Four Basic Reading Questions

How to Read a Book

 

from How to Read a Book, revised and updated edition (1972) by Adler and Van Doren

Whether reading an article, a book, or a website, an assigned reading, or something of one’s own choosing, there are four basic questions (46-47) that will focus one’s reading.  Focused reading effectively prepares the academic reader to write an annotated bibliography, a book review, or a paper.  The reader must ask:  

1) “What is the book about as a whole?” – Discover the “leading theme of the book” and the “essential subordinate themes and topics.”  

2) “What is being said in detail, and how?” – Tease out the “main ideas, assertions, and arguments.”  

3) “Is the book true, in whole or part?” – Understand the author’s argument(s) and support to discern their validity.  

4) “What of it?” – So What? Why is the book important or useful?  What does the author suggest or imply is the next logical step?  

Answering the four basic questions precisely and accurately constitutes “the whole obligation of the reader.”  Answering the first two questions (content and argument) allows the reader to discern the book’s validity (truth).  Once the first three questions are answered, the reader can then assess a book’s significance.  Adler observes that learning how to ask all four questions “as you read” is the “art of reading.”

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