Adler How To Read A Book Summary

Going to school everyday, gathering facts on the internet, sitting in a classroom listening; these are all things that we call learning. But what is learning? Is learning the memorization of facts? Is it listening to a teacher lecture for an hour during class? Or is a process of digging through the facts and finding the information a person is seeking or the underlying truth? Many elementary school and high school students would argue that the first two examples of learning is all a person needs in life but as they grow and further their education they discover differently. When a person attends college the faculty expects you to be able to think critically and come to your own opinion about things. College professors desire you to question

Mortimer J. Adler (1940) has a solution in his book How to Read a Book. Adler suggests that the only way to truly “absorb [the book] in your bloodstream” you must “write between the lines.” As a person actively reads a book and makes the book a part of themselves by holding a conversation with the author they are creating deeper thoughts that will lead to a deeper understanding (Adler). Sitting down and reading a book that is a physical thing and is in a person's hands demands attention a little more than a computer screen that has lights and pop-ups. If as you read and turn the pages a person also engages their brain this practice will help draw conclusions and obtain more insight that will last with you. Adler states, “To set down your reactions to important words and sentences you have read […] is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions.” When a person writes down the words not only helps with new insights but also helps the words of the book stay with you long after you close the cover. The learning also deepens overtime when you open up the book and there again is that conversation that is still unfinished between you and the

(1940). How to Mark a Book. W. Brugger, D.Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth & R. Seamons (Eds.), The way of wisdom (pp.1-4). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://ilearn.byui,edu

Bednar, D. A. (2008). Learning to love learning. W. Brugger, D.Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth & R. Seamons (Eds.), The way of wisdom (pp.1-5). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://ilearn.byui,edu

Carr, N. (2008). Is Google Making Us Stupid? W. Brugger, D.Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth & R. Seamons (Eds.), The way of wisdom (pp.1-8). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://ilearn.byui,edu

McCullough, D. (2008). The Love of Learning. W. Brugger, D.Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth & R. Seamons (Eds.), The way of wisdom (pp.1-4). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved September 30, 2011, from http://ilearn.byui,edu

Morowitz, H. (2009). Drinking Hemlock and Other Nutritional Matters. W. Brugger, D.Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth & R. Seamons (Eds.), The way of wisdom (pp.1-3). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved September 30, 2011, from http://ilearn.byui,edu

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