Pitkin 1

Benjamin Pitkin

Professor Kevin Brooks

English 275

23 April, 2017

English 275 Book Report

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: The dimensions of reading

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
 Pitkin 2

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.

Part Two: The Third Level of Reading: Analytical 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

teach you how to do something. (66)

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
 Pitkin 3

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

(interpreting its contents),

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

of knowledge (162), and talk about analytical reading as a whole.

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
 Pitkin 4

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

provide rules for using each of these.

Part Three: Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter

Part three has seven chapters in it, and as the name says, talks about how to approach

different types of reading matter.

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,

and how agreement plays a role in them.

Chapter 14 is on how to read imaginative literature. After a brief introduction to the

genre, Adler and Van Doren tell how not to read it, and give a list of things to not do when

reading books in this category.

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

poem, it deserves many return visits. (228)

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.
 Pitkin 5

(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

biographies, autobiographies, current event works and digests.

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

essentially without freedom. (288)

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 4: The Ultimate Goals of Reading

 Pitkin 6

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.

Application to students in 275 and beyond

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

elementary level of reading. I do think it is an important section to include to provide an

overview of all the levels of reading. The section on inspectional reading will be useful to
 Pitkin 7

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

reading the other sections in full would be too much work.

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
 Pitkin 8

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

analyzing them in order to complete the project.

Integration with 275 content

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,

irrelevant, sections would not be assigned.

 Pitkin 9

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

how to react to it is a valuable skill for anybody, anywhere.

 Pitkin 10

Works Cited

Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to

Intelligent Reading. New York: Touchstone, 2014. Print.