In 9^th grade Social Studies, I remember asking Mr. Pinhead (a derogatory, somewhat deserved nickname for our teacher), “Why do we have to learn this history stuff?”   Sweating from the brow and out of breath, he repetitiously expounded on ancient wars and political strategies.  His unsatisfactory explanation, “You need to learn this to pass my class,” was not only patronizing, but it deadened my interest in history for the balance of my school years.

Teachers, I beg you never use such pat clichés with your students, no matter how tempting!  Although Mr. Pinhead may have uttered a partially true statement, I never learned to like history because I never truly understood any basis for learning about it.

Now, as an adult teaching history, I’ve discovered some excellent reasons to study history at any age.  History is more about people than dates; more about decisions based on moral and philosophical principles than about maps and ever-changing boundary lines.  If my 9^th grade teacher simply stated we learn from the virtues and vices of those who came before us….or we learn from the right and wrong choices of statesmen from other times, I’d have listened attentively.

In Adler’s How to Read a Book, he dedicates a chapter to “How to Read History”.  Now that I appreciate reading history, his advice about reading history critically piqued my interest.  The following are a few points he made, validating my own experiences teaching history.

1. History books are often closer to fiction than science.

2. Historians are forced to assign causes for events and motivations for actions.

3. Historians’ personal theories and biases affect their account of events.

4. It is necessary to read more than one account of the history of an event or period if we want to understand it.

5. We should read the historical accounts of ancient authors not because they perfectly describe what happened, but because of the influences on the subsequent history of man. 

6. Authors of history books may write purposely for men of the future, hoping they do not repeat the mistakes of the past. 

7. Some historians may make critical errors in “checking their sources”.  Examples include misunderstanding sources, misusing sources or confusing the facts of the matter.

8. Authorized biographies are more likely to be biased than definitive biographies.

9. Autobiographies should never be considered as a primary source because of the extreme subjective nature and motives of the author.

10. History books can teach us the way men act in all times and places.

Get your students excited about history.  Noble men of the past teach us about the present through well written history books.  Seek to identify any biases an author presents through reading multiple sources. Validate the words and actions of people from the past through primary sources whenever possible.  Knowing honorable people more intimately uncovers our own noble desires to make a difference in our own time.  That’s the real reason to learn history!

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Son:      “I love this book”

Mom:  “Why?”

Son:     “It’s cool……I just like it!”

Mom:    “What part did you like the best?”

Son:     “All of it – the whole book is awesome.”

A narration of facts follows.  Does this sound familiar?  Imaginative literature is written to please the reader.  Where an author aims to convey knowledge through expository writing, imaginative books are written to communicate the experience itself from which a reader may learn.  My son thoroughly enjoyed the experience conveyed by the author of his book, but he cannot break down the experience to tell me why he liked the book or even more analytically, what he learned from the experience.

In How To Read A Book, Adler confirms my son’s struggle stating,

“Beauty is harder to analyze than truth.”

My son understands this book is exceedingly pleasing, but is challenged to enumerate the factors contributing to his overall enjoyment.

Adler suggests three steps readers may employ to better realize the effect a book has upon us.  (Parentheses are my own comments)

STEP ONE:  Discover and understand the story’s elements:

            - classify its kind (genre)

            - identify the unity of the whole work (theme)

            - construct the parts of the whole

               (characters, conflict, climax, aftermath)

STEP TWO:  Engage yourself in the world of the author:

-  become thoroughly acquainted with the thoughts, feelings, speeches and actions of the characters (characterization)

-  discover the background against which the characters stand out in relief (setting)

-   experience the story’s adventures along with the characters (plot)

STEP THREE:  Appreciate and reflect upon what moves us:

-   don’t criticize what we agree with or not, but what we like or do not like

-   judge why we like or dislike the book:  these reasons often reflect our own preferences and prejudices more than the authors

-    objectify our reactions with examples of elements which move us or cause an emotional response

Reading imaginative literature and discussing it critically is a challenging goal.  Pleasurable reading need not be anything more than that.  However, if we wish to engage ourselves or our students in the habit of reading a book well, we must interact with the book to learn from it.

How can we help our students exercise the steps Adler proposes?  What questions shall we pose to extract their response to the story?

I’m going to make a list of questions we might ask our students to guide them toward analysis of a book.  But I’d like to hear what questions you might pose to help a student interact more deeply with an author and his story. 

featured in the 27th Carnival of Homeschooling

Chapter #1 – my response notes

Chapter #2 – my response notes

Chapter #3 & #4 – my response notes

Chapter #5 – my response notes

Chapter #6 & #7 - my response notes

Chapter #8 - my response notes

Chapter #9 - my response notes

Chapter #10 -  my response notes

Chapter #11-13 - my response notes

How To Read A Book by Mortimer Adler

Related Tags: Great Books, literature, Mortimer Adler, reading fiction

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Frustration, ridicule and sarcasm have found their way into some of the commentary revolving around Mortimer Adler’s writings in How to Read a Book.  The theme of these comments can be summed up in the question, “Can’t I just read a book for pure enjoyment?”   Another Maureen O’Brien found my blog and writes “But for most readers, I think Mr. Adler's techniques would be a form of torture, both to the book and its reader.”  Having just completed several chapters enumerating the “15 Rules for Analytic Reading,” one does emerge exhausted at the thought of employing such rigor to all books.

Adler and Van Doren may have received similar feedback from their editors because the next section of the book immediately offers encouragement to the reader and a reminder that fiction and poetry do not require the scrutiny outlined in previous chapters.  This section is titled, “Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter.”  Before addressing approaches to reading imaginative literature, Chapter #13 outlines how to read practical books.

Any book that contains rules – prescriptions, maxims, or any sort of general directions – you will readily recognize as a practical book.  Some practical books contain rules, supported by principles or theories to support the rule.  For example, a book about successful entrepreneurship may propose rules based on principles of capitalism, democracy and free markets.  Thus practical books are considered to fall into two main categories:

a)      a rule book presents only rules, like a cookbook  OR

b)      a principle book that generates rules:  most of the great books in economics, politics and morals are of this sort.

A practical book based on principles may be confused with a purely theoretical book.  Both assert beliefs, propositions and arguments.  A practical book, however, will solve an end problem or resolve an end need for knowledge and action.  The reader must first agree with the ends; the means are secondary.  Adler differentiates stating, “In judging a theoretical book, the reader must observe the identity of, or the discrepancy between, his own basic principles or assumptions and those of the author.”  In other words, a reader must first concern themselves with the means of a theoretical book. Thus, one judges a practical book and a theoretical book differently.

The two main questions to be answered when judging a practical book based on principles are:

1)      What are the author’s objectives?  AND

2)      What means for achieving them is he proposing?

Sometimes one must be a detective to ascertain the ends and means of a practical book.  They may be packaged with oratory, propaganda, appeals to the heart and logic and the bow may be tied with a play on your emotions.  Recognizing the extraneous and decorative rhetoric veiling the author’s arguments and end goals may be like a game of hide and seek at times.  But answering Adler’s proposed questions are necessary for understanding and criticism of a practical book.

When reviewing practical books and many homeschooling “HOW TO” books fall into this category, it is best to answer these questions:

1)      What is the book about?  You must know what the author wants to do and what he wants you to do.

2)      Discover and understand what the author suggests for achieving such goals.

3)      Do you agree?  Is it true or true in part?  Are the objectives well defined and the means to resolve them in accord with your own conception?

4)      What of it?  Making the smallest change in your actions means you learned something.  Agreement with a practical book does not REQUIRE action.

A personal example of this kind of book is Managers of Their Homes.  I agree with the end purpose of an organized homeschool day.  I found the propositions and arguments reasonable.  But I have not initiated any action.  I agree in theory, but not in temperament.  I believe many households thrive using the practical methods within this book, but it just didn’t “feel right” for our home.

In judging a practical book, initial efforts are focused on the ends or goals.  If you do not share in the end goal of classical education, for example, then you can reject any practical book which argues this end.  The principles and reasoning within the book may be perfectly sound, but the means the author uses to legitimize his position are irrelevant to you, if the end position is not in agreement with your own.

Accepting and rejecting a variety of books based on ends/goals is a quick method of reviewing practical books whether we are in the library, a book fair or a homeschool convention.  (Using this same basic premise, subconsciously, I chose NOT to read the DaVinci Code.)  Life experience refines the skills Adler describes in this chapter. 

I am happy to be moving on to more practical chapters concerning reading a variety of subject matter.  Adler has raised my awareness of an author’s intention to send a message.  It is my responsibility to understand the message, and know how to ask the right questions in order to interact with an author through the book. 

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Which is your favorite student? 

Is it:

A)    the one who listens quietly and attentively or

B)     the one who is compelled to stop you mid-sentence with a question? 

A)  the one who accepts the facts as you explain them or

B)  the one who argues your explanation? 

A)      the student who finishes the assignments quickly and neatly or

B)       the student who doodles question marks, smiley faces and frowns in their margins?

Last week, I’d pick the “A” student any day, but after reading Mortimer Adler’s writings, the “B” student is more likely to possess the virtue of teachability.

Teachability is a virtue which is NOT subservience to the instructor, or to an author of a book attempting to instruct.  On the contrary, teachability is a very active virtue which empowers the learner or reader to exercise their critical faculties and make independent judgements.  Now, teaching MANNERS to student "B" may be in order, but squelching the development of his/her critical thinking skills could hinder their ability to become an analytic reader and thinker.

Hmmmm…..my most challenging student just became virtuous!

Chapter #1 – my response notes

Chapter #2 – my response notes

Chapter #3 & #4 – my response notes

Chapter #5 – my response notes

Chapter #6 & #7 - my response notes

Chapter #8 - my response notes

Chapter #9 - my response notes

Chapter #10 - this entry constitutes my response

How To Read A Book by Mortimer Adler

featured in The Carnival of Education #72

Related Tags: Great Books, literature, Mortimer Adler, reading, virtues

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I am propositioned every day; and believe it or not, so are you!  When you drive by Burger King and see the “Two Whoppers for $3.00” sign, you are being propositioned.  Propositions are declarations.  Propositions always have terms, just as sentences always have words.  In a previous entry titled “Coming to Terms,” words and terms are expressly differentiated.  But back to Whoppers…

What are the terms of this Burger King proposition?  Never assume your interpretations of the terms of a proposition are the same as the writer’s.  First of all, what does the writer mean by $3.00?  Is this American currency?  Does it include tax?  Must it be cash or can I write a $3.00 check?  And the term “Whopper”…..is this the way I like my Whopper, i.e.) with cheese?  Is this the standard-size Whopper or some mini-version made specifically for the proposed $3.00 deal?  If I drove through Burger King with a $3.00 check and expected to be handed two Whoppers with cheese, I would be driving away empty-handed.  I misunderstood the terms of the proposition.

So it is with Analytical Reading.  If a reader makes assumptions about terms which do not align with an author’s meaning, then the reader risks erroneously accepting or rejecting the author’s propositions.  The reader must find the key sentences which express the author’s propositions or judgments.   To assure an understanding of the terms, the reader should try to restate the propositions in equivalent statements.  The author himself may express the same proposition in different words in the course of his writing.  As propositions are the pillars which support the author’s main arguments, the validity of the author’s arguments is also closely examined during this stage of analytical reading.

In Rules #5 - #7 in How to Read a Book , Mortimer Adler addresses these potential traps:

RULE #5:  Come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words.

RULE #6:  Grasp the author’s leading propositions by dealing with his most important sentences.

RULE #7:  Know the author’s arguments by finding or constructing the key propositions.

As analytic readers we become fallacy detectives.   We need to be alert to the author’s problems or mistakes in reasoning.  We need to know how to spot bad reasoning as the author builds his arguments on his propositions.  For example, a red herring is when an author asserts something irrelevant to the argument to prove his point, and circular reasoning can make a reader’s head spin.  The author’s use of generalizations and equivocations can also mislead an unsuspecting reader.  Studies in formal and informal logic assist the reader in evaluating a valid argument.

If at the Elementary Level of reading, we concern ourselves with words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters of a book.  At the Analytical Level of reading we concern ourselves with terms, propositions and arguments.  If the first stage of Analytical Reading can be summed up as outlining and understanding the structure of a book, then this second stage can be summed up as interpreting the contents and validity which lie within.

We are being propositioned every day by advertisers, the media, politicans, authors, educators, perhaps even our pastors and spouses!  We must not be satisfied with just understanding the words.  Adler insists we examine the terms, propositions and arguments as we judge what we read.

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To really appreciate this website of puns, you first need to read yesterday's entry on "Coming to Terms."  Puns are a product of the equivocation of terms in the English language.  This is a fun way to informally explore the study of Logic.

.

  "I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me."

Enjoy the Pun of the Day

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In regards to death, you may hear, “She is still coming to terms with the death of her father,” or some like adage.  In our society, “coming to terms means “finding the meaning of” or “responding to”.     Mortimer Adler writes a whole chapter titled “Coming to Terms with An Author” in How to Read a Book.   He summarizes, “For communication to be successfully completed, it is necessary for the two parties to use the same words with the same meanings - in short, to come to terms."

Adler’s writings on this topic may have been clearer to a reader who has a background in Logic.  I haven’t studied Logic in 30 years, but I’ll try to relate Adler’s points with a few points studied in Logic.  Adler repeatedly attempts to explain why words and terms are not synonymous. 

I think of words in the sense of very early reading skills.  A word has representative letters, phonic sounds, and a distinct spelling.  When we speak of terms we are moving over to the formal study of Logic.  Words can look alike but not MEAN alike.

• Equivocal terms, although spelled and pronounced exactly alike, have entirely different and unrelated meanings.  A pitcher, for example, can be a position in baseball or the thing out of which you pour lemonade.  Equivocal terms are used in puns.  “We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately,” quipped Benjamin Franklin.

• Analogous terms are like equivocal terms, in that they are spelled and pronounced the same; they have different, but related meanings.  We can speak of a set of wheels to simply mean our car, or a set of wheels meaning 4 new tires.

If all terms were univocal, meaning they mean the same thing no matter when or how they are used, we would never have a problem understanding an author.  But since the English language is filled with equivocal and analogous terms, successful communication becomes a challenge.  This quick lesson in Logic hopefully differentiates words from terms. 

Adler uses an interesting algebraic notation, which may in fact confuse the difference between words and terms for some readers. But with specific examples, maybe this concept has more merit than not.   Let’s go back to “coming to terms with death”.  If “X” = the word DEAD and the variables a, b, and c represent different meanings (the term):

·        then Xa could be physically dead

·         Xb could be spiritually dead

·        Xc could represent the concept of dead wood, as in, “The company cut back and got rid of the dead wood.”

Taking Adler’s algebraic representation of terms a step further…..what if we add the reader’s belief system?  We all read with a worldview, moral compass and personal bias. In terms of the death of a loved one, if Xa means a person is physically dead/lifeless, we could propose:

·        Xa(1) =  an atheist’s point of view on death

·        Xa(2) = a Christian’s point of view on death

The meaning of the death of a loved one is indeed different between atheists and Christians.  While one may evoke fear and sadness, the other may evoke real joy and hope.  Reader Xa(1) of author Xa(2) may have difficulty with successful communication, unless they are well aware of the importance of coming to terms. 

When reading a book and coming to terms with an author, we must be cognizant of the words and their various terms.  But a prudent reader is also aware of the author’s worldview, and must keep his own moral compass close at hand.

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There, I said it.  My husband may disagree with me, but I NEED to be more demanding!  Mortimer Adler insists I be more demanding.  In Chapter #5 of How to Read a Book, Adler explores the art of asking questions and making a habit of being a demanding reader. 

Some questions I need to ask as I “actively” read a book include:

What is the overall theme?

Has the author subdivided the theme into bite-sized topics?

Are subordinate themes presented in an orderly/understandable manner?

Can I determine what the book is about as a whole?

Does the author support his main theme with believable arguments?

What assertions constitute the main idea?

Do I believe this book or any part of it to be true?

What significance does the author’s message have for me?

Does the information I obtain demand further reading?

To assist in this questioning process, Adler suggests another heresy….MARK UP YOUR BOOK!  First I’m demanding and now I’m going to scribble in my precious, moderately expensive, treasured book?  I specifically remember punishments from my parents and teachers alike for writing in books meant only to be read.  I find I have “issues” with writing in a book!  College-style underlining and highlighting aren’t enough?  Adler proposes a system of marginal notes, stars and asterisks, numbers in the margin, circling key phrases, and references to other pages.  And if that’s not enough, ideally, the reader makes an outline in the front endpapers and a summary of the author’s points in the back endpapers. 

The whole process reminds me of cleaning out a closet.  One removes and examines most every item and makes a categorical decision about its value.  Only what is of the utmost importance is replaced in an orderly fashion on the shelves.  When I open the door to a newly cleaned closet, I can immediately visualize all that I ever really needed in that closet to begin with.  The rest has been discarded.  My finished book should look the same way.  I need only open the book and focus on my own notes and markings to understand the key points of the author.  I have categorized and assigned value to these key points through my active reading. I always knew cleaning a closet was a demanding job.  Now I understand the art of becoming a more demanding reader: it’s up to me to practice until it becomes a habit.

“One learns to do by doing.”

Chapter #1 – my response notes

Chapter #2 – my response notes

Chapter #3 & #4 – my response notes

Featured in the Carnival of Education: Week 70

Related Tags: Great Books, literature, Mortimer Adler, analytic reading

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 After only four chapters of  How To Read A Book  (Mortimer Adler)  and 40 years of reading books,  I NOW learn I’ve never read a book correctly in my life!   Sadder than this, I’ve never been taught this type of reading either.   While our country has focused on literacy for all,  government efforts over the last few decades have converged on the earliest and most basic stage of reading:  Elementary Reading. 

Elementary Reading is summed up in 4 stages:

1. reading readiness
2. basic skills mastery
3. vocabulary growth and understanding words through context clues
4. assimilating reading skills to obtain new information and learning

Although these stages should be mastered before entering high school,  reality establishes a new “norm”.   High school teachers and yes,  even college professors find themselves remediating elementary reading skills.

“We must be more than a nation of functional literates. 

We must become a nation of truly competent readers,

recognizing all that the word competent implies.

 Nothing less will satisfy the needs of the world that is coming.”

Mortimer Adler

Adler also points out the correlation of near-universal literacy and the most highly developed industrial society - the United States.   However this is a historic fact,  not a commentary on the current state-of-affairs.

If you’re still reading this, then you have likely mastered the elementary level of reading and you’re curious to know if you actually know how to read a book!

According to Adler’s levels of reading,  it’s the next step I missed in my reading education:  Inspectional Reading.   Skipping this step is like sowing seeds before tilling the soil,  painting or wallpapering without proper wall prep,  or polishing your nails without pushing back your cuticles.   You’ll get results,  either way,  but you’ll get better results if you take time with some preparatory steps.   In the case of preparing to read a difficult book,  utilizing inspectional reading techniques will actually make reading easier.

Inspectional reading is systematic skimming of a book.   Inspect the title,  preface,  table of contents,  index, and publisher’s blurb.   Then preview chapter opening and closing pages carefully,  especially chapters which seem pivotal to the argument.    Flip through the book skimming random paragraphs looking for clues about the author’s point of view or main contention. 

You may close the book,  completing this inspectional reading,  once you ascertain the book’s general theme and structure.   Now you are prepared to read this book with better understanding.   Inspectional reading serves as anticipatory steps to better analytical reading.   Analytical reading is the level in which real learning occurs and a worthy goal.

Yes,  it’s true;  I’ve been reading books all wrong.   In fact in reading this book,  How to Read a Book,  I have just learned this step,  and will stop reading further until I complete my inspectional reading.   I’ve never been the kind of reader who has ever looked in the back of a book to see how it ends,  or read the table of contents.   I guess like surprises! 

If one is reading for entertainment or information,  elementary reading is sufficient.   But to open one’s mind for real learning,  use inspectional reading skills to prepare the soil (our brain) for new seeds (ideas) to be planted,  take hold (refection) and bear fruit (analysis).   Finally,  after adopting these practices ourselves,  we must teach our children this skill set as part of our reading programs.   Try inspectional reading the next time you need to read a book well.

Chapter #1 – my response notes

Chapter #2 –  my response notes

This entry constitutes my response to Chapter #3 & Chapter #4

Related Tags: Great Books, literature, Mortimer Adler, elementary reading

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     In Chapter 2  of  How To Read A Book,  Adler  categorizes the ability to read well by four distinct processes.    As a homeschooling mom,  I celebrated each time one of my children demonstrated their new found ability to read.   According to the author,   all my shouting and rejoicing were to commemorate only the first level of reading described as Elementary Reading.   Elementary Reading includes basic word recognition and comprehension.  Many of us read at this level.   For example,  I probably read a romance novel at this level.   Failure to master this level of reading is generally referred to as illiteracy.   The highest level of mastery of this level is probably speed reading with complete accuracy.

     The second level of reading is called Inspectional Reading.   Although inspectional reading is not exactly a higher level of reading,  as I pre-supposed, elementary reading skills ARE a prerequisite.  Homeschooling moms likely use inspectional reading when perusing curriculum at the annual homeschool conference!  Adler describes this type of reading as skimming contents within a time limitation.  When my children were early readers they definitely incorporated this method on the most rudimentary level.   They'd inspect chapter books for selection based on three criteria:   # of pages,   # of pictures,  and size of the font.   A higher level of mastery of inspectional reading would be the ability to systematically skim the structure and contents of a book.    This might be the kind of reading typical of a college student,  cramming for a final, using a textbook  he never actually read!

      Analytical Reading is the third process of reading described by Adler:  "If inspectional reading is the best and most complete reading that is possible given a limited amount of time, then analytical reading is the best and most complete reading that is possible given unlimited time."    I described this type of reading in an earlier entry as  nothing short of hard work!   Real understanding and learning take place during this type of reading.  Homeschool moms need to become Enlightened Enablers to help the students master this reading process.  It is my supposition that most high school students graduating from public schools today do not master this level of reading.   And it is not all their fault!  Most testing measures the skill sets which compromise mastery of Elementary Reading.  

     The highest level of reading is Synoptical Reading.    As the most active reading,  the highest level of effort and interaction are required.    I have defined this most complex process as being completely immersed or passionate about a topic.   One of my reading partners suggested we read at this level when investigating our homeschool choices.   This is an excellent example of synoptical (or comparative) reading for many of us.   We read to learn as much as we can about a subject,  synthesize ideas from multiple resources,  and form our own ideas over time,  experience,  and further reading.    When we become passionate about a subject,  it becomes part of our life experience.   In the case of homeschooling,  it may change our lifestyle and possibly even change how we define ourselves as a person.   Now that's POWERFUL reading!

  Francis Bacon may have been meditating on the hymn, "Take and Eat the Goodness of the Lord," when he quipped, "some books are to be tasted,  others to be swallowed and some few to be digested."
 

Chapter #1 – my response notes

 Featured in the 21st Carnival of Homeschooling

Related Tags: Great Books, literature, Mortimer Adler, analytical reading

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