HowtoReadaBook,v4.0PaulN.Edwards

SchoolofInformationUniversityofMichigan

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Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 1

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.

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 2

Table 1. Summary of reading strategies and techniques 

Strategies and techniques  Rationale 

Read the whole thing Majorargumentsandevidencemattermorethandetails.Graspingthestructureofthewholeismoreimportantthanreadingeveryword.

Decide how much time you will spend 

Real‐worldtimeislimited.Ifyouknowexactlyhowlongyoucanactuallyspendonreading,youcanplanhowmuchtimetodevotetoeachitem.

Have a purpose and a strategy 

You'llenjoyreadingmore,andrememberitbetter,ifyouknowexactlywhyyou'rereading.

Read actively Neverrelyontheauthor'sstructuresalone.Movearoundinthetext,followingyourowngoals.

Read it three times Firsttimeforoverviewanddiscovery.Secondtimefordetailandunderstanding.Thirdtimefornote‐takinginyourownwords.

Focus on parts with high information content 

Tablesofcontents,pictures,charts,headings,andotherelementscontainmoreinformationthanbodytext.

Use PTML (personal text markup language) 

Markupyourreadingwithyourownnotes.Thishelpsyoulearnandalsohelpsyoufindimportantpassageslater.

Know the author(s) and organizations 

Authorsarepeoplewithbackgroundsandbiases.Theyworkinorganizationsthatgivethemcontextanddepth.

Know the intellectual context 

Mostacademicwritingispartofanongoingintellectualconversation,withdebates,keyfigures,andparadigmaticconcepts.

Use your unconscious mind Leavetimebetweenreadingsessionsforyourmindtoprocessthematerial.

Rehearse, and use multiple modes 

Talking,visualizing,orwritingaboutwhatyou'vereadhelpsyourememberit.

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 3

Read the whole thing! 

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

Decide how much time you will spend 

Ifyouknowinadvancethatyouhaveonlysixhourstoread,it’llbeeasiertopaceyourself.Remember,you’regoingtoreadthewholebook(orthewholeassignment).Infact,themoredirectlyandrealisticallyyouconfrontyourlimits,themoreeffectiveyouwillbeatpracticallyeverything.Settingtimelimitsandkeepingtothem(whileaccomplishingyourgoals)isoneofthemostimportantlifeskillsyoucanlearn.Soneverstarttoreadwithoutplanningwhentostop.

Have a purpose and a strategy 

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.

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 4

c)Imagineanexaminationonthebook.Whatwouldthequestionsbe,andhowwouldyouanswerthem?

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

 Read it three times 

Thisisthekeytechnique.You’llgetthemostoutofthebookifyoureaditthreetimes—eachtimeforadifferentpurpose.

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

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

Mark—without reading carefully—headings,passages,andphrasesthatseemimportant(you’llreadthesemorecloselythesecondtimearound.)Generatequestionstoansweronyoursecondreading:whatdoestermorphraseXmean?Whydoesn’ttheauthorcoversubjectY?WhoisZ?

b)Detail:understanding(60‐70percentoftotaltime) Withinyourtimeconstraints,readthebookasecondtime.Thistime,your

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

Focusespeciallyonthebeginningsandendsofchaptersandmajorsections.Payspecialattentiontothepassagesyoumarkedonthefirstround.Trytoansweranyquestionsyougeneratedonthefirstround.

c)Notes:recallandnote‐taking(20‐30percentoftotaltime)

Thepurposeofyourthirdandfinalreadingistocommittomemorythemostimportantelementsofthebook.Thistime,makebriefnotesaboutthearguments,evidence,andconclusions.This is not at all the same thing as text markup; yourgoalhereistoprocessthematerialbytranslatingintoyourownmentalframework,whichmeansusingyourownwordsasmuchaspossible.Cuttingandpastingsegmentsoftextfromthebookwillnotdo

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 5

asmuchforyouassummarizingverybrieflyinyourownwords.Includethebareminimumofdetailtoletyourememberandre‐locatethemostimportantthings.3‐5pagesofnotesper100pagesoftextisagoodgoaltoshootfor;morethanthatisoftentoomuch.Usesomesystemthatletsyoueasilyfindplacesinthebook(e.g.,starteachnotewithapagenumber.)Notebooks,typedpages,handwrittensheetstuckedintothebook,canallwork.However,noteswillbeuselessunlessyoucaneasilyfindthemagain.Averygoodsystem—theoneIuse—istotypenotesdirectlyintobilbiographyentriesusingsoftwaresuchasEndnoteorBookends(forMac).Thiswaythenotesandthecitationinformationalwaysremaintogether;overtimeyouaccumulatealibraryofnotesyoucaneasilyconsult,evenwhenawayfromyourpaperfiles.YoucanalsokeepURLsandPDFsintheseprograms.

Ontimeandtiming.First,becausehumanattentionfadesafteraboutanhour,you’llgetmoreoutofthreeone‐hourreadingsthanyoucouldevergetoutofonethree‐hourreading.Butbecareful:togetonefullhourofeffectivereading,youneedtosetasideatleastonehourandfifteenminutes,sincedistractionisinevitableatthebeginning(settlingin)andend(re‐arousalforyournexttask)ofanyreadingperiod.Second,makearealisticplanthatincludeshowmuchtimeyouwilldevotetoeachofthethreestages.Fora250‐pagebook,Imightspend15minutesonoverview,4hoursondetailedreading,and1hourontakingnotes,butI'dadjusttheseperiodsupordowndependingonhowdifficultthetextis,howimportantitistome,andhowmuchtimeIhave.

Focus on the parts with high information content 

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

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

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

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 6

General

General

Specific

 The Hourglass Information Structure 

Onceyouknowthis,youcanmakethestructureworkforyou.Focusonthefollowingelements,inmoreorlessthefollowingorder:

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

Use PTML (personal text markup language) 

Alwaysmarkupyourreading.Underliningandmakingnotesinthemarginsisaveryimportantpartofactivereading.Dothisfromtheverybeginning—evenonyourfirst,overviewreading.Whenyoucomebacktothebooklater,yourmarksreducetheamountyouhavetolookatandhelpyouseewhat’smostsignificant.Don’tmarktoomuch.Thisdefeatsthepurposeofmarkup;whenyouconsultyournoteslater,itwillforceyoutore‐readunimportantinformation.Asarule,youshouldaveragenomorethantwoorthreeshortmarksperpage.Ratherthanunderlinewholesentences,underlinewordsorshortphrasesthatcapturewhatyoumostneedtoremember.Thewholepointofthisexerciseistodistill,reduce,eliminatetheunnecessary.Writewordsand

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 7

phrasesinthemarginsthattellyouwhatparagraphsorsectionsareabout.Useyourownwords.

Page vs. screen Printedmaterialhasfarhigherresolution(~600dpi)thaneventhebestcomputerscreens(~72dpi).Forthisreasonyouwillreadmoreaccurately,andwithlessfatigue,ifyoustickwiththepaperversion.Still,theadvantagesofportabilityandhigh‐volumestoragemeanthatweinevitablyreadmuchmorescreen‐basedmaterialnow.

Figure 1. 300 dpi (left) vs. 600 dpi.UsingPTMLonthescreen:Itisstillquitedifficulttomarkupscreen‐basedmaterialseffectively;theextrastepsinvolvedareoftendistracting,asisthetemptationtointerruptreadingtocheckemailorweb‐surf.However,ifyou’redisciplined,themostrecentversionsofAdobeAcrobat,ApplePreview,andafewsharewarePDFhandlerssuchasPDFpenallowyoutoaddcommentsandhighlightingtoPDFs.Ifyoudon’twanttoresorttoprintingeverything,Isuggestinvestinginthe(expensive)Acrobatsoftware,buteventhatisfarfromperfect.Forexample,evenAcrobatstill(2008)willnotallowyoutoprintyourmarked‐uptextinanyreallyusableway.Itremainsfareasiertomarkupaprintedcopy.Anawkwardbutworkablesolutionmightbetoprint;markupthetext;thenscanitbackin.Note‐takingonthescreen:Whentakingnotesaboutsomethingyou'rereading(asopposedtomarkingupthetext),you'llbetemptedtocutandpastetheoriginaltextinlieuofmakingyourownnotesinyourownwords.Cut‐and‐pastecansometimesworkwell,especiallyforthingsyoumightwanttoquotelater.However:ingeneralitdefeatsthetwomainpurposesofnote‐taking:(a)learningandremembering(byrephrasinginyourownterms),and(b)condensingintoaveryshortform.Thesameistrueofhyperlinks:thoughusefulforkeepingtrackofsources,keepingaURLwillnotby itselfhelpyourememberorunderstandwhat'sthere,eventhoughitmayfeelthatway.

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 8

 Know the author(s) and organizations 

Knowingwhowroteabookhelpsyoujudgeitsqualityandunderstanditsfullsignificance.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/herorganization,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.

 Know the intellectual context 

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.

Paul N. Edwards     How to Read a Book 9

Use your unconscious mind 

Anawfullotofthinkingandmentalprocessinggoesonwhenyou’renotawareofit.Justaswithwritingoranyothercreativethoughtprocess,fullunderstandingofabooktakestimetodevelop.Likethebody,themindsuffersfromfatigurewhendoingjustonethingformanyhours.Yourabilitytocomprehendandretainwhatyoureaddropsoffdramaticallyafteranhourorso.Therefore, you should read a book in several short sessions of one to two hours apiece, rather than one long marathon. Inbetween,yourunconsciousmindwillprocesssomeofwhatyou’veread.Whenyoucomebackforthenextsession,startbyaskingyourselfwhatyourememberfromyourpreviousreading,whatyouthinkofitsofar,andwhatyoustillneedtolearn.

Rehearse, and use multiple modes 

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.

Hang in there! WhenIgivepresentationsontheseideas,studentsoftentellmeafewweekslaterthatthey“trieditafewtimesandjustcouldn’tdoit,”sotheystopped.Youwillhavetopracticethesetechniquesforaconsiderablelengthoftime—atleastafewmonths—beforetheycometoseemnatural,andtheywillneverbeeasierthanthecomfortable,passivewaywe’veallbeenreadingformanyyears.Buthanginthere.Therewardsofthesetechniquesaregreat.Learningtoreadlikethiscanbekeytoasuccessfulcareerasastudent,scholar,orprofessionalinalmostanyfield.