How to Read a Book

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• on November 6, 2015
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You’ve been reading books since grade school, so why should you read How to Read a Book in graduate school? Although the title seems ludicrously elementary, this is one of best books you could read when pursuing an advanced degree. This classic by Charles Van Doren and Mortimer Adler, founder of the well-regarded Great Books program, will help you organize your thoughts and mountains of reading necessary for your literature review (commonly Chapter 2 of your proposal and final dissertation or thesis).

The art of reading has two goals, information and understanding. Reading for information is straightforward–think about reading about who won the Super Bowl. Reading for understanding is much more demanding, because you will always begin with inferior understanding of the topic and your task is to overcome your inequality with the authors.

Reading for understanding is essential for earning your degree. You must understand your topic and your field of inquiry, the current state of knowledge as found in the literature, and the questions that remain unanswered.

Many students have difficulty writing their problem statements, creating a compelling case for their research, and demonstrating the significance of their work. A thorough understanding of the literature, not just the facts but how they relate to each other, will help you immensely.

Adler gives eight rules for analytical reading, and walks you through each step:

1. Classify the type and subject of the book
2. State unity briefely
3. Outline major parts
4. Define problems and questions the book tries to answer
5. Come to terms with the author: figure out definitions of key words
6. Identify main propositions in important senanes
7. Know the author’s arguments
8. Determine problems that were solved and which problems weren’t solved

Although you may already feel overwhelmed with the amount of reading required for your degree, How to Read a Book is a good investment of your time. One final word of advice: Take notes! Personally, I kept a composition books with notes from every journal article I read while earning my Master’s degree. Much easier than printing out journal articles and highlighting!