Transcript
Page 1: How to Read a Book r6

HowtoReadaBook,v5.0PaulN.Edwards

SchoolofInformationUniversityofMichigan

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Howcanyoulearnthemostfromabook—oranyotherpieceofwriting—whenyou'rereadingforinformation,ratherthanforpleasure?It’ssatisfyingtostartatthebeginningandreadstraightthroughtotheend.Somebooks,suchasnovels,havetobereadthisway,sinceabasicprincipleoffictionistoholdthereaderinsuspense.Yourwholepurposeinreadingfictionistofollowthewriter’slead,allowinghimorhertospinastorybitbybit.Butmanyofthebooks,articles,andotherdocumentsyou’llreadduringyourundergraduateandgraduateyears,andpossiblyduringtherestofyourprofessionallife,won’tbenovels.Instead,they’llbenon-fiction:textbooks,manuals,journalarticles,histories,academicstudies,andsoon.Thepurposeofreadingthingslikethisistogain,andretain,information.Here,findingoutwhathappens—asquicklyandeasilyaspossible—isyourmaingoal.Sounlessyou’restuckinprisonwithnothingelsetodo,NEVERreadanon-fictionbookorarticlefrombeginningtoend.Instead,whenyou’rereadingforinformation,youshouldALWAYSjumpahead,skiparound,anduseeveryavailablestrategytodiscover,thentounderstand,andfinallytorememberwhatthewriterhastosay.Thisishowyou’llgetthemostoutofabookinthesmallestamountoftime.Usingthemethodsdescribedhere,youshouldbeabletoreada300-pagebookinsixtoeighthours.Ofcourse,themoretimeyouspend,themoreyou’lllearnandthebetteryou’llunderstandthebook.Butyourtimeislimited.Herearesomestrategiestohelpyoudothiseffectively.Mostofthesecanbeappliednotonlytobooks,butalsotoanyotherkindofnon-fictionreading,fromarticlestowebsites.Table1,onthenextpage,summarizesthetechniques,andthefollowingpagesexplaintheminmoredetail.

Readthewholething!

Inreadingtolearn,yourgoalshouldalwaysbetogetallthewaythroughtheassignment.It’smuchmoreimportanttohaveageneralgraspoftheargumentsorhypotheses,evidence,andconclusionsthantounderstandeverydetail.Infact,nomatterhowcarefullyyouread,youwon’tremembermostofthedetailsanyway.Whatyoucandoisrememberandrecordthemainpoints.Andifyourememberthose,youknowenoughtofindthematerialagainifyoueverdoneedtorecallthedetails.

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Table1.Summaryofreadingstrategiesandtechniques

Strategiesandtechniques Rationale

ReadthewholethingMajorargumentsandevidencemattermorethandetails.Graspingthestructureofthewholeismoreimportantthanreadingeveryword.

Decidehowmuchtimeyouwillspend

Real-worldtimeislimited.Ifyouknowexactlyhowlongyoucanactuallyspendonreading,youcanplanhowmuchtimetodevotetoeachitem.

Haveapurposeandastrategy

You'llenjoyreadingmore,andrememberitbetter,ifyouknowexactlywhyyou'rereading.

ReadactivelyNeverrelyontheauthor'sstructuresalone.Movearoundinthetext,followingyourowngoals.

ReaditthreetimesFirsttimeforoverviewanddiscovery.Secondtimefordetailandunderstanding.Thirdtimefornote-takinginyourownwords.

Focusonpartswithhighinformationcontent

Tablesofcontents,pictures,charts,headings,andotherelementscontainmoreinformationthanbodytext.

UsePTML(personaltextmarkuplanguage)

Markupyourreadingwithyourownnotes.Thishelpsyoulearnandalsohelpsyoufindimportantpassageslater.

Knowtheauthor(s)andorganizations

Authorsarepeoplewithbackgroundsandbiases.Theyworkinorganizationsthatgivethemcontextanddepth.

Knowtheintellectualcontext

Mostacademicwritingispartofanongoingintellectualconversation,withdebates,keyfigures,andparadigmaticconcepts.

UseyourunconsciousmindLeavetimebetweenreadingsessionsforyourmindtoprocessthematerial.

Rehearse,andusemultiplemodes

Talking,visualizing,orwritingaboutwhatyou'vereadhelpsyourememberit.

Decidehowmuchtimeyouwillspend

Ifyouknowinadvancethatyouhaveonlysixhourstoread,it’llbeeasiertopaceyourself.Remember,you’regoingtoreadthewholebook(orthewholeassignment).

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Infact,themoredirectlyandrealisticallyyouconfrontyourlimits,themoreeffectiveyouwillbeatpracticallyeverything.Settingtimelimitsandkeepingtothem(whileaccomplishingyourgoals)isoneofthemostimportantlifeskillsyoucanlearn.Soneverstarttoreadwithoutplanningwhentostop.

Haveapurposeandastrategy

Beforeyoubegin,figureoutwhyyouarereadingthisparticularbook,andhowyouaregoingtoreadit.Ifyoudon’thavereasonsandstrategiesofyourown—notjustthoseofyourteacher—youwon’tlearnasmuch.Assoonasyoustarttoread,begintryingtofindoutfourthings:

•Whoistheauthor?•Whatarethebook’sarguments?•Whatistheevidencethatsupportsthese?•Whatarethebook’sconclusions?

Onceyou’vegotagriponthese,starttryingtodetermine:

•Whataretheweaknessesofthesearguments,evidence,andconclusions?•Whatdoyouthinkaboutthearguments,evidence,andconclusions?•Howdoes(orhowcould)theauthorrespondtotheseweaknesses,andto

yourowncriticisms?

Keepcomingbacktothesequestionsasyouread.Bythetimeyoufinish,youshouldbeabletoanswerthemall.Threegoodwaystothinkaboutthisare:

a)Imaginethatyou’regoingtoreviewthebookforamagazine.b)Imaginethatyou’rehavingaconversation,oraformaldebate,withthe

author.c)Imagineanexaminationonthebook.Whatwouldthequestionsbe,andhow

wouldyouanswerthem?

ReadactivelyDon’twaitfortheauthortohammeryouoverthehead.Instead,fromtheverybeginning,constantlygeneratehypotheses(“themainpointofthebookisthat...”)andquestions(“Howdoestheauthorknowthat...?”)aboutthebook.Makingbriefnotesaboutthesecanhelp.Asyouread,trytoconfirmyourhypothesesandansweryourquestions.Onceyoufinish,reviewthese.

Knowtheauthor(s)andorganizations

Knowingwhowroteabookhelpsyoujudgeitsqualityandunderstanditsfullsignificance.

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Authorsarepeople.Likeanyoneelse,theirviewsareshapedbytheireducations,theirjobs,theirearlylives,andtherestoftheirexperiences.Alsolikeanyoneelse,theyhaveprejudices,blindspots,desperatemoments,failings,anddesires—aswellasinsights,brilliance,objectivity,andsuccesses.Noticeallofit.Mostauthorsbelongtoorganizations:universities,corporations,governments,newspapers,magazines.Theseorganizationseachhavecultures,hierarchiesofpower,andsocialnorms.Organizationsshapebothhowaworkiswrittenandthecontentofwhatitsays.Forexample,universityprofessorsareexpectedtowritebooksand/orjournalarticlesinordertogettenure.Thesepiecesofwritingmustmeetcertainstandardsofquality,definedchieflybyotherprofessors;forthem,contentusuallymattersmorethangoodwriting.Journalists,bycontrast,areoftendrivenbydeadlinesandtheneedtopleaselargeaudiences.Becauseofthis,theirstandardsofqualityareoftendirectedmoretowardclearandengagingwritingthantowardunimpeachablecontent;theirsourcesareusuallyoralratherthanwritten.Themoreyouknowabouttheauthorandhis/herorganizationand/ordiscipline,thebetteryouwillbeabletoevaluatewhatyouread.Trytoanswerquestionslikethese:Whatshapedtheauthor’sintellectualperspective?Whatishisorherprofession?Istheauthoranacademic,ajournalist,aprofessional(doctor,lawyer,industrialscientist,etc.)?Expertise?Otherbooksandarticles?Intellectualnetwork(s)?Gender?Race?Class?Politicalaffiliation?Whydidtheauthordecidetowritethisbook?When?Forwhataudience(s)?Whopaidfortheresearchwork(privatefoundations,governmentgrantagencies,industrialsponsors,etc.)?Whowrote“jacketblurbs”insupportofthebook?Youcanoften(thoughnotalways)learnaboutmuchofthisfromtheacknowledgments,thebibliography,andtheauthor’sbiographicalstatement.

Knowtheintellectualcontext

Knowingtheauthorandhis/herorganizationalsohelpsyouunderstandthebook’sintellectualcontext.Thisincludestheacademicdiscipline(s)fromwhichitdraws,schoolsofthoughtwithinthatdiscipline,andotherswhoagreewithoropposetheauthor’sviewpoint.Abookisalmostalwayspartlyaresponsetootherwriters,soyou’llunderstandabookmuchbetterifyoucanfigureoutwhat,andwhom,itisanswering.Payspecialattentiontopointswheretheauthortellsyoudirectlythats/heisdisagreeingwithothers:“Conventionalwisdomholdsthatx,butIargueinsteadthaty.”(Isxreallyconventionalwisdom?Amongwhatgroupofpeople?)“FamousJaneScholarsaysthatx,butIwillshowthaty.”(Who’sFamousJane,andwhydootherpeoplebelieveher?Howplausiblearexandy?Istheauthorstrainingtofindsomethingoriginaltosay,orhass/hegenuinelyconvincedyouthatFamousJaneiswrong?)Equallyimportantarethepeopleandwritingstheauthorcitesinsupportofhis/herarguments.

Readitthreetimes

Thisisthekeytechnique.You’llgetthemostoutofthebookifyoureaditthreetimes—eachtimeforadifferentpurpose.

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a)Overview:discovery(5-10percentoftotaltime) Hereyoureadveryquickly,followingtheprinciple(describedbelow)of

readingforhighinformationcontent.Yourgoalistodiscoverthebook.Youwantaquick-and-dirty,unsophisticated,generalpictureofthewriter’spurpose,methods,andconclusions.

Mark—withoutreadingcarefully—headings,passages,andphrasesthatseemimportant(you’llreadthesemorecloselythesecondtimearound.)Generatequestionstoansweronyoursecondreading:whatdoestermorphraseXmean?Whydoesn’ttheauthorcoversubjectY?WhoisZ?

b)Detail:understanding(70-80percentoftotaltime) Withinyourtimeconstraints,readthebookasecondtime.Thistime,your

goalisunderstanding:togetacareful,critical,thoughtfulgraspofthekeypoints,andtoevaluatetheauthor’sevidenceforhis/herpoints.

Focusespeciallyonthebeginningsandendsofchaptersandmajorsections.Payspecialattentiontothepassagesyoumarkedonthefirstround.Trytoansweranyquestionsyougeneratedonthefirstround.

c)Notes:recallandnote-taking(10-20percentoftotaltime)

Thepurposeofyourthirdandfinalreadingistocommittomemorythemostimportantelementsofthebook.Thistime,makebriefnotesaboutthearguments,evidence,andconclusions.Thisisnotatallthesamethingastextmarkup;yourgoalhereistoprocessthematerialbytranslatingintoyourownmentalframework,whichmeansusingyourownwordsasmuchaspossible.Cuttingandpastingsegmentsoftextfromthebookwillnotdoasmuchforyouassummarizingverybrieflyinyourownwords.Includethebareminimumofdetailtoletyourememberandre-locatethemostimportantthings.1-3pagesofnotesper100pagesoftextisagoodgoaltoshootfor;morethanthatisoftentoomuch.Usesomesystemthatletsyoueasilyfindplacesinthebook(e.g.,starteachnotewithapagenumber.)Notebooks,typedpages,orhandwrittensheetstuckedintothebookcanallwork.However,noteswillbeuselessunlessyoucaneasilyfindthemagain.Averygoodsystem—theoneIuse—istotypenotesdirectlyintobilbiographyentriesusingcitationmanagersoftwaresuchasEndnote,Zotero,orBookends.Seebelowformoreoncitationmanagers.

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OntimeandtimingFirst,becausehumanattentionfadesafteraboutanhour,you’llgetmoreoutofthreeone-hourreadingsthanyoucouldevergetoutofonethree-hourreading.Butbecareful:togetonefullhourofeffectivereading,youneedtosetasideatleastonehourandfifteenminutes,sincedistractionisinevitableatthebeginning(settlingin)andend(re-arousalforyournexttask)ofanyreadingperiod.Second,makearealisticplanthatincludeshowmuchtimeyouwilldevotetoeachofthethreestages.Fora250-pagebook,Imightspend15minutesonoverview,4hoursondetailedreading,and20-30minutesmakingnotes—butI'dadjusttheseperiodsupordowndependingonhowdifficultthetextis,howimportantitistome,andhowmuchtimeIhave.

Focusonthepartswithhighinformationcontent

Non-fictionbooksveryoftenhavean“hourglass”structurethatisrepeatedatseverallevelsoforganization.Moregeneral(broader)informationistypicallypresentedatthebeginningsandendsof:

•thebookorarticleasawhole(abstract,introduction,conclusion)•eachchapter•eachsectionwithinachapter•eachparagraph

Morespecific(narrower)information(supportingevidence,details,etc.)thenappearsinthemiddleofthehourglass.

General

General

Specific

TheHourglassInformationStructure

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Youcanmakethehourglassstructureofwritingdoalotofworkforyou.Focusonthefollowingelements,inmoreorlessthefollowingorder:

•Frontandbackcovers,innerjacketflaps•Tableofcontents•Index:scanthistoseewhicharethemostimportantterms•Bibliography:tellsyouaboutthebook’ssourcesandintellectualcontext•Prefaceand/orIntroductionand/orAbstract•Conclusion•Pictures,graphs,tables,figures:imagescontainmoreinformationthantext•Chapterintroductionsandconclusions•Sectionheadings•Specialtypeorformatting:boldface,italics,numbereditems,lists

UsePTML(personaltextmarkuplanguage)

Always,always,alwaysmarkupyourreading.Thisisacriticalpartofactivereading.Dothisfromtheverybeginning—evenonyourfirst,overviewreading.Why?Becausewhenyoucomebacktothebooklater,yourmarksreducetheamountyouhavetolookatandhelpyouseewhat’smostsignificant.Don’tmarktoomuch.Thisdefeatsthepurposeofmarkup;whenyouconsultyourmarkuplater,heavymarkupwillforceyoutore-readunimportantinformation.Asarule,youshouldaveragenomorethantwoorthreeshortmarksperpage.Ratherthanunderlinewholesentences,underlinewordsorshortphrasesthatcapturewhatyoumostneedtoremember.Thepointofthisistodistill,reduce,eliminatetheunnecessary.Writewordsandphrasesinthemarginsthattellyouwhatparagraphsorsectionsareabout.Useyourownwords.

Pagevs.screenPrintedmaterialhasfarhigherresolution(~600dpi)thaneventhebestcomputerscreens(~100dpi);seetheillustrationof300vs.600dpi,below.Forthisreasonyouwillreadmoreaccurately,andwithlessfatigue,ifyoustickwiththepaperversion.Still,weinevitablyreadmuchmorescreen-basedmaterialnow.

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Markuponthescreen:Itremainsdifficulttomarkupscreen-basedmaterialseffectively.Theextrastepsinvolvedaredistracting,asisthetemptationtocheckemailorwebsurf.Also,withscreen-basedmarkupyouoftenhavetoclickonanoteinordertoreadit,whichmeansyou’relesslikelytodoitlater.Itremainsfareasiertomarkupaprintedcopy!However,ifyou’redisciplined,recentversionsofAcrobat,ApplePreview,andthird-partyPDFviewerssuchasPDFpen,iAnnotate,andGoodreaderallowyoutoaddcomments,highlighting,andsoontoPDFs.Voicerecognitioncanmakethisaloteasier.Today,IroutinelyreadandannotatePDFsonaniPad,usingvoicerecognitionwhenIwanttomakeanote.Someofthesereaders,aswellasebookreaderssuchasKindle,allowyoutoexportonlyyourhighlightsandnotes.Thisisagreatwaytomakeyourselfacondensedversionofadocument.Pasteitintothenotesfieldofyourcitationmanagerandit’llalwaysbeatyourfingertips.Huntaroundonthewebforwaystodothiskindofthingonanindustrialscale(especiallywithKindlebooks).

Whentakingnotesaboutsomethingyou'rereading(asopposedtomarkingupthetext),you'llbetemptedtocutandpastetheoriginaltextinlieuofmakingyourownnotesinyourownwords.Cut-and-pastecansometimesworkwell,especiallyforthingsyoumightwanttoquotelater.However:ingeneralitdefeatsthetwomainpurposesofnote-taking:(a)learningandremembering(byrephrasinginyourownterms),and(b)condensingintoaveryshortform.Thesameistrueoflinks:thoughusefulforkeepingtrackofsources,keepingaURLwillnotbyitselfhelpyourememberorunderstandwhat'sthere,eventhoughitmayfeelthatway.

Useacitationmanager

It’shardtooveremphasizethehugeadvantagesofcitationmanagersoftwaresuchasEndnote,Bookends,Zotero,Mendeley,CiteULike,etc.Theyletyoukeeptrackofyourgrowinglibrary,easilyenterandformatcitationsinyourwordprocessor(savingyoutheincredibleirritationofdoingityourself).Mostofthemcanpullincitationsdirectlyfromtheweb,recordweblinks,findDOI’s,andsoon.Somehavetheirownwebsearchtoolsbuiltin.Some,suchasBookends(Maconly),willautomaticallyrenamedocumentswithAuthor-Date-Title,ahugehelpwiththeextremelyannoyingproblemofuninformativefilenames.

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Noneofthesepackagesareperfect.Allhavebothadvantagesanddisadvantages,andthemoresophisticatedoneshavesteeplearningcurves.Lookforonethatcanhandleallmajordocumentformats,includingbooks,journalarticles,newspaperarticles,onlinesources,interviews,andsoon.BewaryofmanagersthatonlyhandlePDFs,sincesomanyotherformatsarestillimportant.Ifyouusethenotesfieldofyourcitationmanagerinadisciplinedway,yournoteswillalwaysbeeasytofind.Whenyourlibrarystartsreachingintothethousandsofitems,thisisagodsend.

Useyourunconsciousmind

Anawfullotofthinkingandmentalprocessinggoesonwhenyou’renotawareofit.Justaswithwritingoranyothercreativethoughtprocess,fullunderstandingofabooktakestimetodevelop.Likethebody,themindsuffersfromfatiguewhendoingjustonethingformanyhours.Yourabilitytocomprehendandretainwhatyoureaddropsoffdramaticallyafteranhourorso.Therefore,youshouldreadabookinseveralshortsessionsofonetotwohoursapiece,ratherthanonelongmarathon.Inbetween,yourunconsciousmindwillprocesssomeofwhatyou’veread.Whenyoucomebackforthenextsession,startbyaskingyourselfwhatyourememberfromyourpreviousreading,whatyouthinkofitsofar,andwhatyoustillneedtolearn.

Rehearse,andusemultiplemodes

Readingisexactlylikemartialarts,baseball,orcookinginthesensethatlearningandmemorydependcruciallyonrehearsal.So—afteryou’vereadthebook,rehearsewhatyou’velearned.Quizyourselfonitscontents.Arguewiththeauthor.Imaginehowyouwoulddefendtheauthor’spositioninyourownwriting.Reading,writing,speaking,listening,andvisualizingallengagedifferentpartsofthebrain.Forthisreason,thebestformsofrehearsalusemultiplemodesofthinkingandaction.Don’tjustcontemplateprivately.Instead,talkaboutthebookwithothers.Bringitupinclasses.Writeaboutit.Visualizeanythingthatcanbevisualizedaboutitscontents.Allofthishelpsfixyourmemoryandintegrateyournewlearningintotherestofyourknowledge.

Hanginthere!WhenIgivepresentationsontheseideas,studentsoftentellmeafewweekslaterthatthey“trieditafewtimesandjustcouldn’tdoit,”sotheystopped.

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Youwillhavetopracticethesetechniquesforaconsiderablelengthoftime—atleastafewmonths—beforetheycometoseemnatural,andtheywillneverbeeasierthanthecomfortable,passivewaywe’veallbeenreadingformanyyears.Hanginthere.Therewardsofthesetechniquesaregreat,orsosaythehundredsofstudentswho’vetoldmesoyearslater.Learningtoreadlikethiscanbeacriticalkeytoasuccessfulcareerasastudent,scholar,orprofessionalinalmostanyfield.


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