGPT’s long, didactic answer. Grab the sample paragraph, fill in the missing “Author’s Name” and “Main Character’s Name”, and–this part is key–ask ChatGPT to rephrase it like a Grade 6 student wrote it. If you don’t, you’ll wind up with this problem:
Here’s the rewritten prompt:
please rewrite this text so it sounds like a Grade 6 student wrote it: “In the enchanting world of ‘The Kingdom over the Sea,’ written by Zohra Nabi, readers are transported to a magical land filled with adventures, mystery, and wonder. This fantasy novel, set in a distant realm, follows the journey of Yara as she embarks on an epic quest. In this paper, we will delve into the captivating elements of this story, exploring the characters, plot twists, and the themes that make ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ an unforgettable read.”
“In ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ by Zohra Nabi, it’s like you’re going on a journey to a super cool and magical place! This book is all about adventures, mysteries, and really amazing stuff. It’s a fantasy book, and it happens in a faraway world. We get to follow this awesome character named Yara, and she’s off on a super big adventure. In my paper, we’ll check out the cool stuff in the story, like the characters, surprises, and the things that make ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ a book you won’t forget.”
And there’s the first paragraph of your book report — done!
5. Second paragraph: Paraphrase
For the second paragraph, just ask ChatGPT to paraphrase the whole review you found in step 1. Paste the entire review into the prompt. (I haven’t pasted the whole thing; the review starts with “Cryptic directions”)
can you write this paragraph like a 6th grader wrote it “Cryptic directions…
“Yara’s mom left her some tricky clues that sent her from England to a super magical world. Her mom passed away and left her directions to go to a place called Zehaira, where she’d meet a sorceress named Leyla Khatoun. Yara wasn’t sure if this was real at first, but she really wanted to know more about her mom and their past because, on paper, they were from Iraq. When she got there, she found a world where the Sultan was against magic and had the sorcerers hiding from the Inquisition. On her way to find Leyla, Yara heard about a plan to wipe out all the sorcerers. But Leyla was busy running a secret sorcerer hideout and didn’t want to help the city sorcerers. Yara had to work really hard to get Leyla to see the big danger and to tell her the secrets her mom kept. And guess what? Yara discovers she has some magic of her own, which was a bit unexpected. But we already liked Yara a lot by then. The world in the story is full of magic and feels like an Arabian adventure, and the people and jinn in the story are really interesting. The ending was kind of quick, but it looks like there will be more exciting adventures in the next book.”
6. Expand
Now you have two paragraphs. Feed both of them to ChatGPT and ask it to write Paragraph 3.
Paragraph 1 of the book review is is “In ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’…. Paragraph 2 is “Yara’s mom…” What should I put in Paragraph 3?
Note: In the actual prompt, I pasted in the entire first and second paragraphs; I didn’t duplicate them here because that would be boring. But you get the idea.
“One of my favorite parts in ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ was when Yara discovered her own magical abilities. It was a big surprise, and I thought it was really cool how the author revealed her powers. I also liked how the characters changed during the story. Yara became even braver, and it was awesome to see her grow. The themes in the book, like courage and friendship, are important in real life too. I thought they were well shown in the story. The author’s writing style made the book easy to read, and I felt like I was right there with Yara on her adventure. Overall, I really enjoyed ‘The Kingdom over the Sea,’ and I would totally recommend it to my friends because it’s full of magic and fun!”
7. Put it all together
Put the three paragraphs all together to get a finished 440-word book review that could plausibly come from an overly enthusiastic middle-schooler:
In ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ by Zohra Nabi, it’s like you’re going on a journey to a super cool and magical place! This book is all about adventures, mysteries, and really amazing stuff. It’s a fantasy book, and it happens in a faraway world. We get to follow this awesome character named Yara, and she’s off on a super big adventure. In my paper, we’ll check out the cool stuff in the story, like the characters, surprises, and the things that make ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ a book you won’t forget.
Yara’s mom left her some tricky clues that sent her from England to a super magical world. Her mom passed away and left her directions to go to a place called Zehaira, where she’d meet a sorceress named Leyla Khatoun. Yara wasn’t sure if this was real at first, but she really wanted to know more about her mom and their past because, on paper, they were from Iraq. When she got there, she found a world where the Sultan was against magic and had the sorcerers hiding from the Inquisition. On her way to find Leyla, Yara heard about a plan to wipe out all the sorcerers. But Leyla was busy running a secret sorcerer hideout and didn’t want to help the city sorcerers. Yara had to work really hard to get Leyla to see the big danger and to tell her the secrets her mom kept. And guess what? Yara discovers she has some magic of her own, which was a bit unexpected. But we already liked Yara a lot by then. The world in the story is full of magic and feels like an Arabian adventure, and the people and jinn in the story are really interesting. The ending was kind of quick, but it looks like there will be more exciting adventures in the next book.
One of my favorite parts in ‘The Kingdom over the Sea’ was when Yara discovered her own magical abilities. It was a big surprise, and I thought it was really cool how the author revealed her powers. I also liked how the characters changed during the story. Yara became even braver, and it was awesome to see her grow. The themes in the book, like courage and friendship, are important in real life too. I thought they were well shown in the story. The author’s writing style made the book easy to read, and I felt like I was right there with Yara on her adventure. Overall, I really enjoyed ‘The Kingdom over the Sea,’ and I would totally recommend it to my friends because it’s full of magic and fun!
8. Sprinkle with mistakes and hand in
Add a few spelling mistakes for verisimilitude, and the homework is done.
This took me about 20 minutes, start to finish: much less time than it would’ve taken me to read the book, think about it, come up with something to say, and write it down.
And if I really was a Grade 6 student, I would’ve lost the experience of reading a fantastic book, thinking about it, and reflecting on my own reaction to it. (I did read the book, and it really is lovely.)
What’s a teacher to do?
I don’t know, but here are a couple of ideas from a non-teacher:
- Use in-class quizzes, not book reports to see who’s done the assigned reading.
- Ask for response papers that discuss a student’s personal reaction to a book, rather than summarizing the book.
- Ask for personalized answers in which students contextualize their response to a book with something in their own lives.
- Require handwritten homework so that, at the very least, students have to hand-copy what ChatGPT spits out. Even the act of copying can lead to reflection.