Chapter 7: X-raying a Book
Continuing in the second part of the book, we continue to examine what the book we are reading is actually about. X-raying a book involves looking at the basic structure of the book, and putting together a basic outline to further understanding.
What is the second rule of analytical reading? Describe briefly what this means. (p. 75-76)
Rule 2: State the unity of the whole book in a single sentence, or at most a few sentences (a short paragraph). The unity of the book is what the whole book is about, which is distinct from what kind of book it is. A book being about a certain type of subject matter is telling us what kind of book it is. Stating a book’s unity is to state what a book is about – meaning what is the book’s main theme or main point.
What is the third rule of analytical reading? Describe briefly what this means. (p. 76-77)
Rule 3: Set forth the major parts of the book, and show how these are organized into a whole, by being ordered to one another and to the unity of the whole. It is important to understand that a book (or a good book at least) is a unity of organized many, meaning that the many parts that make up a book are organically related, and organized into the unity that is the book. Each part is independent, in a sense, but also NOT independent and separate from the whole. The authors state “A good book, like a good house, is an orderly arrangement of parts.”
How does the reader go about actually stating the unity of a book? What help does an author provide in determining the unity of a book? (p. 78-80)
The unity of a book is a main thread of plot that ties the rest of the book together. Even in complex stories – the authors use Homer’s Odyssey as an example – even with many smaller plots and episodes present, there is still a single main thread of plot tying all the smaller plots together.
The author may provide help in determining what the unity of a book actually is. The title is sometimes enough to determine this. The preface, written by the author, may also give the unity of the book in clear fashion. Different than a work of fiction, the author of an expository book has little reason to not lay out the unity of the book in the preface.
The third rule naturally follows from the second rule in what way? Are we as the reader expected to put together a detailed outline of parts for everything we read? (84-85)
When we state what the unity of a book is – which is a brief statement about what the book is about – we can then discuss how the author accomplishes this. For example, we can state that the author accomplishes this in several parts, and then briefly describe what each of these parts are. We can even further describe each of these parts, and then further describe each of these smaller parts. This could make for an extremely detailed outline of the book we are reading, and makes reading each book quite labor intensive. Not every book we read requires this much effort. As the reader, we can decide to make a fairly close approximation for some books, but settle for a rough notion of a book’s structure for the rest of the books we read.
Do chapter headings correspond to the major parts of the book and should we use these to determine the parts that together form the unity of the book? (p. 88-89)
Chapter divisions can be helpful, and the author may have utilized chapter headings and sectional divisions to help the reader understand the structure of the book. However, as the reader, we do have some freedom in outlining a book, and if chapter headings are not as helpful to us as we organize content sections in our reading and understanding of the text, then we should feel free to not follow the author’s headings exactly.
What is the fourth rule of reading? Describe this rule briefly. (p. 92-93)
Rule 4: Find out what the author’s problems were. This rule is somewhat repetitive of the second and third rules. The author may or may not explicitly spell out what question(s) they set out to answer in the course of the book. As the reader, it is helpful to formulate the questions as precisely as possible. State the main question the book tries to answer. Stating the question is somewhat duplicating the task of stating the unity and finding the parts (rules 2 and 3) but can actually be helpful in finding both the unity and the parts.
** Note – assume much of the content following each discussion question is a paraphrase and comes from the book How to Read a Book.
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