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How to Read a Book Buy this title or join our Management Literature Club and have a chance to GET IT FREE!
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Book Notes by Alexei Chadyuk (November 2003) This book tells how to read a book so that you can
understand and remember both the idea and the structure of the argument, as
if they were your own. Reading to better understanding of our world. Active
reading
Book dedicated to reading for understanding. [p3] -
Today we get too much information to the detriment of our
understanding of the world. -
Media package positions and opinions, so we don’t have an
opportunity to make up our minds for ourselves. -
The more active reading is the better. [p5] -
Demand more of yourself and the text -
Reader is like a catcher in baseball -
Catching a ball is as much an activity as pitching -
Book is like a ball – passive object common to two
activities – beginning (writing) and termination (reading) -
Pitcher and catcher need to cooperate -
The more active you are – the more you catch Reading
for Enlightenment
The art of reading is the process whereby a mind with
nothing to operate upon but the printed matter, elevates itself from understanding
less to understanding more. [p8] Reading has two senses: -
reading for information – content is intelligible
at once – cannot increase our understanding; -
reading for understanding – reader does not
completely understand the content at the beginning. Requirements: o
initial difference is understanding between reader and
writer; o
reader must be able to overcome inequality, to some
degree. (This book is not much concerned with reading for
entertainment.)
Enlightenment is achieved only when, in addition to what
the author says, you know what he means by that and why he says that. Aided Discovery
Teacher and student are like doctor and patient. Whatever doctor does, it is the
patient himself should grow in health.
Teacher may help – but the student should do the learning.
Book is an absent teacher: Ask book a question – you must
answer it yourself: -
To know how to make a book a better teacher – the
main purpose of How to Read the Book. 4 Levels of Reading
(1) Elementary. Question: “What this sentence says?” (2) Inspectional. Limited time. Systematic skimming. Q:
“What is the book about?” (3) Analytical.
“Chewing and digesting.” Reading
for the sake of understanding. (4) Syntopical.
Comparative reading. Constructing the analysis that is not present in any
book. Level 2.
Inspectional Reading
( I ) Systematic skimming / pre-reading ·
You do not know whether a book deserves an analytical
reading ·
Limited time ·
Can find something out even if you don’t want to read
afterwards Act as a detective looking for
the clues: (1) Title
page / preface – subtitles ·
Pigeonhole the book (2) Table of
contents (3) Index ·
Look up passages with key terms (4) Publisher’s
blurb ·
If it doesn’t say anything, the book may not say anything
either (5) Chapters
pivotal to the argument ·
Summary statements (6) Turn the
pages ·
Read a paragraph / a page or two ·
Last few pages contain a summary of the book ( II ) Superficial reading ·
When tacking a difficult book, read it through without
stopping to comprehend the difficult parts. o
Need to read with varying speeds depending on the material Relationship between:
Being a demanding reader: ask questions, mark a
book, write down thoughts. Questions to ask a book: -
What is it about as a whole? -
What does it say in detail? -
Is it true? -
What of it? A habit of asking these questions is a mark of a demanding
reader. Ability to answer them
precisely and accurately is the art of reading. [p48] Marking a book
-
Keeps you awake -
Reading is thinking.
Thinking is expressed in words. -
Writing down your reactions helps to remember thoughts of
author Things to mark in a book -
Major points, forceful statements, with a separate coding
for a dozen key points (need to develop this!) -
End papers for summaries, -
Front papers for outline of the book Types of note making: -
Structural –
when you complete inspectional reading -
Conceptual –
analytical reading -
Dialectical –
syntopical reading – shape of discussion. Level 3. Analytical Reading
Stages of analytical reading Rules of analytical reading
Stage I. Structural. Q: What is it about? (1) Know what
the book is about early in the process. (Pigeonholing)
[p60] (2) State in
one sentence the theme of the book.
(Unity) [p75] (3) Outlining
the parts making up the whole.
(Multiplicity) [p84] (4) What were
the author’s problems? What
questions did he attempt to answer by writing the book? [p92] Stage II. Interpretive. Q: What does it say in detail? (5) Find the
important words and through them come to terms with the author. [p98] (6) Mark
important sentences and discover the propositions they contain. [p120] The test of the success of the
analytical reading is the ability to state the proposition in your own words,
or give an example. [p125] (7) Locate
and construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the
connection of the sentences. [p120] (8) What are the
solutions to the problems defined in (4)? [p135] Stage III. Critical. Q: Is it true? (9) Do not
agree, disagree or suspend judgement on the book until you understand
it. [p142] (10) Disagree
reasonably, not contentiously
[p145] Argument is
empty unless, when you start it, you expect that reason and relevant evidence
can resolve the original issue. (11) Respect
the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion, by giving reasons
for any critical judgement you make.
[p150] Judgement
Example of difference
disagreement and misunderstanding: “all men are
equal”—agreement on the terms does not imply agreement on the ideas. Rules of Controversy [p154-6]
(1) Acknowledge
emotions involved (2) Make
assumptions explicit—good controversy is not a quarrel about assumptions (3) Try to
take the point of view of the other. Types of Criticism (1) You are
uninformed (2) You are
misinformed (3) You are
illogical (4) Your
analysis is incomplete Stage IV.
Ultimate search of Significance. Q: What of it? Extrinsic aids to reading
(1) Relevant
experience a. Common
experience—available to most people b. Special
experience—available in e.g. lab setting (2) Other
books a. Extend
the context b. Timeline
should sometimes be observed (3) Commentaries
and abstracts—to be used sparingly because they may not be (i) right or (ii)
exhaustive. a. Commentaries
are to be read after the book b. Abstracts
can be used only for:
i.
Reminding of the contents
ii.
Helping in your decision to study the text in more detail (4) Reference
books. Need to know 4 things: a. What do
you want to find? b. In what
reference book to find it? c.
How to find it? d. Content
in reference books is limited to what is knowable. Approaches to different kinds of books
Practical books
Cover areas where people act
better or worse. Split into: (1) Rule
books (2) Underlying
principle books: when reading, need to derive rules from principles, to be
effective. Main judgement of a practical
book is based on: (1) Goals it
suggests to achieve. (2) Means
suggested are secondary. -
You should always answer both questions to understand a
practical book -
Because you judge a book by aims it wants you to achieve,
success of the book depends on how well the author makes you move in that
direction. -
Hence he will use both logical and emotional methods of
persuasion. -
When emotions are involved, it is good to know the
circumstances in which the book was written. Rules for reading a practical
book (1) What is
it about? (2) What the
author wants you to do? (Rule 4) And how he proposes to do it?
(Rule 8) (3) Are the
goals and means right? (4) Action Imaginative Literature influences
our imagination by trying to convey experience, while expository work calls
for our intelligence trying to convey knowledge. -
To maximise the effect literature has on us – try not
resist it -
Literature is an escape from reality into the deeper
reality of inner self -
Literature tries to be as ambiguous as possible by trying
to convey several (albeit connected) meanings, whereas expository works try
to be as precise in the meaning as possible -
Do not look for terms, propositions and arguments -
You can learn from imaginative literature through
experiences created by your imagination -
Don’t criticise by truth and consistency; if the
experience is probable, if it is likely – the fiction truthful Rules for reading imaginative
literature (I)
Structural (1) Classify
the type of fiction read (2) Unity of
the story, plot (3) Parts
that construct the work (II)
Interpretive (1) Elements:
characters, actions, episodes, feelings (2) Elements
exist in the imaginative “world” that you have to enter (3) How the
plot unravels / Follow through adventure (III)
Critical (1) Do not
criticise until you have appreciated the experience (2) We don’t
agree or disagree with fiction; we either like it or not (3) Go from
stating with you like and dislike in the work and why, to saying what
is good and bad about the book itself.
Beauty is the only reason for
its being. Practical recommendations [p215] -
Read the story quickly to grasp both the plot and the
detail -
Fiction is a human necessity because it fulfils both
conscious and unconscious needs. Plays [p223] -
Plays are only complete on stage, not in writing. So it is important to imagine
yourself as a director advising actors on how they should say a particular
phrase -
Read out loud the difficult parts Greek tragedies [p226] -
Time constraints leading to tragic decisions -
Actors-heroes wearing buskins elevating them several
inches above the chorus Poems [p227] -
Read through without stopping, then read again loud -
Every poem has some kind of a conflict History [p234] -
History is a soft science because it is never possible to
know what exactly happened and why -
Read more than one account of the event -
Read history to learn the Way Questions: -
Boundaries of the account / which aspect seen fundamental
(e.g. war, economy, religion, art) -
Criticism: (1) Verisimilitude
/ likelihood (2) Use of
sources -
Key question: What of it? – Practical / political: what
happened, how can it be repeated or avoided Current events [p248] -
Who is writing a report (what is his mind-set)? (1) What does
he want to prove? (2) Whom does
he want to convince? (3) Special
assumptions / frames of reference / doctrines (prisms of view) (4) Special
terms (e.g. communist) (5) Is the
reporter informed? Caveat
Lector – Reader Beware – Author may have an interest in you
understanding the material in a certain way. Science
[p255] -
Contemporary scientific works
are written by experts for experts because in this way they are quicker to
arrive at the frontier and start solving the real problems -
For laymen, therefore, 2 types of books are of interest: (1) Classical
scientific works -
To be read to understand philosophy and history of science
/ understand scientific enterprise -
Free the mind through the discipline of wonder -
Important: state as clearly as you can the problem the
author is trying to solve -
Distinguish assumptions from results achieved through
argument -
Scientific objectivity is not a freedom from bias,
it is a clear confession of it -
Problems: §
Science is inductive: you need to follow evidence provided
by the author to arrive at the proposed generalisations §
Mathematics (2) Popularisations -
Usually avoid both descriptions of experiments (just
provide the result) and the maths -
Need to follow rules of reading even more vigorously Philosophy [p270]
is about asking very simple, even childish questions that do not have an easy
answer -
Philosophy is split into two divisions according to the
type of question they try to answer (1) Theoretical
/ speculative / metaphysical – What is it? (2) Practical
/ normative / epistemological – What should be? -
These are “first order” questions that philosophers up
until 1930 were trying to answer -
“Second order” questions – about way of thinking or
language we use when we try to answer “first order” question – are the
concern of modern philosophy, which makes it too scientific to be accessible
to laymen -
Philosophical method: you can
answer first order questions only through thorough thinking that is based on
common experience. The mistake
some early philosophers made when they applied philosophical method (i.e.
thinking) to questions that be answered by scientific research. -
One can make a reverse mistake -
Five styles of philosophical exposition: (1) Dialogue:
only proper example: Plato – heuristic (allows the reader to discover
things for himself) (2) Treatise
or essay: Aristotle or Kant – straightforward exposition (3) Meeting
of objections: St Thomas Aquinas – truth found in conflict (4) Systemization:
Descartes – Euclid-like style, not very appropriate (5) Aphoristic:
Laotse, Nietzsche – heuristic, hit-and-run, poetical, not satisfactory for
serious philosophy -
Reading philosophy (1) Discover
key question (2) Find
underlying principles (which may not be explicit) (3) Is the
philosopher consistent with them? -
Philosophy explains mature of things, just like science
describes it. Therefore
arguments and analysis are crucial -
Terms are ordinary words used in a different sence -
Pay attention to principles: o
Assumptions.
Assume what author asks you to assume – even if you do not agree o
Self-evident matters. Drawn from common experience of the mankind -
When reading a philosophical book, your mind is the only
aid -
Need to read what other philosophers wrote on the subject -
Disagreement between authors: o
Shows where the problem is still unsolved or unsolvable o
Is not important as you have to make up your mind and
defend it. Theology [p291] -
Natural: assumes that in the endless
causation process, there is an originating cause that itself id not
caused. You can arrive at this
assumption by natural reasoning. -
Dogmatic: first principles = articles of
faith o
Treat dogmas as assumptions (but remember that to the
faithful, the are the knowledge, not tentative opinions) o
See if the arguments and conclusions are cogent with the
assumptions, even if you do not agree with the latter Social science [p296] -
On its matters we tend to have strong opinions – this
makes the task of reading for understanding difficult -
Terms of usage are difficult to define / stipulate (e.g.
define “mental health”) -
Because social science is a constantly varying mixture of
disciplines defining “what this book is about is as difficult as defining
what social science itself is. -
Further problems: coming to terns and “what of it?”
(because of preconceptions and opinions of the reader) -
Typically there is no single authoritative work on
subjects of social sciences => requires syntopical reading Level 4. Syntopical Reading
(I) Define
the subject (II) Preparatory
Stage: Define what books should be read in the syntopical reading project: (1) Construct
bibliography of the subject (2) Complete
inspectional reading of all titles to define: a. Relevance b. Opportunity
for enlightenment (III) Stages
of syntopical reading per se: (1) Find
relevant passages.
Inspectional reading anew (2) Bring
authors to terms.
Create terminology to which all authors should be normed (3) Get the
questions clear.
Create a set of neutral propositions: let authors answer your
questions in a certain order: a. Existence
/ character of the phenomenon b. Its
manifestations, and c.
Consequences (4) Define
issues. Order
opposing opinions in relation to one another (5) Present
and analyse the discussion.
Truth is in the ordered discussion itself, not in opposing
propositions. NB: Be resolutely objective and detached throughout. “Dialectical objectivity”:
look at all sides and take no sides.
Quote the authors to aid objectivity. Reading and the Growth of Mind
-
You must tackle the books beyond you: o
Books that allow you to grow once o
Allowing you to grow more every time you read them -
These allow you to improve: o
Reading skills o
Understanding of the world and self. Further reading on the subject Classification
of Key Propositions in Expository Literature by Alexei Chadyuk
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