I know, I know, reading a book about how to read a book seems oxymoronic, but Mortimer J. Adler's classic How To Read A Book, revised with Charles Van Doren, is a must-read for families homeschooling high schoolers, or for anyone interested in self-education and getting more out of their reading. (Here are links to the Christianbook.com and Amazon.com pages for this book.)
In an earlier post, I described the type of research that high school students in the rhetoric stage of their education ought to be equipped to do. This book teaches the reading skills necessary for this level of research.
Adler describes four levels of reading. After reading this book for the first time, I realized I was only thoroughly accomplishing the first level: Elementary Reading, that is, decoding what the text says. Just sitting down and reading a book cover to cover is Elementary Reading. The second level Adler describes is Inspectional Reading. This is something I had learned something about in school, but Adler has systematized this type of reading, as he does the others, by explaining the goals of skimming, and how to do a thorough inspection of a book. Homeschoolers should be sure their middle school students have mastered these skills. They can be introduced in late elementary school.
The bulk of How to Read a Book addresses the third level of reading, which Adler calls Analytical Reading. Again Adler's approach is very systematic.
He addresses specific questions the active reader needs to be asking of the book and suggests methods for gaining and recording the information. Analytical reading involves properly classifying the book and defining the author's purpose, understanding the author's use of terms, and identifying his arguments. I have had opportunity to apply these methods to some of my reading, and my comprehension and long-term memory of material I have read this way is greatly improved. One can't read every book this way--it would take too long. These methods are to be used on those few books that are worth the time it takes to study them well. These skills can be introduced in junior high, and should be mastered by high school.
The forth level of reading, which Adler calls Syntopical Reading, is that which applies to Rhetoric Level research. In this level of reading the reader has a question he or she wants answered. Several books from different points of view are gathered. Through a Level Two reading of these books, the researcher determines which books, or which parts of the books are relevant to the question being posed. Then Level Three, analytical reading is used to gain the information needed from the relevant books or passages. Then the information from these several sources is synthesized to produce the researcher's own analysis.
When we have thoroughly read one book on a topic, we may have learned a lot, but all from one point of view. What do others say? What conclusions do others draw? Only when someone is able to understand and articulate several different points of view, does his own opinion become his own, rather than a parroting of someone else's analysis.
This does not apply just to thoughts on controversial subjects. In studies of history, for example, there may be discussions on the causes leading up to a war. Different authors can come to very different conclusions. They may draw upon different source material. Are some imposing today's worldview on another time? What evidence does each give for his or her conclusions? From which point of view are contemporary sources writing? Level Four reading enables the reader to determine any book's place in the "great conversation" on the given topic.
This type of reading and analysis entails a great deal of work. Most people have never done any of it. In my opinion, a high schooler would benefit greatly by having experience doing this at least once, perhaps once in each of his or her last two years of high school. It can be used as the basis for a junior and/or senior year thesis paper and take the place of another class for a term. In order to do this well, sufficient time must be scheduled to allow for the reading and research involved.
I homeschool. I've read this book, years ago. It's still on my shelf. I haven't re-read it in a while. I was very interested in your synopsis of the work.
Question: What other book gives a different view of reading than this one? Is there one? I mean, if we need to look at multiple viewpoints...
Posted by: Suzi | December 11, 2004 at 10:36 PM
Another book that addresses this subject is Susan Wise Bauer's The Well-Educated Mind. I am guessing she was heavily influenced by Adler's book, but she has developed her own take on it and gives some alternative methods for accomplishing the same ends. For one thing, she also adds journaling on your reading into the mix.
Perhaps I will do a book report on this book one day, but I will have to re-read it because I didn't take very many notes (ahem) the first time I read it! (Sheepish smile)
My one caution in using books such as these is they tend to be very particular about one method to accomplish the stated goals, but the wise reader can probably vary that method to suit his or her needs. We just need to be careful that we are not losing sight of the goals.
Just as one example, Adler is very adamant that you should write in your books, and tells you how it should be done. I do write in my paperbacks and even some hardbacks, but I can't bring myself to mark up a nice well-bound copy of a classic book. In those cases I use a spiral notebook or my laptop to take notes.
Another note: Adler does not say that every book you read needs to be read this way. It's just too time consuming. The analytical reading process is reserved for those books that cover an area you are interested in studying, and that are among the best books for that topic. We can't expect to be experts in everything, eh?
Posted by: Dory | December 12, 2004 at 11:50 AM