Reading with Intent
We all know how to read books, right? Open up a good book, begin at the beginning, and end at the ending. Simple – or is it? The answer depends on why we are reading the book. Reading for pleasure and reading with intent require different skills.
How to Read a Book
One starting point for reading with intent is inspectional reading (How to Read a Book, 1972, by Adler and Van Doren, 32-36). Inspectional reading gives a sense of a book’s content, and its research value. It begins with gleaning information from the basic parts of the book.
First, look at the title page. Pay attention to subtitles and other comments. Read all prefaces, forewards, and introductions. These reveal the book’s subject, angle, and scope.
Study the table of contents. The more detail, the better. An anthology may have a synopsis of each chapter, and the author’s name.
Search the subject index for key terms. Read material surrounding your keywords. Scan the bibliography, works cited, and other reference tools.
Examine the dust jacket and blurbs. The flaps often give a synopsis of the book’s content, argument, or unique contribution. There is often a biography of the author on the jacket.
Revisit the table of contents seeking chapters pivotal to the argument. Skim these chapters reading the opening and closing paragraphs.
Finally, wander through the book, “dipping in here and there” (35) sampling a few paragraphs. An author often summarizes the book in the conclusion. You should now be ready to include the book in your research, or look for better prospects.
March 1, 2011 at 2:53 pm
[...] bibliography? And, why would you want to write one (besides for a grade)? As a natural product of reading with intent, you probably uncover most of the information included in an annotation as you conduct research. Ink [...]