[Beauty] Mortimer J. Adler "How to read a book"

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I am reading a book recently, the book is called "How to read a book" (Business Press, 2015), as the name implies.

The author argues that reading is an activity as complex as writing a book, and many people do not read it.

After that, you may have the idea of "I really don't think I can read it."

I extracted the first article of the book, a total of five chapters, share to everyone. Here are the contents of the catalogue and abstracts.
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Table of Contents (first: level of reading)Chapter I reading vitality and the art of active reading | Reading goals: Reading without information and reading for understanding | Reading is learning: The difference between guided learning and self-discovery learning | Teacher's absence and attending chapter II reading the third chapter reading the first level: basic reading study reading stage | Stages and levels of reading | Higher levels of reading and higher education | The concept of reading and democratic education Chapter fourth reading the second level: View Reading view reading: Systematic skimming or rough time | View Reading II: superficial reading | Speed of Reading | Stay and Retreat | Understanding of the Problem | Review the summary of reading fifth How to do a self-requesting reader active reading basics: A reader's four basic questions to ask | How to make a book truly yours | Three ways to take notes | Cultivate the habit of reading | A habit is formed by many rules ——————————————————
Abstract Content:

Chapter I reading the vitality and art   reading of people (readers), refers to those who are still accustomed to from the written word, to learn a lot of information to enhance the understanding of the world.   Here's a question: Does the new era of media (television, radio) really enhance our understanding of the world?   Too much information, like too little information, is a hindrance to understanding. In other words, the overwhelming deluge of information in modern media has hindered our understanding.   The reason for this is that we can easily accept information from media packaging (using flowery rhetoric or carefully selected information and statistics) without having to think hard.   Viewers, listeners, and readers directly put the post-packaged ideas into their minds, just as naturally as the video recorder is willing to accept videos.  1.1. Active reading   Many people think that reading and listening is completely passive compared with the active writing and speaking. Writing authors and speakers at least takes a little effort, and the audience and the reader don't have to do anything.   In fact, the audience and the reader's "reception" should be like the Catcher in the baseball game. The relationship between the author and the reader is like the relationship between the pitcher and the Catcher, and the art of catcher is the skill to receive various balls.   But the metaphor of the ball can't match the work. The ball is either received or not received; But the work is a complex thing, can receive a little more, also can receive less.   in a word, reading is a complex activity, just like writing.  1.2. Objectives of reading: reading for information and reading   Real reading for understanding is that you are reading this book without any external force. You have nothing, just by the strength of the heart, pondering the words in front of you, slowly improve yourself, from the only vague concept to a clearer understanding.   This book is about the art of reading and is written to enhance understanding.   Reading There is also a goal, is the pastime. Anyone who can read and want to read can find a piece of reading to amuse himself.   If improving understanding is your goal, our theme is to read the art of good books.  1.3. Reading is learning: instructional learning, and the difference between self-discovery learning   Reading do not stop at absorbing information, to be able to be inspired, in addition to know what the author said, but also understand his meaning, understand why he said so.   Avoid the "read much is good read" error.   No matter which way of learning, only the person who really learns is the active learner. No learning should be without vitality, as any reading should not be lifeless.   Education is a very special kind of art. The teacher used up the method to teach students, the student must also have to study only then, when he learned, knowledge will be born in his mindRoots sprout.   We can say that reading and listening are the same art--the art of being taught.   Self-discovery learning is the study of reading Self and reading the world.   Active reading is an effort to pursue comprehension. Thinking is only part of active reading. One must observe, remember, and use his imagination in places he cannot see.  1.4. Attendance and absence of teachers   reading is to study with an absent teacher.   If the answer to the question you ask is not a simple fact statement, but an explanation, then you have to understand it, otherwise no one can explain it to you.   Adult education to rely entirely on the book itself, we can no longer have the help of teachers.   The main purpose of this book is to learn to let books teach us, let us continue to study and develop.   Chapter II the level of reading   There are altogether four levels of reading. The level of reading is gradual. The first level of reading does not disappear in the second level of reading, the second level of reading is included in the third level of reading, the third level of reading is included in the fourth level of reading.   The first level of reading that we call "basic reading". As long as you are proficient at this level of reading, you get rid of the state of illiteracy, at least have begun to read. This level of learning is usually done in primary school.   The first thing a child touches is this level of reading. All he cares about is the language of the person who wrote the sentence.   At this level of reading, the question the reader asks is: What does this sentence say? Overcoming this level of difficulty usually allows us to read faster. So most of the fast-reading courses are focused on reading at this level.   Second level of reading, which we call "view reading", features emphasis on time. Another way to describe it is to seize the focus of a book within a certain amount of time.   At this level of reading, your goal is to look at the book from the surface and learn all that is given to you by the appearance of the book. The deal is usually a bargain.   The question to ask at this level is: What is the book talking about? What kind of book is this-fiction, history or scientific paper?   actually a lot of readers (including some excellent readers), reading will enter a misunderstanding: they open a book, starting from the first page to read, tireless, and even the catalogue does not look at. So they took the time to read and understand a book carefully when they only had to skim through a book. This adds to the difficulty of reading.   The third level of reading, which we call "analytic reading." Analysis reading is the overall reading, complete reading, or high-quality reading, so how much will be labored.   Analytical reading is always a focus of activity, is the pursuit of understanding. At this level of reading, the reader will cling to a book and readThe book became his own, which was to Chew and digest a book.   Fourth level of reading, we call it "subject reading", it can also be called "Comparative reading". When reading a subject, the reader reads a lot of books, not a book, and, after reading them, lists the correlations between the books and finds out what all the books are talking about.   Secondly, by reading books, the reader should be able to architect an analysis of an angle that might not have been mentioned in any of the books.   Chapter Three reading the first level: basic reading   A young man and a young woman who does not know how to read will be hindered in his quest for the American Dream.  3.1. Preliminary discussion: The stages involved in basic reading   This is a widely accepted concept: at least four distinct stages before a child has a skilled reading ability.   In other words, basic reading consists of four stages. The first stage of   is called the "reading preparation stage". Experts say this phase starts from birth to six or seven years of age. Of course, the age reached, but did not arrive at this stage of the standard, deferred reading guidance, is not too serious.   The second stage, the child will learn to read some simple readings. In the United States, this stage begins with a reading of the picture, and at the end of this stage, pupils can read some simple books by themselves and enjoy reading them.   The third stage, the child can provide clues from the context, understand some unfamiliar words, learn to have the goal of reading, for different areas of the book, there is a corresponding reading method. They read for fun, to satisfy curiosity or to "broaden their horizons."   Fourth stage: Consolidating the previous skill, extracting the author's point of view from a book, and translating the idea, that is, to see the opposite of this view or to add other aspects that are not considered in the point of view, and to compare different points of view.   This is the mature stage of basic reading, it is the realm that teenagers should reach, and it should be lasted all their life.   But the children did not achieve this goal. There are a number of reasons for failure, one of which is not often noticed, which is that too much attention is paid to the method of teaching your child's initial reading, leading to other higher levels of reading being overlooked.  3.2. Meet again: Four stages of basic reading   Basic reading the first stage, the "Reading preparation stage", equivalent to pre-school or kindergarten learning experience.   Second stage, literacy, equivalent to the first grade students typical learning experience.   The third stage, the understanding of the word is more, there is the ability to use the text, called "four-year reading and writing ability." At this stage, children can easily read traffic signs, picture descriptions, and fill out simple forms.   Fourth stage, students to graduate from primary or junior high school, he can almostTo read all the readings. Readers of the   book are assumed by the authors and must assume that we have passed the four reading stages we describe.   Generally speaking, there is a teacher in the four stages of basic reading, which eliminates the problem of students at this stage.  3.3. Higher levels of reading and higher education   Traditionally, American high school education only provides students with a little reading instruction, and the university is nothing. The education of   corrective reading has thus arisen, and there are at times more than 75% people who need correction.   Corrective Education only brings students to a level of reading that he should have when he graduated from primary school. Can only overcome the failure of primary education, but can not take us beyond the first level of reading.   A high school of humanistic excellence, even if nothing has been done, it should also cultivate readers who can achieve analytical reading. An excellent university, even if nothing contributes, should be able to develop a reader who can read the subject. The university diploma, should represent the average university student's reading level, not only can read any kind of general information, but also can do the personal research to any kind of topic.   A person, should not spend 20 years of school education time, to learn how to read. If so, there must be a big problem in the middle.  3.4. The concept of reading and democratic education   we know that no matter how reasonable the message is, we can hear nothing if we meet thousands of new people who slam on the stairs of the school.   Our history has been emphasizing that unrestricted access to education is a society that can provide the people with the most valuable services-or rightly so, that educational opportunities are limited only when one's self-expectations, abilities and needs are constrained.   We must go a step further than a country where everyone is literate. Our countrymen should become a truly "capable" reader, able to truly recognize the meaning of the word "capable."   The second level of reading in the fourth chapter: viewing reading   Unless you are proficient in basic reading, you will not be able to access the reading level.   When you're reading an author's work, you have to be quite handy, not stop to check the meaning of the words, or be hindered by grammar and structure. Although not every word is read thoroughly, but you can master the main sentence and the meaning of the chapter.   View read a total of two kinds. Experienced readers have learned to use both of these steps at the same time, but at the moment, we're still separating the two completely.  4.1. View read one: Systematic skimming or rough time   This is a book, or any reading, and that is your mind. What's the first thing you'll do? There are two common conditions in this case.   First, you don't know if you want to read the book, and you don't know if it's worth it.Analysis reading. But it is at least useful to think that you can dig out the information and ideas in your book.   Second, you have limited time.   In this case, you have to do is to "skim" (skim) the whole book, or as Rough Time (Pre-read).   When you browse and discover that this book may only be useful to you at the moment, the value of this book is the same. But at least you know what the author's claim is, or what a book it is. Therefore, the time you spend skimming the book is never wasted.   below on how to skim, give some advice:  (1). First look at the title page, if ordered, first look at the preface.   (2). Study the catalog page.   Unless the book is really used, many people don't even look at the catalogue page. In fact, many authors spend a lot of time creating catalog pages, and it's sad to think that these efforts are often wasted.   Although it is occasionally possible to see the outline directory of analysis lines, it is not common. The reason for this decline is that the average person is no longer as fond of reading the catalogue as it used to be, and publishers feel less exposed to the catalogue and more appealing to readers.   (3). If the book is indexed, review it-most of the essays will be indexed.   If you find out which word is important, at least take a look at some of the pages that are quoted in the word.   (4). If it is a book of books, please read the publisher's propaganda copy.   In general, many of the book's promotional copy is written by the author, with the help of the corporate propaganda Department of the publishing company.   (5). From the catalogue of a book, pick a few chapters that seem to be relevant to the subject.   Even if there is a postscript, the last two or three pages of a book should not be ignored. Many authors will rearrange their ideas of what they think is new and important at the end of the page.  4.2. Superficial reading   The first time to face a difficult to read a book, from beginning to end, read it all over again, encountered do not know where not stop to inquire or think.   If you let yourself be bound by a paragraph, you are defeated.   For example, reading Shakespeare's plays will be a great pleasure, but the happiness of a generation of high school students is ruined. Rather than forcing them to act like a scholar, encourage them to read the full play at once, and then discuss what they have gained in the first reading.  4.3. The speed of reading   the so-called reading speed, ideally, not only to be able to read fast, but also to be able to read at different speeds--to know when to use what kind of speed is appropriate.   Every book, no matter how difficult it is to read, can be read faster in the insignificant Gap section.  4.4. Stay and pourBack   Some readers, while reading, have a lingering (invisible) and regressive (returning to previously read sentences), which wastes time and slows down reading.   You can use your hands to train your eyes. You can do this: combine your thumb with your index finger and middle finger, and use this "pointer" to move along a line of words, faster than your eyes, forcing your eyes to move with your hands. Keep practicing and you'll be up to two or three times times faster than before.  4.5. Understanding the question   comprehension is a little more than answering some simple questions about the contents of the book.   Without analysis, you can't understand a book.  4.6. View a summary of reading   reading a book, slow should not be slow to not worth it, should not be fast to the detriment of satisfaction and understanding.   Generally, even if you want to read a book, you should skim it first, and find some ideas from the basic architecture.   is the hardest book to read and read it quickly. When you read the second time, you are ready to read the book.   Fifth how to make a self-demanded reader   when reading, it's much easier to make yourself drowsy than to stay awake.   What you want to do when reading, mainly depends on what your reading goal is. If your goal is to gain spiritual or spiritual growth-you have to stay awake.   But sadly, although many people can differentiate-one is the enhancement of comprehension, the other is entertaining or merely satisfying a little curiosity-the end still fails to achieve their reading goals.   Even if they knew what way the book should be read or failed. The reason is not knowing how to be a self-demanded reader, how to focus on what they do, and not get nothing.  5.1. Active Reading Basics: The core of a reader's four basic questions   active reading is to ask questions during reading, and in the process of reading, you must try to answer these questions.   about a book, you must ask four main questions.   (1). On the whole, what exactly is the book talking about?   (2). Find out the author's views, thoughts and arguments.   (3). Does the book make sense? Is all justified, or partly justified.   When you get to know a book and you read it very seriously, you feel obliged to make a judgment of the book. It is not enough to know the author's idea alone.   (4). What does this book have to do with you?   What is the point of this information? Why does the author think it's important to know? Do you really need to know?   These four questions are the basic rules for readingis also the main topic to be discussed in the second chapter of this book.   Any level of reading beyond basic reading, the core is that you have to try to ask questions (and then try to figure out the answer as much as you can). This is a principle that must never be forgotten. This is also the reason for the difference between a self-demanded reader and a reader who has no self-requirement. The latter does not have a problem, of course, there is no answer.   people doze off when they read a good book, not because they don't want to, but because they don't know how to work. There are too many good books for you to miss. And unless you can really get up and touch them and lift yourself up to the same level, the good books you hang on are just boring.  5.2. How to make a book your own   to really have a book, you have to turn it into a part of yourself, and the best way to make you part of the book-the book becomes part of you and the best way to become part of your book-is to write it down.   Why is it necessary for a reader to take notes on a book? First, to keep you awake; second, reading if it is active, is a kind of thinking, and thinking tends to be expressed in words-whether it is spoken or written. If a person says he knows what he is thinking, he can't say it, usually he doesn't know what he is thinking, and thirdly, it can help you remember the author's thoughts.   Take notes in a variety of colorful ways. Here are a few:  (1) that can be used. Draw the bottom line   draw lines under important and powerful sentences.   (2). Draw a double bottom line   Emphasize the part of the line that has been drawn again.   (3). Asterisks or other marks   cautions in the blanks are used only to emphasize 10 or more of the most important statements or passages in the book. You may be able to fold or clip a bookmark.   (4). Numbered in the blanks   The author develops a series of important statements about an argument.   (5). Make a note of the other pages in the blanks   emphasize the author's other parts of the book, with the same views, or points of view, or different points of view. This will unite the ideas that spread the book.   (6). It is the same function to circle a keyword or sentence   to draw the bottom line.   (7). Take notes   Questions, answers to the questions, the simplification of the author's complex arguments, the order of development of the argument, the last page of the book as an individual index page, and the author's main points of view.   A blank page in front of the book to record your thoughts. After you have finished reading a book, write down your personal index, turn back the blank page, and try to write out the whole structure.  5.3. Three ways to take notesMethod   When reviewing reading, the question to answer is: first, what kind of book is this? Second, what's the whole book talking about? Thirdly, what is the overall structure of the author to develop his views or to state his understanding of the subject?   You should make a note to write down the answers to these questions. The place to take notes is the catalog page, or the title page, which is the number of pages that were not used when the notes were mentioned earlier. We call this note a structural note.   Unless you read the book carefully, you shouldn't jump to conclusions about whether the book is accurate or justified.   Concept notes are different from structured notes, and when you read many different books on the same topic, the notes you have to make are conceptual. The page number you write down in the book is not just the page number of the book, but also the number of other books.   For a professional reader who has been proficient in reading several books and the same subject, there is a higher level of note-taking, called dialectical notes, which is discussed in detail in the fourth article. This kind of note is usually written in a piece of paper and is summarized from a lot of books. On a single topic, list all the relevant statements and questions in sequence.  5.4. To cultivate the habit of reading   to develop a habit, there is no other way than to keep practicing. From the actual to do to learn how to do the truth.   Habits are the second nature of man.   Art is a rule, you do not follow the rules, it is impossible to develop an art, or any skills of the habit. Art, like other rules, can be learned, as long as you do it according to the rules, you can cultivate habits.   No matter how original his final work is, no matter how many traditional "rules" he has eliminated, he must have the skills to make such a finished product.  5.5. Make a habit of many rules   reading as with skiing, unless you are skilled in every step, you can connect different steps to become a harmonious action, and he also has the ability to achieve goals.   Most people do not like this kind of reading, although so, but still can be trained.

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My idea is: when you reach a certain amount of reading, you are at the level of basic reading, and when you look at reading, you find that it really saves a lot of time.


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[Beauty] Mortimer J. Adler "How to read a book"

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