STUDENT LEARNING WORKSHOP #1SPRING 2012

The Quest Philosophy for Reading Comprehension

Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren

Francis Bacon

“[t]here is still another goal of reading, besides gaining information and understanding, and that is entertainment” (10).

“Some Bookes are to be Tasted, Others to be Swallowed, and Some Few to be Chewed and Digested: That is, some Bookes are to be read onely in Parts; Others to be read but not Curiously; and some Few to be read wholly, and with Diligence and Attention” (151, ll. 22-26).

The Goals of Reading

Thesis: what to read, how to read, and why to read

What is reading comprehension?“the process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on

but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside, elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more” (8).

Students are best equipped with the ability to carry out this process when they are taught how to read the right books, in the right ways, for the right reasons – in short, the art of reading well.

What to Read: Treats, Water, and Meat/Vegetables

The Pyramid of Books

Amusement/ Information

Good Books

Great Books

Books of Information or Entertainment

99% of all books written in the history of the western world

Worthy only of being “tasted” or read in part or “skimmed”

Fosters Mechanical, not organic Growth

Mechanical Growth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbnLiUtqzu0

The Good Books

A few thousand books of the millions of books written in the history of the western world

Worth reading analytically once; that is, deserving to be swallowed, but not necessarily chewed/ digested

Fosters organic, not mechanical growth

The Great Books

Less than one hundred books of those written in the history of the western world

Cannot be outgrown or exhaustedWorthy of reading analytically many times

overAnalogous to Bacon’s description of those

“Few [texts which ought] to be Chewed and Digested”

Fosters organic growth

Organic Growth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26AhcKeEbE

How to Read: Tasting, Swallowing, Chewing, and Digesting

The Essence of Active Reading:

1. Ask Questions1. What is the book about as a whole?2. What is being said in detail, and how?3. Is the book true, in whole or part?4. What of it?

2. Mark your text

Inspectional Reading

Two Stages Systematic Skimming or Prereading

Analogous to “Tasting” Superficial Reading

Analogous to “Swallowing”

Analytical Reading or “Chewing”

Reading the Four types of Arguments1. Definitional2. Cause/Effect3. Evaluative4. Problem/Solution

Syntopical Reading or “Digesting”

Survey the FieldRead Syntopically

Why to Read: the two Questions of a Great Education

What is the nature of reality?How should a life be lived?