Description
Wait–shouldn’t the title say, How to Read a Book? No, this is about using a book–manhandling it and getting it to confess–while you read.
Method for Print Books
1. Get an overview of the reading assignment or the book itself.
- Read the title and the subtitle. The subtitle often tells more about the book’s content than the main title.
- Look over the table of contents. This gives you an overview (or conspectus, if you want a fancy word to impress your friends) of the book. If you’ve been assigned or are interested in only a chapter or two, the table of contents will show you the context.
- Read the back cover. With hardcover books that still have a dust jacket, read both the back cover (who endorses the book? How is the book promoted?) and the jacket flaps. The left flap usually describes the book’s purpose, and the back flap has an author biography, setting our his or her credentials.
- If the book has an index, glance over it to see what topics are indexed. This will give you an idea about the subjects of discussion and what the author holds to be important. Also look over the people mentioned in the index to see whom the author discusses.
- Look at the bibliography. What are the sources the author used? I saw a book recently that cited almost exclusively Internet sources. That seems odd for a book emphasizing that it is research-based.
2. Get some metainformation about the book. Metainformation is simply information about information. In the case of a book, this includes:
- Published book reviews
- Reader book reviews (such as the reviews on Amazon.com)
- Web or blog reviews (Just google the book title followed by the word review.)
- Locate commentaries or analyses (such as literary criticism) as appropriate or desirable.
Metainformation reveals the cultural status of the book, which often aligns with its quality. However, if the subject or the author’s position is controversial, then the book’s metainfo is likely to be very skewed, and a book either highly praised or condemned might be because the reviewer doesn’t like the book’s argument or conclusions. Metainformation often includes the names of other books on the subject or rebuttals to the book’s arguments. If the book you are to use discusses controversial subject matter, then look up the controversy:
- Google the subject term or phrase followed by the word controversy or opposition.. If you don’t find a lot, try rebuttal, refuted, arguments against.
- Google the subject term or phrase followed by a word such as evidence, proof, support, reasons.
3. Read. Use these strategies.
- Read the chapter introductions
- Read the headings of each chapter
- For chapters you want to cover completely, read the first sentence of each paragraph.
- Read the chapter or book as appropriate
4. If you own the book, use Annotation Techniques.
- Underlining. Underline important words and sentences. Put a check mark next to especially important sentences and an asterisk next to quotable sentences.
- Marginal notes. Make comments, ask questions, paraphrase, summarize or otherwise respond to the reading as you read, while the information is still fresh in your mind.
- End of Chapter Notes. Summarize the chapter briefly in your own words.
- Boxing. Draw a box around significant paragraphs that you want to review later.
- Color coding. Use various colos of highlighter to indicate different things. Yellow for knowledge claims, orange for evidence, green for anecdotes, or whatever suits your need.
- Home-made Indexing. Make your own index, customized to your use of the book.
5. Make a super book. Trim paper to the book page size and paste in extra pages that include:
- comments, rebuttals, additional evidence, examples
- drawings, graphs, color photographs or other illustrations
- definitions, explanations
- cross references
- blank pages for you to add whatever comes to mind as you read
Remember that as you read, you do not have to believe everything you read, nor do you have to reject it. Simply file the knowledge claims (the statements that the author asserts as true) in your mind as “this is what is claimed to be true.” As you later gain more knowledge, you will at some point probably be able to move the statement from Claimed to True or to False.