Chapter 1: The Activity and Art of Reading
Welcome to the Mortimer Adler Fan Club!
Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book is divided into four parts. Part One includes the first five chapters and provides an excellent introduction to reading, and goes into detail about the first two levels of reading: Elementary Reading and Inspectional Reading.
While I have not included the Preface in the chapter outlines, it is a short read and well worth your time. You learn a little about the history of this book (this being the second edition) and get a feel for why Adler (and Van Doren in this second edition) felt it was necessary to put the book together in the first place.
So let’s get into the first chapter.
What do the authors mean when they refer to “readers?” (p. 3)
Readers are people who are still accustomed – as every literate and intelligent person used to be – to gain a large share of their information and their understanding of the world from the written word. Not all is/was obtained through the written word – some also obtained through spoken word and direct observation.
Adler and Van Doren wrote this book in 1972 (the first edition was in fact written by Adler in 1940 and then Adler, along with Van Doren, updated and published this second edition). At this time, television and radio were seen as taking over many functions of print. What would be our modern equivalent? (p. 3)
Television and radio are still relevant – and much expanded since the offerings available in the 1970’s when this edition was put together. But there are so many more offerings available that are indeed taking over the functions of television and radio as well. Internet – and all that comes along with it, including podcasts, live streaming video, short videos, citizen media. Books, newspapers, and magazines – while still the printed word – now include interactive features and hyperlinks. Books are offered as audiobooks and while I am a firm believer that listening to a book is still reading a book – one could argue that something is lost in this format, especially when trying to read at a higher level.
Discuss the relationship between knowledge and understanding. Is knowledge a prerequisite for understanding? Is there such a thing as too much knowledge, to the detriment of understanding? (p. 4)
We do not need to know everything about something to understand it. In fact, too many facts can be a detriment to understanding. We are inundated with facts but often lack the understanding one would expect to have with all this knowledge. This is in part because the way all these facts are presented to us as the consumers – packaged in such a way that deep thinking really isn’t necessary.
Is there really such a thing as “passive reading?” Describe the relationship between writing and reading (p. 5)
All reading must be active to some degree – we don’t read with our mind asleep. So while we use the terms active and passive, what is really meant by these terms is actually “more” or “less” active. Some people understand writing and speaking to be active undertaking (giving or sending information), and reading and listening to be entirely passive (receiving). However, reading is more like “catching” (and writing “pitching”) rather than just receiving. Catching is receiving but requires active participation – it is not a passive activity.
Discuss reading for understanding versus reading for information. Under what conditions does “reading for understanding” take place? (p. 7-9)
If we read something and we understand the author perfectly, we can gain information from the book but not understanding (and we have no more understanding to gain). Learning in this sense is increasing the information we have, but not our understanding.
If we do not understand the book or author completely – the book has more to say than we currently understand – we can lift ourselves from a state of ‘understanding less’ to ‘understanding more.’ In this case, learning means understanding more, not just remembering more information on something we already completely understand.
There are two conditions that must exist for “reading for understanding” to take place. First, there must be an initial inequality in understanding – the writer is superior in their understanding of the subject than the reader is currently. And the writer must convey the insights they possess that the readers do not have. Second, the reader must be able to overcome this inequality with the writer to some degree.
What do the others have to say about reading for entertainment? (p. 10)
Reading for entertainment is the least demanding kind of reading, and requires the least amount of effort. There are no rules regarding this kind of reading and anyone who can read can certainly do so for entertainment.
What is the difference between being informed and being enlightened? (p. 11)
To be informed is to simply know that something is the case. Enlightenment is also knowing why it is the case, and what are the connections with other facts. Enlightenment is not just knowing what an author says, but also knowing what the author means when they say it, and why they say it. Being informed is prerequisite to being enlightened.
What is meant by the terms “bookful blockheads,” “ignorantly read,” or “sophomores?” (p. 11)
These refer to to an ignorance of those who have misread many books. Someone who has read widely but not well – bookish but poorly read.
Discuss the difference between discovery and instruction – or what the authors refer to as ‘aided’ and ‘unaided’ discovery. (p. 12)
Instruction occurs when a person learns from another person through speech or writing. Discovery is the process of learning something by research, investigation or reflection without receiving instruction from another person. Both are active since even when a person is receiving instruction, active learning is still occuring. Instruction can be thought of as “aided” discovery since the person is being aided by another person in the learning process. Unaided discovery proceeds without any assistance from another person guiding their learning.
** Note – assume much of the content following each discussion question is a paraphrase and comes from the book How to Read a Book.
Click here to print Chapter 1 Discussion Questions.
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