%% #📓 #📚 #🔴 %% # How to Read a Book - Adler & Van Doren ![[calendar-plus.svg]] <small>Dec 28, 2021</small> | ![[calendar-clock.svg]] <small>May 30, 2023</small> **Author(s):** Moritmer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren **Citation:** Adler, M. J., & Van Doren, C. (2014). *How to read a book: The classic guide to intelligent reading.* Touchstone. --- # ~ 3 Sentence Summary ## Key Takeaways # Notes & Important Ideas #### Four levels of reading 1. Elementary Reading - Basic literacy - Reader can answer the question "What does the sentence say?" 2. [[inspectional reading|Inspectional Reading]] - Quickly reading to uncover the purpose of the writing and evaluate the merits of further reading - Gives you the gist of things 3. [[analytical reading|Analytical Reading]] - Thorough reading to fully comprehend 4. [[syntopical reading|Syntopical Reading]] - Comparative reading that involves reading many books on the same subject and comparing and contrasting ideas, vocabulary and arguments #### Inspectional Reading - Two types of inspectional reading 1. [[systematic skimming|Systematic skimming]] or pre-reading 2. [[superficial reading|Superficial reading]] #### How to be a demanding reader - To catch more of what the author is 'pitching,' it is important to practice more [[active reading]], which entails asking four basic questions. - Make a book your own with [[marginalia]]. - Take three kinds of notes: 1. [[structural notes]] 2. [[conceptual notes]] 3. [[dialectical notes]] - Form a habit of reading #### Analytical Reading ##### Classify a book ```ad-important title: Rule #1 Know what kind of book you're reading, preferably before you begin reading. ``` ##### X-ray a book to grasp it's structure ```ad-important title: Rule #2 State the unity of the whole book in a single sentence or short paragraph. ``` ```ad-important title: Rule #3 Set forth the major parts of the book, and show how they're organized into a whole. ``` - Discover the [[author's purpose]] - ```ad-important title: Rule #4 Find out what the author's problems were. ``` ## Connections to Other Materials # Personal Revelations --- # Other References ## Tags