8 Helpful Ideas About Reading
How To Read A Book by Adler and Doren is a fantastic book on the many rules and steps to reading intelligently. Due to the amount of minutiae though, I constantly found myself feeling the same way one does when watching a Ken Burns documentary on the United States Congress. The majority of people would agree that there are some really helpful scenes here, but it sure can feel like trying to swallow some unpleasant medicine. The doctor said it would be good for me, but I sure don’t like the way it tastes or goes down. However, just like most prescriptions, this book is very helpful. Here are the eight quotes that I found most helpful
1. “There if we are disposed to go on learning and discovering, we must know how to make books teach us well (Adler 15).”
By the authors’ own admission, this is a very practical book (not theoretical). This is a guidebook on how to make books teach us something new. The art of discovery implies that we didn’t just learn some new facts or even receive the new details about facts we already know. Rather, we stumbled upon, or if we follow all the steps and rules found in this book, we will systematically discover new knowledge.
2. “The tremendous pleasure that can come from reading…was spoiled for generations of high school students who were forced to go…scene by scene, looking up all the strange words in a glossary and studying all the scholarly footnotes (Adler 66).”
This is helpful for two reasons. First, it describes me as a high school student. I hated reading in English class mainly due to the reason that I never could get the “big picture” of a novel or play because I had to trudge so slowly and get lost in what seemed like endless Dictionary work. Secondly, because I teach high school history, this quote reminds me that my students need to get an overall view first before picking a few events to learn about in great detail.
3. “In that situation, if we want to go on learning, then we must know how to learn from books, which are absent teachers (Adler 37).”
Books are teachers! This a reinforcement of the first quote. It also points out an important dynamic about reading. The author is a teacher, but the author is not present. Of course, through the words the author is “there,” but books are absent teachers. They are tools of discovery. Like trying to dialogue with someone who is dead, books do not answer back when one asks questions at the end.
4. “State in your own words! (Adler 115).”
This is appropriately exclaimed as the best test for understanding. I agree! It reminded me of a financial class my wife and I went through. The presenter stated that if you can not explain an investment plan, then do not do it. In other words, you don’t understand it if you can’t put it in your words. One of the goals of reading is to make the book our “own.” Not that we have to agree with each proposition, but to have a conversation with it, we need to understand it.
5. “Reading a book is a kind of conversation (Adler 125).”
Once we comprehend a book we can start talking with it. Remembering, that books are “absent” teachers, we are able to still engage in a discussion through asking questions and searching for answers in other books on the same topic. This also brings out the point the authors make that reading well is a lot like writing well. Pursuing this degree will require me to do both so I am happy to be reminded of the conversational nature of reading and writing.
6. “Since men are animals as well as rational, it is necessary to acknowledge the emotions you bring to a dispute, or those that arise in the course of it (Adler 137).”
Because of #5, this quote is a solid acknowledgment that readers have emotions. Readers have prejudices. I literally laughed out loud when I read the first part of this quote. I couldn’t help but wonder if the “men are animals” was part of the original 1940 version or if it was added during the ’67 or ’70 publication dates. Comedy aside, men AND women are emotional beings. We bring all of who we are when we read a book.
7. “In synoptical reading, as we have noted, the books that are read serve you, not the other way around (Adler 154).”
This is the opposite of analysis when the reader is more the disciple of the book. Here though, when we read synoptically, the disciple becomes the teacher, the master. For me, I see a lot of tension between reading analytically and synoptically. One aspect of this tension is the authors’ charge to use a syntopicon. My hope is that my faculty advisor will act as a syntopicon and steer me in the direction of appropriate books which will aid in transforming me from an analytical reader to a synoptical reader.
8. “You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn (Adler 318).”
This is a summary of why the authors wrote this practical, albeit extremely detailed, guidebook on reading. It also describes why I am pursuing a DMin degree at George Fox. After 12 years of planting and pastoring a local church and 20 years of teaching at the local high school, I am ready to have my mind and heart stretched. Given that this is a book about reading I understand the emphasis on books as tools of discovery. I am hoping that we are exposed to a plethora of tools of discovery, even those that are not books.
About the Author
Aaron Peterson
I am a working priest which means that I am a husband(to Lisa), dad(to four wonderful children), senior pastor and church planter(The Hub Vineyard Church), and high school social studies teacher(Verdugo Hills High School LAUSD). I am currently working towards a DMIN in Leadership & Global Perspectives @George Fox Seminary.11 responses to “8 Helpful Ideas About Reading”
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Aaron, as a high school teacher, do you think the principles of this book are in fact workable for high school students? Which rules/questions would you first encourage your students to apply?
Hi Marc. As I read the book I actually thought about what it would look like to go through the book with my current students. I came to the conclusion that it would take all year to do properly, and I would obviously focus on the chapter about reading history. I think it is helpful to remember that even Adler says that these rules and processes are “ideal” and that almost no one does them with 100% accuracy. I also think Adler is right when he states that most students are not taught how to read by the time they reach high school.
Given that, there are a few steps that I teach my students like the need to “inspect” the text first and get an overall feel for the document. I require them to “#2 State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity.” And of course, like I posted above, I am pretty happy if my students can write about the reading using their OWN WORDS. This is huge!
My district has signed a pretty hefty contract with a group called Reading Like A Historian (RLH) https://sheg.stanford.edu/home_page and I have found there is some good overlap between Adler and the Stanford Ed Group. For example, Adler’s First Stage of Analytical Read (rules 1-4 Page163) are summed up in RLH big push for students to investigate the context of a document.
Finally, the most challenging practice I have found is forcing my students to constantly go back to the text and interpreting the document based on what the texts actually says and not want we might want it to say.
Aaron:
Thanks for punishing us back to our early days of reading! Just kidding. You are correct, as Adler commented, that the process of reading was to read every little detail because you never knew where the test question would come from.
You didn’t read for interacting with the author, challenging the subject matter, and eventually telling the truths and/or principles in your own words. I felt I was trained to grasp knowledge so I could answer the mundane questions and score well on the test.
Adler does a great job of challenging the avid reader for more than speed but for applicable knowledge through the reader’s eyes.
I also love #3 above….the book is the ability to learn from the absent teacher.
Phil
Hi Phil. Thanks for the comment. I totally agree with you. -Aaron
Aaron,
First great name! I really like the way you think and your perspective on the book. I like how you organized your thoughts on reading, and your sense of humor (Ken Burns documentary on the United States Congress).
Number 3, “Books are teachers!” really resonated with me. I thought this was a great point of Adler. This is the #1 reason I read. I also found great agreement with your statement: “Pursuing this degree will require me to do both so I am happy to be reminded of the conversational nature of reading and writing.” I think you are more articulate than am I, but this is part of my desire and goal. Great reminder.
Aaron
Thanks Aaron!
Aaron Peterson,
In Chapter 20, of How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren, they point out the paradox of syntopical reading which goes something like this. “Unless you know what books to read, you cannot read syntopically, but unless you can read syntopically, you do not know what to read. That is, you have to know where to start before you can read syntopically” (Adler and Van Doren 1972, 329). The authors describe The Syntopicon as a reference book that informs the inquirer where to find pertinent passages on a large number of subjects of interest. It is limited to categories of subjects in only one set of books (Adler and Van Doren, 330). If it will not be productive for our cohort, we most likely will not be expected to use it.
Great point Claire. Thanks.
You really approach the blog post from a wonderfully creative and organized way. Great outline, Aaron!
I had a difficult time delving into the book as well in the beginning; however, I was soon captivated by the chapters that discussed philosophy and critical thinking. I enjoyed Adler’s perspective regarding the difference between knowledge and opinion when he stated, “Knowledge, if you please, consists in those opinions that can be defended, opinions for which there is evidence of one kind or another” (Adler, 149). An opinion is simply a quick judgement without valid evidence to support the thought. The author is not asking us to negate the emotional tone of the book or the various dramatic plots that tug at our heart. He is asking us to use emotion, logic and analysis in balance. You stated that you hated reading during your high school years. Did you prefer math or science, because it was more formulaic?
Hi Colleen. For me, high school was mostly about all things social. It wasn’t that I preferred math or science, it was that I just didn’t connect with reading books in high school. My oldest son is reading a fantastic book in his high school english class: http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/0062301675. Given the chapter titles and the talks we’ve been having about the book, I have a feeling I would have liked reading a little more if I read books like this in high school.
Aaron
I agree with you that from the very beginning of reading this book, the comment that this is a practical book grabbed me.
The thought that it put into my mind was that this is like a technical manual, that when you hit the spot that you need it, you pull it out and use it. I haven’t read every bit of my trucks information manual but when the day comes that I need to know, I know where the information is located to give me what I need.
Knowing where the information is located when you need it is really equipping you for the future. So when I have difficultly reading other material this book will become a resource of how to dissect the new type of book that I am reading.
Thanks for your comments.
Kevin