Académique Documents
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Benjamin Pitkin
English 275
23 April, 2017
The book that I chose was Mortimer J. Adlers, and Charles Van Dorens How to Read a
Book. Originally published in 1940, I am reviewing the 1972 version. The book is divided into
four parts, including a preface, and two appendices: Part One, The Dimensions of Reading, Part
Two, The Third Level of Reading: Analytical Reading, Part Three, Approaches to Different
Kinds of Reading Matter, and Part Four, The Ultimate Goals of Reading.
Summary
Part one of the book is divided into five sections, which are divided into multiple
subsections, represented by chapters. The first section, The Activity and Art of Reading,
provides an introduction to reading, and an explanation of the authors expectations for our
reading. Section two, The Levels of Reading, as expected, provides, an introduction and an
explanation of the four levels of reading The third section the First Level of Reading:
Elementary Reading. provides a definition of elementary reading, and describes its four stages:
reading readiness, word mastery, vocabulary growth/functional literacy, and eighth grade
literacy. The fourth section is the Second level of reading: inspectional reading. As with the
previous chapter, this one provides an explanation of the level of reading. It also offers
suggestions for performing inspectional reading. The fifth and final section in part one is How
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to be a demanding reader. This section provides four basic questions that a reader should ask,
suggestions on note taking and book marking, and talks about the habit of reading.
The second section of the book is devoted to the third level of reading: analytical reading.
This section contains seven sections, on various aspects of analytical reading. Throughout this
part, the author presents a number of rules for analytical reading. The first section, chapter six is
Pigeonholing a book, provides information and suggestions for getting the most out of a book
without reading through the work in full, specifically the importance of knowing how to classify
a book the importance of reading the title, which can give[] essential information about the
book before [you] start[] to read, (Adler and Van Doren 63) and the distinction between
practical and theoretical books which is the distinction between knowing that and how, (Adler
and Van Doren 66) as Theoretical books teach you that something is the case. Practical books
The second section, chapter 7 is on x-raying a book l of find out what a book is about,
which in the sense that the authors talk about it is to discover its theme or main point. (76)
This chapter also provides examples of outlining a book and states that, discovering the authors
intentions, and provides a summary of the first stage of reading Finding out what a book is
about, (95) and provides a list of rules 1-4 from chapter 6 and 7.
Chapter 8, Coming to terms with an author, meaning two parties, author and reader,
must use the same words with the same meanings, (97), (if it is in quotes we know it is
according to the authors unless the reader comes the terms with the author, the communication
of knowledge from one to the other does not take place. (96) In closing this chapter offers this
advice: your comprehension of any book will be enormously increased if you only go to the
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trouble of finding its important words, identifying their shifting meanings, and coming to terms.
(112)
The title of Chapter 9, Determining an authors message, describes the content. The
authors offer instruction, rules, and also offers up a reason for why you should try to determine
this, saying, if you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot
expect the book to give you any insight that you do not already possess. (121) The authors
provide a summary of the second state of analytical reading and, a list of the rules associated
with it on page 134-135. The rules for this stage, the rules for finding out what a book says
Chapter 10 is on criticizing a book fairly. The authors give suggestions, and again rules
for doing so, but also say that a book should not be criticized by [readers] until they understand
it. (138) They also touch on the role of rhetoric, the importance of suspending judgement and
avoiding contentiousness, and resolving disagreements one may have with an author.
Chapter 11 is on agreeing or disagreeing with an author. Before they get into the meat of
it, they make sure to note that a reader must say he understands in order to say more. If he does
not understand, he should keep his peace and go back to work on the book. (150) In this
chapter, the authors talk about the readers and authors prejudice, and judging the authors
soundness and completeness. At the end of this chapter, Adler and Van Doren include a list of all
the rules of analytical reading, adding on the third stage, criticizing a book as a communication
Chapter 12 is on aids to reading. Adler and Van Doren say that aids to reading, or outside
help should be sought whenever a book remains unintelligible to you, either in whole, or in part,
after you have done your best to read it according to the rules of intrinsic reading. They then
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write about the role of relevant experience, and how to use specific types of external works;
other books, commentaries and abstracts, reference books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias, and
Part three has seven chapters in it, and as the name says, talks about how to approach
Chapter 13 is on reading practical books. Adler and Van Doren first give a general
induction to practical books. Next they discuss the two different kinds of practical books, ones
that are primarily presentations of rules, (190) and those that are primarily concerned with
principles that generate rules, (190) They then write about persuasions role in practical books,
genre, Adler and Van Doren tell how not to read it, and give a list of things to not do when
Chapter 15 gives suggestions for reading stories, plays and poems. They first talk about
reading stories, making a note on reading epics, saying that they constitute the backbone of any
serious reading program. (218) Then then talk about how to read plays, with a specific note on
tragedies. Adler and Van Doren say that most plays are not worth reading (220) because they
were not meant to be read they were meant to be acted. (220) They then talk about lyric
poetry, and say that reading any great lyric poem is a lifetime job, (228) because as a great
Chapter 16 is on how to read history. The authors first touch on how elusive historical
facts can be, saying that a historical fact, [..] is one of the most illusive things in the world.
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(231) They also talk about different theories of history, specifically the universal history, what
questions should be asked of a historical book, and how to read specific types of works, like
Chapter 17 discussed how to read science and math. The authors offer suggestions for
reading classical scientific works, and talk about the two key difficulties in reading them, the
arguments made and the problem of the math itself, which is discussed in depth. The authors
state that mathematics prove difficult for some people because mathematics is a language
(215) They then talk about how to read this language in scientific books.
Chapter 18 is on how to read philosophy. The authors talk about the childishly simple
(265) asked by philosophers, traditional vs modern philosophy, and philosophical methods and
styles. They then give hints for making up your own mind about philosophical questions, saying
that it is, indeed, the most distinctive mark of the philosophical questions that everyone must
answer them for himself. (285) They finally touch on theology, and specifically how to read
canonical texts, and the problems that come from the orthodoxy of these works, as a faithful
reader of a canonical book is obliged to make sense out of it (288) and if a reader cannot do so,
they are obliged to go to someone who can, (288) whoever they may be, and is obliged to
accept the resolution of the problem that is offered him. (288) This can lead to reading
Chapter 19 is on how to read social science. The authors define what social science is,
and talk about the apparent ease, but actual difficulty of reading the subject, and how it should be
read.
Part four, contains few chapters compared to the other parts, with only two of them.
Chapter four is on the fourth level of reading: syntopical reading, or how to read two or more
books on the same subject. The authors give an overview of the subject and discuss inspections
role in the process first, then lay out rules and discuss them and what they contain at length. They
then give the steps they developed, both prepatory, and the action itself on page 326.
Chapter 21 is the final chapter in the book, and is on reading and the growth of the mind.
This chapter serves as a conclusion to the book proper, and talks about what good books can
do for us, and how reading can grow the mind. the authors way that reading well, which
means reading actively, is [] not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to
advancement in our work or career. It also serves to keep our minds alive and growing.
(336) With these words, Alder and Van Doren conclude their work.
I think that this book could be of interest to students in this class, and in future classes.
Although the title is How to Read a Book, the methods and suggestions given by the authors
can be applied to any written work, thus making it useful to any person who will be reading any
type of work, whether it is a book, a poem, a website or any other type of written work.
Part 1
In part one of the book, the section on the first level of reading will not be of much use to
anyone reading the book, as anyone able to read and understand this book will be far past the
overview of all the levels of reading. The section on inspectional reading will be useful to
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students in English 275, as skimming is a valuable skill to have, especially when students do not
have as much time for in class reading as they do for out of class ones. The section on being a
demanding reader could also be of use to students, as it offers multiple strategies and approaches
to active reading. Part 1 would be beneficial to students as it has some sections applicable to
English 275, and provides an overview of some of the other parts, if it were to be determined that
Part 2
As a whole, Part 2 of the book would be useful to students in 257, specifically aiding
students in writing better summaries. The authors provide multiple strategies for analytical
reading, which could be applied to reading the articles to be summarized, and the sections on
coming to terms with an author, determining an authors message and agreeing or disagreeing
with an authors message could be useful in the response section of the summaries. The Aids to
Reading section could be useful, but the information it provides is fairly well known. Overall,
part 2 could prove extremely useful not only to students in English 275, but also to students
everywhere.
Part 3
The usefulness, or lack thereof of part three can easily be seen by simply skimming the
table of contents. If students are reading one of the described genres, then yes, it would be useful,
but if not, then reading the section would provide less benefit. This applies to both students
inside and outside of English 275. While I still think it is a good idea to read these sections for
general knowledge on how to read different subject matters, it may provide no direct benefit in
the class for a student. I think that these sections could be useful on the Rhetorical Interpretation
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project, as one of the sections could help a student gain insight into the document or documents
they choose for the project, although the benefit of this would be on a case-by-case scenario.
Part 4
Part 4 could be useful for the Rhetorical Interpretation project. The book gives
suggestions on how to choose works, which may not be as useful, as there is already a list of
suggestions, but Stage II could prove extremely useful for reading the chosen works, and also for
How to Read a Book would fit well in 275, and be beneficial to students in the class,
although I dont think it exactly integrates with the class content. I would recommend not
assigning the book as a whole to be read, although I would still make the recommendation that
the students do so. I would instead assign sections of the book at times when they could be most
beneficial and use the book as a supporting work, offering techniques and suggestions to students
to enable them to better study writing, and not using the text as a supporting work like
Keywords was this semester. I think that using the book in this manner would increase its
effectiveness, and enable the professor to better tweak the course and its readings and
assignments. For example, one semester, if a practical book was being used as a primary work,
then the relevant section from How to Read a Book would be assigned, and the other,
Conclusion
I would suggest that there are sections that would be relevant to almost any iteration of
275, no matter the primary texts. The sections on the second and third levels of reading will be of
use for almost any syllabi for the class, and for almost any English class for that matter.
As a whole, I think How to Read a Book would go well with English 275, and could
prove extremely useful to students in the class. This book should be read by almost everybody, as
no matter what your major is, and no matter what class you are in, being able to read a work,
whether it is a report, research paper, or a book, or any other written item, better than you
currently can, and being able to gain a deeper understanding of the work and a knowledge of
Works Cited
Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to