student learning workshop_#1
DESCRIPTION
Student Learning Workshop #1TRANSCRIPT
STUDENT LEARNING WORKSHOP #1SPRING 2012
The Quest Philosophy for Reading Comprehension
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
Francis Bacon
“[t]here is still another goal of reading, besides gaining information and understanding, and that is entertainment” (10).
“Some Bookes are to be Tasted, Others to be Swallowed, and Some Few to be Chewed and Digested: That is, some Bookes are to be read onely in Parts; Others to be read but not Curiously; and some Few to be read wholly, and with Diligence and Attention” (151, ll. 22-26).
The Goals of Reading
Thesis: what to read, how to read, and why to read
What is reading comprehension?“the process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on
but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside, elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more” (8).
Students are best equipped with the ability to carry out this process when they are taught how to read the right books, in the right ways, for the right reasons – in short, the art of reading well.
What to Read: Treats, Water, and Meat/Vegetables
The Pyramid of Books
Amusement/ Information
Good Books
Great Books
Books of Information or Entertainment
99% of all books written in the history of the western world
Worthy only of being “tasted” or read in part or “skimmed”
Fosters Mechanical, not organic Growth
Mechanical Growth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbnLiUtqzu0
The Good Books
A few thousand books of the millions of books written in the history of the western world
Worth reading analytically once; that is, deserving to be swallowed, but not necessarily chewed/ digested
Fosters organic, not mechanical growth
The Great Books
Less than one hundred books of those written in the history of the western world
Cannot be outgrown or exhaustedWorthy of reading analytically many times
overAnalogous to Bacon’s description of those
“Few [texts which ought] to be Chewed and Digested”
Fosters organic growth
Organic Growth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26AhcKeEbE
How to Read: Tasting, Swallowing, Chewing, and Digesting
The Essence of Active Reading:
1. Ask Questions1. What is the book about as a whole?2. What is being said in detail, and how?3. Is the book true, in whole or part?4. What of it?
2. Mark your text
Inspectional Reading
Two Stages Systematic Skimming or Prereading
Analogous to “Tasting” Superficial Reading
Analogous to “Swallowing”
Analytical Reading or “Chewing”
Reading the Four types of Arguments1. Definitional2. Cause/Effect3. Evaluative4. Problem/Solution
Syntopical Reading or “Digesting”
Survey the FieldRead Syntopically
Why to Read: the two Questions of a Great Education
What is the nature of reality?How should a life be lived?