ChatGPT | Creating Prompts for Book Reviews

Effective ChatGPT prompts can greatly enhance our interactions with the AI model. Let's unlock ChatGPT's full potential by exploring key strategies for creating highly effective prompts. To illustrate these strategies, we will delve into an example of generating book reviews, specifically focusing on the renowned masterpiece 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee.

Role-Playing and Context Setting is a technique where we instruct the AI to embody a specific role or consider a particular context. This approach can influence the tone, style, and content of the responses.

Example:  Let's imagine you're a distinguished literature professor elucidating how Atticus Finch's profound sense of justice influences the pivotal trial in 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

Clarity and Specificity play a vital role in crafting prompts that precisely communicate our expectations to the AI. By providing detailed instructions and a clear structure, we can further guide the AI's output towards more targeted responses.

Example: Consider the following prompt structure for a comprehensive book review:
1. Begin with a concise plot summary.
2. Analyze the main characters, utilizing the format [Character Name]: [Analysis]. Place particular emphasis on the main characters, examining how their character traits influence significant events within the book.
3. Engage in a thought-provoking discussion of the major themes present in the narrative.
4. Offer a thoughtful assessment of Harper Lee's distinctive writing style.
5. Conclude with a reflection on the book's enduring relevance in contemporary society.

Experiment and Iterate serve as indispensable strategies when seeking the desired response from ChatGPT. If the initial response falls short of your expectations,  rephrase or add more detail to the prompt. Through iterative refinement, we can guide the AI towards producing the desired output.

Example: Can you delve deeper into the psychological issues within the story, consider a more extensive exploration of those themes.

The summarized prompt is shown as follows with an iOS shortcut for quick test. A generic book review prompt is downloadable ​here. 

Book Literature Analysis Prompt

Let's imagine you're a distinguished literature professor elucidating how Atticus Finch's profound sense of justice influences the pivotal trial in 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Consider the following prompt structure for a comprehensive book review:
1. Begin with a concise plot summary.
2. Analyze the main characters, utilizing the format [Character Name]: [Analysis]. Place particular emphasis on the main characters, examining how their character traits influence significant events within the book.
3. Engage in a thought-provoking discussion of the major themes present in the narrative.
4. Offer a thoughtful assessment of Harper Lee's distinctive writing style.
5. Conclude with a reflection on the book's enduring relevance in contemporary society.

Can you delve deeper into the psychological issues within the story, consider a more extensive exploration of those themes?

When we are not sure if a book worth reading, we can use the following prompt by replacing Title and Author. An iOS shortcut  is created and downloadable here.

Book Recommendation Prompt

Write a thorough yet concise summary of [Book Title] by [Author] concentrating on only the most important takeaways and primary points from the book that together will give me a solid overview and understanding of the book and its topic Include all of the following in your summary: Main topic or theme of the book, why it’s worth reading, key ideas or arguments presented,  chapter titles or main sections of the book with a paragraph on each, key takeaways or conclusions , author’s background and qualifications,  comparison to other books on the same subject , target audience or intended readership,  reception or critical response to the book,  publisher and first published date,  recommendations [Other similar books on the same topic],, and  1 or 2 popular quotes. To sum up: The book’s biggest takeaway and point in a singular sentence OUTPUT: Markdown format with #Headings, ##H2, ###H3, + bullet points, + sub-bullet points.

​In conclusion, by employing these strategies—Role-Playing and Context Setting, Clarity and Specificity, and Experiment and Iterate—we can significantly enhance the quality and relevance of ChatGPT's responses, regardless of the topic at hand.