In1940 a man by the name of Mortimer J. Adler published a book called, wait for it….
As Mortimer puts it, your job as the reader is to strive for equality with the writer, who presumably knows more about the subject matter than you do.
He proposes asking 4 questions while reading in order to do this more effectively:
- What is the book about as a whole?
- What is being said in detail?
- Is the book true in whole or part?
- What of it?
In other words you’re trying to determine what the central theme of the book is, how the author is supporting his or her argument, whether or not you agree with the what is being said, and figure out why the book is important.
In short, Mortimer’s argument is that you have to fundamentally change the way you look at reading.
A good reader is a demanding reader. One who has his or her highlighter in hand and ready to strike.
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