_______________________________________________________________________________________

I have never quite seen reading novels, or historical accounts as study. But why shouldn’t it be just like any other study material? Why shouldn’t I approach ”literature” in the same way that I approach Marketing or Power Systems Analysis and Design both of which I went through studying at the University.

*

Susan Wise Bauer begins with establishing how to read for educational purposes. Reading for pleasure and reading to learn are two different things – and I’ve always known that – but I haven’t quite put in the context of reading a novel for learning. Though Susan makes quite a few points that I really find worth noting:

(1) Read the book without getting hung up on details – make good use of highlights and markings to retrace those difficult sections afterwards.

(2) When finished reading through – go back to analyze the sections of note more carefully.

(3) Establish a viewpoint against the author’s ideas – agreements and disagreements.

I can easliy get stuck on words that I don’t know or sentences that I don’t quite understand. This stops me in my tracks and makes me reread the word/passage several times…sometimes even further back – trying to analyze as I go along. Far from ideal, and Susan makes this point as well – that the focus of the reading should be to grasp the overall concept of the book, and when finished, go back to get deeper understandings.

*

Some people tend to read books more than once – and this is something I’ve rarely done (The Legend of the Ice People being a clear exception). But looking back on interesting passages of note – as Susan suggests – is an interesting thought, that I think would actually help me grasping the deeper points of a work. I am not, unlike my fiance, someone who remembers every detail while reading – I can’t instantaneously quote a passage from a work I read a week ago – but I could very well give a summary, and say if I liked it or not. But learning something? Other than it being a pleasent story?

*

In order to keep thoughts focused when summarising a work, Susan points out the importance of quotes. Quotes from a work of interesting passages/sentences helps spark the memory of the book – and I can definetely see that point.