In Mortimer Adler’s “How to Mark a Book,” he discusses the importance of marking up the texts we read. For your first reading response for the blog, spend some time responding to the following questions.
1. What is Adler’s main idea? What is the message he is trying to convey to his readers?
2. Do you agree with Adler’s main idea? Why or why not?
3. Which of the tips for marking a book do you find the most helpful? Which do you hope to try?
4. What was the most useful message you found from reading this essay?
Please review the guidelines for reading responses (on the left of the screen). Then, complete a reading response by replying to this blog post. In your response, you should write in paragraph form (do not simply list answers to the questions), and you should use references to the reading whenever possible. When you are finished writing your response, you should plan to reply to two other students’ posts. This assignment must be completed by Sunday, September 7th at 8pm.
muse 
In “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, the author is trying to get book readers to not just read the words, but to get inside the book. We grew up learning to not write in books, but as we grow older, writing in books and marking up the pages with your thoughts, questions, and agreements/disagreements with the author can really further your connection with the reading. Adler is trying to convey that you should be an active reader, and to be active, you must take notes, annotate, interact with the author, and learn what the book teaches, and I completely agree. For example, Adler says, “If, when you’ve finished reading a book, the pages are filled with your notes, you know that you read actively.” The more notes you take about your thoughts in a reading, the better you will remember your thoughts when you come back to the page and reread your notes. Your thoughts will never leave the page. Adler makes it very clear that “…reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author,” and that, “marking a book is literally an expression of your differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.” That is the main point of the essay.
Adler convinces readers to mark of their books by explaining different ways you can mark up your own book and connect with your reading. She gives helpful tips such as underlining major points, making vertical lines in the margin to emphasize a statement already underlined, to put a star next to the most important statements, numbering in the margin to keep track of the sequence of arguments the author makes, numbers of other pages in the margin to refer back to, circling key words, and writing questions and arguments to the author in the margins to help you. Or also, if you do not like writing in the margin, you can use scratch paper or a pad and, “Make your index, outlines, and even your notes on the pad, and then insert these sheets permanently inside the front and back covers of the book.” Adler gives you many options to how you can be an active reader and be more engaged in the author’s points and arguments. I favor most the underlining or highlighting important points in a reading because I like to make things stand out so when I go back to read, I will know those are the important points to reread. I hope to try to write in the margins more because I never noticed how much of a better understanding you can get by having a conversation with the author in the margins. Also, there are many different things you can write in the margins, to connections, things that surprised you, etc.
The most helpful advice Adler gave me is when he talked about the most famous active reader of great books, which was President Hutchins of the University of Chicago. He said, “He invariably reads with a pencil, and sometimes, when he picks up a book and pencil in the evening, he finds himself, instead of making intelligent notes, drawing what he calls “caviar factories” on the margins. When that happens, he puts the book down. He knows he’s too tired to read, and he’s just wasting time.” I find myself noticing that late at night when I read, I sometimes will be reading words but not necessarily understanding or comprehending what I am reading. As for Hutchins, he knows that when he begins to draw, he is too tired to read. When I know I am too tired to follow along with a reading, I start to fall asleep. Adler has taught me to read at a better time of day when I am awake and can process a reading better. He has also taught me that you should not read just to read, you should really engage in your reading and follow the author’s story. Adler believes that the only way to follow the author’s story is to mark up the book with your thoughts, and I agree with how helpful that really is. I think that now, I will start buying books just to write and mark up my thoughts in them so I will always be able to go back and remember what I was thinking.
Hello Melanie,
I completely agree that Adler’s main point is to be an active reader and also to improve our reading we need to annotate to have a better understanding of the information. I always try to annotate as much as I can when I read something because the notes along the margins can really help. Annotating seems to be a very useful skill and can also save us time because then we do not have to read the whole article or a certain section of a book again, we can just look at our notes that we made. Also, I try not to read at night and get my homework done during the day but sometimes it can be hard.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Johnston
In Mortimer Alder’s “How to Mark a Book”, he points out that he wants readers big or small to really “get into” the book what I mean by that is he wants us to write in our books. Growing up our parents told us “take care of your things” meaning don’t write in your books. Some of us still live by that, this guy is telling us to write in our books and draw pictures and things and we don’t know exactly how to feel about it. The message he is trying to convey is that writing in books is an excellent idea, do it as much as you want. We always thought that just reading was important, we sit down read what we need to and do our best to enjoy it was reading actively. All our friends read but do they really “read”. I agree with his point to mark the books we read, it gives us a better understanding to what we are reading and we can make it our own. I agree with him because it’s good to give the author our opinion without actually giving to them. In the part where he lists seven tips to marking our books, I find or typically use number one which is underlining (highlighting) because it points out good point or just things I enjoyed reading and I also found that number seven is useful and something that I a lot which is writing in the margins for examples I wrote all over the margins when we had to annotate the article. The overall read was great, I didn’t get bored with it and it was really interesting to me. The entire point of the article was to tell us to write in books, and basically do the opposite of what we grew up doing which was don’t write in your school books or any other kind of books because you want to keep them in the best condition possible.
Hi Taylor
It is a bit “weird” that now were being told to write all over our books when this whole time before we have been told over and over again to never write in your books. Discovering this was new but it has become really helpful. I do agree with you that it is an excellent idea because now I really going into depth with my readings and i am actually remembering what I am reading. One thing that that stood out to me with your response was that annotating really helped you enjoy the article and that you did not get bored reading it.
Hi taylor,
i strongily agree with your respond. How we grow up to not write in books and at the end of the day we get told too do so. i like how deep you when into your respond and how reading and annotation is good. i like how you put your personal experience that helped you get threw your troubles and how it helped you
I agree with your response from beginning to end that its strange that professors are giving an okay to write in our books because most or all the time we were told to keep things neat and not to mess them up and our response is to have a book that is nice and clean because that is what we are taught. Also i think that annotating a book does really help get a better understanding of what the author is trying to explain because when we do that it gives us an opportunity to really think it through as well as highlighting keywords or phrases was also a every useful tip that I use as well. Its funny to think that half the things we learned high school are totally opposite from college.
Hi Taylor,
I agree with everything in your response. Growing up my parents would tell me to take care of my stuff as well. Especially when it came to books. Now that we’re older, we are being told that it’s essential for us to write on our books. I’ve always thought it was bad to write my opinion on the authors work but apparently its not. I also love to highlight but what I’m noticing is that highlighting doesn’t really help me understand it. I now just write in the margins.
Hello Melanie,
I totally agree with annotating for a better understanding. Annotating is a quick and simple why for us to make the best out of our college reading. It helps with familiarizing both the content and the organization we read. It also helps us engage in our reading as we com up with ideas that help us understand more. After reading Adler’s essays annotating is one thing i encourage everyone to try, make sure your eyes just don’t glide right across the page. Use a highlighter or underline with a pencil to get the main ideas down.
Sincerely,
Axay Patel
Hi Melanie,
I agree with you when it comes to us annoying on our books but I had a question for you. Why do you think they told us not to annotate in our books?
In the article “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Alder, the author’s main message he is trying to convey to his readers is that it is good to write in your books, because it keeps you focused and helps you to better understand the text. By doing this, he is encouraging people to become active readers and tells us how to do so. For the longest time people always told you that it was wrong to write in books, but Alder went against the norm and found that marking your books can greatly increase your reading ability. I agree with Alder because I believe that knowing how to be an active reader is a great skill to have and that many people don’t know how to do it correctly. I also think it is crazy that they don’t teach kids to mark their books at a younger age because i think it would help them to comprehend it better, and be able to use this tool all throughout school and not just college like I did.
A tip that is helpful that i already use is Highlighting and underlining major points, i find this helpful but I don’t tend to retain what I read. I hope to try writing in the margin, so I can become a better active reader and hopefully it will help me get more into the book and keep me awake while reading. These tips were the most useful message i got from the essay because I now know how to read better and stay focused and interested in the books that i read. Knowing that you are a better reader/ book owner when you write in your books has helped me to want to be more involved in my books instead of just reading whats on the pages. Overall i found this essay very helpful in teaching me how to become an active reader and learning what I can do to help me understand the books better.
In Mortimer J. Adler’s “How to Mark a Book,” he discusses the process on how to understand a book through its full potential. His main idea was that the only way you can enjoy a book is by “spending more time reading slowly” and writing your thoughts as you read along. I agree with Adler’s main idea because of my personal experience. Although; I think that it depends on the reader. When I read I have to take notes to fully understand the meaning of the book. Some people may think that its a complete waste of time and that it will slow them down. Personally I buy my own books instead of going to the library, that will allow me to write all over it. And some people want their books to be in perfect condition so they can have a collection. Like Adler stated, “There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and bestseller- unread, untouched.” I don’t really mind a books physical appearance, I care more about what I am getting out of it.
Adler had many tips for marking up a book. And I found some of them quite helpful. Forexample, ” writing in the margin… recording questions(perhaps answers).” While I was annotating this article I did go back and wrote a question, so when I came back to class I asked the question so I can get an answer. Another tip that seemed helpful was underlining. It does seem really simple, But it allows you to find the major points. The tip that I want to try for next time is vertical lines at the margin because I think it will help me connect certain statements. The most helpful message I found while reading this essay was, ” why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First it keeps you awake. And I don’t mean merely conscious; I mean wide awake.” I never really thought of reading that way. Usually I do zone off while reading if I am not actively reading. Perhaps underlining or even circling words that I don’t understand will help me stay wide awake.
Hi Emily,
I agree highly with what you said about his main point because for two reasons the first one would be that it doesn’t matter what condition the book is in as long as you are getting something out of it that is useful and the second reason is that it does depend on your experience with reading because if you have had a bad past with reading that is make you think “well anything else that I read is going to be just as bad” which isn’t the case most of the time.
I agree that it is very important to “read slowly” like Adler said, even though I do not do a very good job of it. I know that many other students, like myself who just skim read and do not actually actively read, and that it can really hurt you in the end. Marking books has never been a habit of mine, and I wish I was like you and actually got in the habit of doing it. I do think that it will slow a person down to write in their books, but it can really help when you go back to the reading and you can remember all your thoughts and conversation with the author. I never get much out of my books that I read because I just read and remember the moral of the story, but now I have noticed how much more you can get into a book. I also never knew that reading keeps you wide awake either, because I always seem to find myself falling asleep and dozing off during reading. I do not have the longest attention span when it comes to sitting and reading for a long time.
Getting something out of a book is completely important, I guess people who judge books by their covers don’t know what they’re missing. But It’s great that you takes notes on your book and that you don’t care what people think about. Keep it up
Hi Emily,
I totally agree with you on everything that you said. I especially like how you talked about not minding what the book looked like but what you get out of it cause that whats most important. I also never really thought of doing things to keep awake while reading, I always thought i was just a terrible reader and there was nothing to it, but now we have found ways to keep us active while reading.
In Adler’s piece “How To Mark A Book” he emphasizes that it is important to really take charge to “make the book your own” meaning to constantly star, underline, highlight or circle important information. He strongly encourages people to use these strategies because when you use these tactics you seem to have a better understanding of what the author is actually trying to say to the reader. One is able to read “between the lines” and take apart paragraph-by-paragraph or even line by line of what the author’s main message is when they use one or all of Adler’s seven tips. The seven tips include: underlining text, marking vertical lines, marking a star or asterisk next to important information, marking numbers, making note of other page numbers, circling key words and phrases and lastly, writing anywhere throughout the margins such as at the top or bottom of a reading.
I strongly agree with Adler’s main idea because it is very important to read “between the lines” possibly by underlining, highlighting, circling and staring important information. Adler also reinforces making a book “your own” when he says, “Full ownership comes only when you have made it a apart of yourself” meaning you have made numerous notes of your own throughout the whole article or book.
Tips that I find most useful and most helpful include underlining, staring, highlighting and circling specific information. Each strategy helps me differently. When I star something that is usually a reminder for me to go back and read that certain section to gain a better understanding. Underlining and highlighting indicates to me that section is very important and it is a main point or idea that stands out. Circling information is also another strategy that indicates to me that information can be useful for evidence if necessary when writing an essay.
One tip that I hope to try is using numbers in the margins. I think this strategy could be helpful in my writing because it would help me pick out certain comments the author makes that could also tie to the main idea or his argument. I would number different areas throughout the piece so I could use that specific information as possible evidence to indicate where the author is trying to make a connection and what order he uses to lead up to the main idea.
The most useful message that I found from reading this article was that it is important to annotate and make the book “your own” because in the end the notes you made only benefit you. It is not necessary to waste time and read the whole paragraph over again but rather make notes on the side. Also, I also got to learn about new strategies that can help my annotating skills. This article definitely was informative and kept my interest too because I can now use more of annotating techniques in my English 100A class.
Hello Jennifer!
I agree with on how Adler sees that it is important to take charge when it comes down to mark your own book. It is also to read between the lines because you never know what you can miss and there can always be messages hidden in the lines. Also numbering the margins is something that I should start getting used to as well because I know that in the end it will definitely help me out when I need to comment on the author. I really thought this reading was very helpful it help me understand more about “marking a book” and how it gains your skills.
In Alder’s “How to Mark a Book,” he explains the importance of not just reading the book, but engaging and conversing with the book in order to comprehend the material to the best of your abilities. He explains that in order to truly understand the material you must not just let your eyes glide over the pages reading the words, you must take notes, underline, highlight and even circle words and phrases. He says that it is crucial to read to understand, rather than reading to finish. I agree that engaging in the text is an important skill to learn, because it allows for you to remember what you’ve read better and also helps to think critically about the materials. I have not yet reached a level where I write in the margins like Alder said, but I often write my ideas on sticky notes and also underline key ideas and circle words that I do not understand.
Alder gives numerous amount of tips in this work, one of which is: write in the margins. Write your thoughts, ideas, and arguments in the margins. This will allow you to not only think critically about the text while reading it, but it will also help you to remember your thoughts and ideas when coming back to review the material. He also says that it is important to highlight key terms and ideas. This is a good way to review key terms and topics when going back to look at the text a second time. He also mentions that using different colors to highlight ideas could be a good way to determine which are more important. Colors also help you remember these key terms. He also says that it is a good idea to circle new words and/or words that you don’t understand at the time. This way you can go and look these words up then read that part again knowing the meaning. Another helpful tip was to write question and arguments in the margins and also to number arguments that the author makes throughout the text. The most useful tip that I found in this work was what to highlight and what not to. In the past, I would just get a highlighter and highlight mostly everything on the page. I think it is important to really concentrate on what to highlight and what supports the ideas highlighted. I really want to try and get to a point in my reading where I highlight the key ideas, even if it is less words to highlight.
The most useful message I found from Alder’s work “How to Mark a Book” was when he stated, “if reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must be active. You can’t let your eyes glide across the lines of a book and come up with an understanding of what you have read.” I think quote in itself is a summary of the entire work. In order to be successful one must actively engage in the text. You simply cannot just read to pass the time. In order to do this, Alder gives you all of the tips mentioned above to ensure that all readers will develop the skill set to thoroughly understand all works and authors.
Hello Axay,
I agree that it’s important to engage in whatever book you are reading because that helps keep you interested in the topic. Also when Alder mentions to look up words that you may not understand, I think that is very important and something I need to do more of to help me enhance my vocabulary. I liked that you brought critical thinking into your response because I do think that annotating involves critical thinking. Lastly, I thought using sticky notes is a good way to take notes too, so I think I might try that!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Johnston
In “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer Adler I found that the main idea was simply to teach students how to read and understand what is being read. He wanted us to feel like we could accomplish something by annotating what we are reading. “I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good,” I believe that means that he wants us to soak up all the information we can while reading. I do agree with Adler’s main ideas I think he makes great points. He mentions that marking up a book keeps you awake. Which makes a lot of sense in this college world that we are now living in. Reading can get extremely boring and highlighting or underlining can help to keep us more occupied and involved.
My favorite tip that he gave is number seven, “Writing in the margin, or at the top of the page for the sake of: recording questions (perhaps answers) which a passage raised in your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement; recording the sequence of major points right through the books.” This tip is very useful because questions always seem to arise when I am reading. What better to do then write them down and discuss them in class to help get a answer. I hope to try this tip and also tip number two. Tip number two mentions, “Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already underlined.”
The most useful message I found while reading this article was to take lots of notes. Also I learned that it does not matter how fast or slow you read as long as you retain information. Adler says, “and that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author.” He knows more about what your reading then you do. He is teaching you the information that you need to know and understand.
Hi Talia,
I to really think that tip number seven is really useful. I marked all over my margins and it made me feel like I was doing something more productive than just read words. I really like the part when you mentioned that he said “it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you read” because it doesn’t matter just as long as you are reading. The part that got me the most was when he says “it’s a conversation between yourself and the book you are reading” because that’s the literal meaning. When you write in a journal, you’re telling the journal how you feel and you’re doing the same thing with the book.
Hey Talia,
I like the quote you brought up in the beginning, “I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good”. I do not even remember reading this line in the reading, but I really like it. I agree that Adler wants us to really soak up information in a book like a sponge, and he teaches how to do this by marking up your books and having a conversation with the author. I also did not know that reading and marking your books can keep you awake. I know that I always fall asleep reading, but maybe if I marked my books I could be more awake while reading. Lastly, I agree with Adler’s quote that, “and that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author.” I never would have thought of it that way until after this reading.
Sincerely,
Melanie
Hi Talia,
Reading your response was great. I agree with you on the tip number seven. I do think it’s really helpful to write in the margins and to basically not fall asleep when we’re reading. Reading has never been my friend but now I know some tips to at least get along with reading. I also think that the author wants us to “soak” all the information in. I know for my Geography class, the information really isn’t “soaking” in but by writing in the margins it’s helping me.
In Mortimer Alder’s “How to Mark a Book”, he points out that he wants readers big or small to really “get into” the book what I mean by that is he wants us to write in our books. Growing up our parents told us “take care of your things” meaning don’t write in your books. Some of us still live by that, this guy is telling us to write in our books and draw pictures and things and we don’t know exactly how to feel about it. The message he is trying to convey is that writing in books is an excellent idea, do it as much as you want. We always thought that just reading was important, we sit down read what we need to and do our best to enjoy it was reading actively. All our friends read but do they really “read”. I agree with his point to mark the books we read, it gives us a better understanding to what we are reading and we can make it our own. I agree with him because it’s good to give the author our opinion without actually giving to them. In the part where he lists seven tips to marking our books, I find or typically use number one which is underlining (highlighting) because it points out good point or just things I enjoyed reading and I also found that number seven is useful and something that I a lot which is writing in the margins for examples I wrote all over the margins when we had to annotate the article. The overall read was great, I didn’t get bored with it and it was really interesting to me. The entire point of the article was to tell us to write in books, and basically do the opposite of what we grew up doing which was don’t write in your school books or any other kind of books because you want to keep them in the best condition possible.
Hey Taylor
I like they fact that you mention we have been taught to not write in our books and just read them, which is true. I definitely agree with that statement. Besides that however, you were mentioning that you plan to write in the margins and around the text. My question however is, is this your first time doing this or are you confirming that it indeed is useful because you do it all the time? Overall I agree with everything you have stated and liked what you said, especially being raised to keep our books clean.
Hello Taylor,
I also like that you mentioned, that we have not been taught to write in our book, but to only read them. I also thinking writing in the margins and in the blank spots between paragraphs is a good I idea. But it was sure confusing on wether if this is your first time doing this or if you are going to be doing this more. If you do say we should start to write more in the margins then I totally agree with you. I think even if you already write in the margin then that is good, but writing more is better and even more practice. Writing your thoughts down helps as well. So yes I do agree with everything you have said.
Sincerely,
Axay Patel
The strongest claim of the author is if you buy a book from which you want to learn, you should take in the contents as much as possible. He insists the importance of marking on a book in order to do it and how meaningless having books without doing it at the same time. I profoundly agree with his opinions because I also feel it is very wasteful, which you might miss an important reference because of reading fast, in spite of having a great book.
As the one of the ways, the author recommends to record questions that a passage raised in my mind in the margin. I think it is a very useful way. In any kind of books, there is a lot of information and messages to be picked up and if I catch them at the time, I wouldn’t remember next time I read them. Therefore, I want to try it and verify its effect.
Finally, the most important message I got from the article is this. “I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any kind”. It impressed my mind because I’ve never thought in such a way. It’s still difficult and takes a long time to read a book in English because there are many unknown words, nevertheless, if I ignore the words and keep reading, I wouldn’t absorb the content anymore. Even though it takes a lot of time, I should spend much more time to read and understand the content deeply for the sake of absorbing from it. This is what I learn from the article.
Hi Rina
I know i always forget what i read so it is important that we should slow down our readings. Anything that we read should be absorbed so we actually understand what we are reading. If we don’t understand what were reading then we are just wasting our time reading. i do agree with you that annotating is very useful because that is when we become active readers. One thing that really stood out to me with your response was not knowing a word and ignoring them. I know whenever I read this happens to me all the time and then I am no longer “absorbing the content.”
Hi Rina. I find it interesting that you think it is a waste to read a book without writing in it because I never thought of reading in that way. I have always wanted to be so invested in a book and have writing all over it with notes that only I can understand and know that book belongs to me. I agree that I should also spend more time reading and also writing in the text giving myself time to absorb it.
You make some good points here that without annotating the words that are being read would just be a bunch of words instead of an actual thought. Also i think that speed reading is not actual reading but just some words that were looked at rally fast with no comprehension. I aso agree that pointing out keywords that are not understood should be looked up because then the rest of the paragraph or phrase would not make sense.
Mortimer Adlers “How To Mark A Book,” talks about going into depth with your reading so you can truly understand what you are reading. By doing so Adler highly encourages you to “write between the lines.” Growing up we were told to not write in our books but now we are being told to annotate everything that we read could be a little confusing for some people but it is really helpful. When you mark a book you are putting down all your thoughts, questions and concerns down as if it is your own journal. Adler is conveying us to take our reading to another level. As readers we need to slow down to really take in and understand what we are reading. How many times have you read something and thought after what did I just read? Marking your book helps this because then you are able to clarify what you just read. I do agree with Adlers main idea because when I read I mainly skim through the text but when told to annotate I tell myself that I need to slow down and that helps to “keep me awake.” I am able to remember the text and I know that I am actively reading. The tip that I found most helpful was to not read when I am tired because then I am not actively reading. Numbering the margin is something that I hope to try. Looking back I realized that I would continue to reread the paragraphs to find the different arguments throughout the text. If I start to the number them it will make things much easier for me. The most useful message for me was to see your marked books as an “intellectual diary.” Lending your books away could distract others that are reading it with your markings and it is like “giving your mind away.” Active reading helps you to become a more engaged in the story and to actually know and understand what you are reading.
Hey Brandee
I like how you mention that we have to stop and slow down when reading because it is true. Especially when annotating, which Adler explains in his article. And although some of us don’t like to read, this form of reading and marking up the books does “wake us up” because we are trying to get a sense of what the author is saying. Although I feel if someone were to lend someone their book are was already marked up it could be beneficial not because they could just read your notes but because they could also have different opinions from the reading.
Hello Brandee
I like how honest you were with your own experiences. It is true how back then they would tell us to never write on books and now its the total opposite. I agree with you in the whole thing of staying awake not just literally but also figuratively speaking. I used to fall asleep while i read stories specially in my History classes and I wish I could go back and annotate. It would have helped me so much. Well you had really good ideas and I like the way you write and how you express yourself. Nice Job 🙂
Sincerely, Ashley Orozco
Hello Brandee,
I like how you described Alder’s main idea about “How To Mark A Book,” I feel your first couple of sentences really summarizes it all. I am the same way when it comes to annotating. The more I engage myself with the reading, the more I am able to slow down and stay awake during a book. I also really enjoyed Alder’s message when he describes annotating to be like an “intellectual diary.”
In the article “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, he explains that there are three different kinds of book keepers/owners. He also describes that with this in mind, people should not just buy books to put them in shelves but rather write in them, annotate and highlight to connect with the author who wrote the book. The message that Adler is overall trying to send to his readers is to essentially do exactly what the title of the article is called, which is to mark a book. Adler is helping his readers understand the importance of doing this and giving valuable information that will help in doing so.
Although I like the way Adler is enlightens readers to be able to mark and annotate books of literature and any book in general, I don’t essentially agree that all books should be marked. Some books are meant to be read and marked on to evaluate the main points and critically analyze them, but others are meant to just be read because the are fundamentally interesting in the way where it catches your attention and there is no need to mark it up because you understand the plot clearly and feels like a television show or something around that area.
Within the article, Adler gives seven different ways in which a person can “mark a book”. And in my opinion, the most helpful was the third tip of using, “Star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin: to emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book” (3). Giving me the thought to actually try it and see if it benefits me more considering that a use most of all the techniques Adler mentions. He most useful message I received from Adler was that is I want to mark a book, I should buy it and not rent or borrow it.
Hi Briana,
I agree with your point that all books should not be annotated. Textbooks are an example of a book that should be annotated so that key points could be pulled out and the reader is prepared for any tests or discussions the teacher may give out the next class. I believe books such as novels should not be marked up because it is a time to enjoy the story and although everything in the book is important, it is more of a story being told that can be created by ones imagination, rather than facts being thrown out to the reader.
Hello Briana,
I really enjoy how you described Alder’s main idea, “How To Mark A Book,” is well, simply how one marks a book. I also like how you respectfully disagreed with Adler’s message. How some books that are meant to be entertaining shouldn’t have to be annotated; I agree with your point of view.
Hello Briana,
I am very impressed with the way you express your opinion. I can tell you have a really strong opinion. I respect your disagreement and agree to it when it comes to just reading a book for fun and not needing to annotate, however if you are reading an interesting book for a class which requires to be either written about or simply discussed you might want to have things written in it to refer back to it, instead of just saying it, because once you show evidence your point of view becomes even stronger. On the other side if the book you are reading its not for a class then yes there is no need to annotate in it which is where I completely agree to it.
Sincerely, Ashley Orozco
Briana I agree with what you said in your second paragraph. Not all books are meant to be marked up. I have many books that I read for fun and are not marked in at all. However if you are reading a book that is challenging to understand then it may be better to mark up the book. I have read some challenging books that I have needed to markup, on a sheet of paper mind you, and reread in order to understand it. Im sure that I’m not the only one who has had to do it either. Marking up a book is a great help to understand the book and the author.
Hi Brianna,
I strongly agree with your answer. It’s pretty cool how teacher before hated when we wrote in books, but now our college professor is making us read a book about how to mark a book.
The main idea of “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler is getting readers to understand what they are reading. Alder is trying to tell us to have a pencil just in case we want to write an idea, a comment, or anything that may be helpful. I definitely agree with Adler because I can picture myself reading an article and just write on the side margins and making notes and not have to read the paragraph all over again. The most helpful tip, in my opinion, is the reading in between the lines because that is where we are going get the most out of everything what the write is telling us. I will be trying this tip because I tend to read read read and not pay attention to some context words. The useful message that I found in this essay was the three kinds of people because I have seen it and would ask what is this book about and they would just say I don’t know I haven’t read it. This article was not just showing us how to mark a book but it also helped us understand the meanings of what the whole process of writing like the hidden messages a book may have or secret clues we may find though out the book. We just have to read between the lines.
Hey Karen! I appreciate the way that you got Adlers main idea across. My favorite part of your post was reading “Adler is trying to tell us to have a pencil just in case we want to write an idea.” By writting that allowed me as a reader to remember annotating is not as bad as it seems. Also I feel that you could have expanded on the fact of how this article helps us understand annotating. Maybe you could have given examples of what styles you use while annotating or you could have talked about the tips Adler gave us. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post since it gave Adlers main point more clarity. Thanks!
Hello Karen! We are very similar in our reading the fact that sometimes we read stuff and we have to re read it because we didn’t pay much attention to what we are reading yeah that happens to me a lot! So I hope with annotating it will improve my reading skills.
Hey,
I agree with you that you need to write on the side of the margins so that you can fully understand what you are reading. I feel that when I read, the only way for me to know what it says is to mark things on the side of it. The thing that you really want to do is to mark only the important things that will help you later on.
Throughout high school I was taught how to write in the margins and how to highlight the right information. Once we got this assignment I was personally sick and tired of learning how to annotate books, texts, and essays correctly. I thought I was done with learning how to annotate properly because I sometimes find annotations to be distracting while reading. Even in high school I was not a fan of having to be forced to annotate by writing questions in the margins, since reading hasn’t always been my favorite activity. However, after reading Mortimer Adler’s “How to Mark a Book” I forgot about what the values of annotating were. Without having been assigned this, I would have forgotten about how valuable annotations are since they allow us to have a direct discussion with the author.
When I annotate text I usually highlight and write in the margins because it allows me to clearly see the authors main points. As I mentioned in my previous paragraph, I never realized that by highlighting and writing in the margins allows us to “talk to the author.” That is why I do agree with the author’s main point that one should constantly be writing “between the lines” (Adler, Mortimer). I believe that by writing all over the text allows one to use their critical thinking skills. Our critical thinking skills allow us to think about the text differently than the author, and to make connections as well. Also without marking up the text we would not be able to allow our thoughts to come “alive” on the page. Lastly, through Adler’s main points of marking up the text and truly reading every word teaches us to take reading seriously, and to practice our annotation skills.
After looking at all of the tips I realized that there is not just one way to annotate text. I was also happy to see that the author of this essay uses the same annotation skills that I learned, such as underlining and circling. Also one of the tips that I am excited to learn in the future is to put numbers in the margins. No one ever taught me to put numbers in the margins to connect points that have been made repeatably. Overall, whenever I was forced to annotate in high school I was afraid that I was writing too much on the page, and this essay reminded me that it is ok to write as much as I want in the margins.
Reading How to Read a Book, by Mortimer J. Adler, has brought up many points that I have over looked before. For example I have always cherished the physical part of books as well as the words in the books. Just like Adler told about. For this reason I have never purposefully marked a book before. Many of the books I have are worn but not written in. I believe that in this passage Adler is trying to tell people that it is okay to mark up a book so that the reader can understand the book and the author better. Adler also goes on to make a few points on how to mark up a book, such as underling main points, circling key words and writing in the margins of the book about any questions and answers that the book brought to mind.
I know of many people that have books but do not mark books in purposefully ways. Some of my friends back in high school took an AP english class where they were given the book Crime and Punishment and told that they would have to mark up the book for homework. At the time I thought that now one should ever mark up a book. At the time I didn’t know about the usefulness of what marking up a book could do for students. Making it easier to understand the book and the author. As well as highlighting key components of the book as well. From the passage How to Mark a Book I can say that I agree with what Adler is taking about.
The points that I made in the first paragraph are all points which I think would be the most helpful for marking books. For underlining main points of parts of the book you can go back and see why you underlined them. It could be form weather the author said something you liked or, more obviously, made an important point that is part of the book. Also one of the points Adler made is, what I think, the most useful message from the passage. The point is writing questions in between the margins and writing answers to questions from the author. With this you question what the author is saying and can bring more light to a certain subject. Now I look forward to mastering these techniques in class.
Hi, Karen! I highly agree with you. Most books have a hidden message and the only way to find out about it is by reading between the lines. And making notes on the side margins helps you understand the reading right away, so you don’t have to go back and read it again.
Hi, Garrett. You are right, when you write questions in the margins it allows you to connect to the author. And when you underline main points in the book you get more out of it. Also, you know exactly what Adler is trying to teach us.
In Mortimer Adler’s “How to Mark a Book”, his main idea is to state that by writing between lines of a book it is most effective when wanting to understand the message in which an author is trying to demonstrate. By marking a book, Adler states it is an act of love when you show full ownership to it. Full ownership does not only mean buying the book but making it yours by writing in between the lines and marking it up to fully understand the content. Marking a book brings out all thoughts that come to one’s mind when reading and leads to different perspectives and opinions about the topic. I agree with Alder’s point because one does not fully understand information until they have broken down each point an author is making. I never was able to mark up books when I was younger or write in them because I was told it was disrespect to the person who would read them after me. When I entered high school I would try to use post- it notes to write down all my thoughts, and it worked for a while until my books became a lot thicker and messier when the post-it notes would fall out or get all crinkled. My first time I wrote in a book was my senior year when I had bought a book just to read for fun and a teacher actually encouraged me to write in it. I personally am not great at reading comprehension so I approached my teacher for help. She encouraged me to write down, in the margins of the book, all thoughts that came to mind when reading. This would eventually help me remember what I read two paragraphs ago and help me pick out key points and understand the important messages. I have never stopped marking books since.
When I mark a book I highlight sentences that I believe are important. But how do you actually know if they important enough to highlight? If by the end of your reading you look back and see that your whole page is highlighted, then you’re doing it wrong! I had trouble picking out important key points the first time I annotated my book. I didn’t know what to look for and I didn’t know what was important in the book because I felt like everything was important to know. I found that highlighting wasn’t the most helpful tip for me because of this. The most helpful tip for me was “writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page”. By doing this, it helped me generate questions I had for the author, opinions that came to mind, if I agree with a statement the author brought up, or other thoughts that came to mind.
After reading this essay, there was a point Adler made that really stood out to me. He stated, “There is no such thing as the right speed for intelligent reading”. When I was younger I was the slowest reader out of all my friends. When we made trips to the school library the class was sectioned off into groups of reading level. I was never in the fast reading group and I was embarrassed by it. I practiced really hard at reading fast that I became really good at reading fast. The words just passed through me and I was really good at speaking what my eyes were seeing, but by doing this I didn’t obtain any knowledge of what I was reading. If you had asked me what I had just read I would have never been able to tell you. By marking books it may slow down your reading, but that’s the point. If reading is not slowed down, important messages can be missed. Being engaged with the writing and fully active will help me fully understand and obtain key components in the readings.
Mortimer Adler’s main idea in “How to Mark a Book” is you should annotate your readings to get the full meaning of a book. I agree with Adler’s message because of my personal experience and how Adler describes what a reader should be getting out of a book. I have noticed that I understand a book and absorb more when I take the time to write down my thoughts and any questions that come up during my reading. The more time I invest in annotating a book, the more I understand what the author was trying to get their reader’s to express. Adler’s most helpful tip for marking a book would be both his first point, “1. Underlining: of major points, of important or forceful statements,” and his last point, “7. Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page, for the sake of: recording questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raised in your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement; recording the sequence of major points right through the books.” I hope to try these two tips so that at the end of my reading it will be easier for me to look back through the book, pick up the main ideas, and remember my thought process during that time. The message I found most useful of Adler’s was to take your time when reading; intelligence is not proven by reading at a faster pace. Adler justified that reading slower and taking the time to understand the content is more beneficial in the long run than trying to finish a passage, not understand the meaning, and having to read a passage over again.
Hi Sam. I agree that you get more engaged when you annotate a text and you are able to understand it better, I feel the same way. The two most helpful tips to you were the same ones that I feel would be most beneficial for me also. I like that the most useful message to you was taking your time to read because I agree. I am a slow reader and when I am rushed I am unable to comprehend the text as much as I would if I was engaged and writing in the text.
Hello Sam! I completely agree with you on how you said that you get the most out of a book is when you actually take the take and write in the margins.
Hey,
I agree that the only way to fully understand a book is if you annotate it. I am the same way as you when you explained that the only way to understand a book is if you take your time and write down important things that will help you.
In “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer Alder, he encourages his readers to get more involved in books and write in them as if they were talking to the author. He expresses how this method of reading a book is a lot more interesting. It also helps you to follow along with what you are reading and how you felt when you were reading it. I agree that marking a book is very helpful, especially when trying to understand a book, and it is something everyone should try so they can get a new perspective of a book they possibly have read before.
The most helpful tip that I use when reading is writing in the margins because it helps me to remember what I have read. I never heard of writing numbers next to points that are made in an argument and that is one tip that I would like to try. After reading this text, I found a lot of things I can do while reading to help me engage in what I’m reading.
I also really like when Alder said, “Reading means consuming, as you consume a steak, to ‘get it into your bloodstream.’” I have never really liked reading but I have always wanted to find a book that I can really consume and enjoy. I find it hard to enjoy a book if I am trying to annotate the text because I am constantly looking for something more than what the text is saying.
Hi Janeen,
I agree with you on the message as well because I find it very helpful when I make comments as if I am talking to the author. Additionally, I strongly agree when you mentioned that it helps you follow what you read and how you felt about the reading because I am able to express how I feel by making a note on the margin. I also haven’t used the tip about writing tips next to points of an argument, which is something I am hoping to use in the next readings. If you really want to find a book to enjoy, think about what kind of movies you like to watch? Funny, drama,horror, love, etc. I’m pretty sure you will enjoy a book based on the type of movies you enjoy because that’s what I do when I want to read a book on my own.
In the essay “How to Mark a Book”, Mortimer J Adler is trying to convey the importance of annotating/ marking a book. The main purpose is to get his readers to understand the advantages of marking a book. This point is clearly stated when he says “want persuade you to ‘write between the lines.’ ‘Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading’”. Adler gives many reasoning as to why it is important to mark a book. One of them is that “Full ownership comes only when you have made it part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it.” He in other words is saying that by writing in it the book becomes more personal, it becomes the reader’s property which allows them to understand it better. Other important reasons of why marking up a book that he states is that it keep you awake while reading, it also keeps you active in the reading and the book “tends to express itself in words, spoken or written”, and finally it is a good way to remember what you read and what were you thinking while reading it and even what you thought of what the author was thinking. All of this reasons help us to see the importance of marking up a book but as for me, one of the advices I find more helpful and that I was doing the opposite of it is the keeping the reader awake. Meaning to be an active reader. I would usually get sleepy when it came to reading but now that I started annotating I am actually interested in the reading because I know exactly what the book is about based on my notes. Now I will annotate in any reading assignment that I get even if it wasn’t asked.
Hi Ashley,
I agree with all the points you made. I especially like how you mentioned the staying awake part. I typically get really tired when I read too and I think annotating is a great way of keeping you focused and more involved in the book, therefore, keeping you awake. I also, thought you chose great quotes to get your point across. You made it clear what Adler’s,”How to Mark a Book,” was truly about.
In the book “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, the author is trying to get us readers to know what it really means to own a book. The message he is sending us is that the only really way of reading and really owning a book is by marking it on the margins also called annotating. Annotating is a method that Mortimer J. Adler uses which is writing main ideas, questions and concerns on the margins. I strongly agree with Mortimer J. Adler in the method of how he marks a book. I agree with his method because I feel that annotating will help me improve my reading skills. Because I know I’m the kind of reader that always has to go back and reread what I just finished reading and with annotating I will have my main ideas on the margin and I can always just go back and look at what I wrote.
The tips I find the most useful are underlining major points, numbers in the margins to indicate the sequence and writing on the margins main ideas or questions I have. I’m only really familiar with one since it’s the most common one underling major points or ideas. The other two I’m not too familiar with but I really like them so after reading this article I told myself I’m going to start writing in the margins and numbering the sequence of events.
The most useful message I found from reading this essay was the fact that you don’t technically own a book unless you have wrote in it. In the article Mortimer J. Adler says; “There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers unread, untouched. The second has a great many books a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. The third has a few books or many every one of them dog eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in front and back.” Also he mentions that’s what your write on the margins is for you only because yourself is the only one who will really understand them.
Hi Elexsis,
I agree with all the points you made. I too am the type of reader that has to go back and reread parts that I didn’t fully understand or read to quickly. I think annotating will really help with that as well. I liked how you explained what annotating was. I thought the passage about the different types of book owners was interesting as well. I think it’s a lot more meaningful to really own a book by reading and annotating in it then just owning several books for their looks.
Hello Elexis
I do agree with what Adler is really trying to see by really reading and annotating a book. By saying that I know that if I really start taking my time and annotating a book it will definitely help me become a better reader. The major tip Adler gives with numbering the margins is very helpful because whenever I need to back up an argument I would know when the section will be. All an All reading How to mark a book was a good choice for reading because after reading this It will make me more cautious on annotating a book.
Hi Elexsis,
I sympathize with the most useful message you found from the article. Actually, I have borrowed my friend’s book and made a copy in order to read, but his marking was no meaning for me because which I wanted to mark was a different part. Besides, I agree with your idea about the importance of numbering because if I do so, it would be clear to recognize my points visually and easy to outline key points that I mark in my head when I read it again. So, I will also try to number the sequence of events in the margins.
In “How To Mark A Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, he conveys the message of how important it is to annotate a book and not only just annotating but by also the different types of book readers/owners. The main idea is how to not take the easy way out and annotate because if not you are taking it for crenated. I agree with his main idea because it is true with how it is important to annotate a book. For instance by marking a book like Adler said “It keeps you wide awake, it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written.” Adler shows that not only marking a book is important but it gains your skills to your reading and allows you to express you opinions more thoughtfully. The best message that Adler put out there was readers who tend to put more time in there reading which are slow readers are the most intelligent ones even if there the last ones to finish. Now I will take advantage of my annotating because it is very important to do so and it helps you in the long run.
Hello,
In the book ” How to mark a book”, the author is trying to get the reader to really understand the concept of reading and owning a book. His main purpose is the author trying to convey us (readers) to be more active readers, such as to respond to the reading and also completely understand what you have just read. I do agree with the author due to the fact that its correct to write inside a book for a better understand and a help aid when one gets threw long reading periods. i prefer underling and high-lining over writing on the margin its help you remember to go back and check the underline parts and also make your book overlook look nice. The most useful things i learn for reading this book, was writing on the margins really it very useful method and its can be useful during taking notes and reading long boring books.
Hi Arturo,
I agree with your opinion especially with the author’s main point you picked up. I had never thought that a reader should respond to the reading and the author before I read the article. If anything, I was passive when I read something. So, the idea about a reader’s position and the meaning of owing a book impressed my idea ever before. Besides, I understood the most useful idea that you learned. I also came across a long boring book and I wanted to give up reading, but as you wrote, it is benefit that takes a note at such a situation.
Mortimer Adler’s essay, “How to Mark a Book,” was written to teach the reader why and how to really read and understand a book. Adler believes that by physically writing, drawing, labeling, and highlighting inside your book it will help people remember what they were thinking and feeling when they were reading it earlier. Adler states in his essay, “the physical act of writing, with your own hand, brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory.” Not only does annotating and critical reading help you remember previous thoughts, but it also gets you much more involved in the book and connected with the author.
While reading this essay I agreed with many of the points Adler brought up. I do think active reading can be extremely helpful in understanding and remembering ideas throughout the book. Personally though, I, being a bit OCD about things and not wanting to ruin the books I purchase, would probably use sticky notes to write notes on. That was the only thing I couldn’t really agree with. I do think it ruins the book to write all over it, so using a separate sheet of paper would be better in my opinion. This way I can still critically read and annotate, but keep my books in pristine condition. In the past I’ve taken pictures on my phone of passages I found significant and written them down later so that I didn’t have to write in my book.
I also think it’s not always necessary to write in the book if you’re reading as a hobby. On that note, sometimes there’s still tough vocabulary or confusing areas in the text that you could make clearer by annotating. In the past I have also been really good about looking up definitions to words I don’t understand while reading. I think that underling or highlighting the words and writing the definition in the book or on a sticky note is a great way of actively reading and would be helpful when reading for an assignment or while reading for fun. By writing out the definition the chance of remembering it will be greater and will help improve your vocabulary.
Highlighting and underlining key words and phrases is something I currently do to annotate. As Adler suggested I think I will also try putting important page numbers relating to a passage within my book or on a sticky note. I thought this tip was helpful since sometimes parts in different areas of the book will relate or show similar topics to other parts in the book. And marking the corresponding page numbers could help especially when doing a research essay.
Adler’s main idea in “How to Mark a Book” was that annotating is important. He mentioned that a reader has to make any text their own Write on it, highlight it, cross things out, it’s all important so you must do it to be the most successful reader. I agree with Adler’s idea because it simply makes sense. Yes writing will slow down my reading greatly but I will understand everything I read. I find writing on a notepad a great piece of advice I always just read, I will definitely consider trying it. The most useful message I got from this was make a text your own and I definitely will do so.
Hey Marcus, I want to agree with you on the main idea of “How to Mark a Book”. Although, I do think that all the techniques he mentions are important, but I don’t think everyone has to use all of them because different things work better for different people. Just like you said that writing in a notepad helps you. What kind of stuff do you write on the notepad? I’m curious to give that a try. Something I do is that I write random comments that come to my head and I write them next to the piece of reading that I reacted to. That helps me remember and understand what I am reading. It’s mostly stuff like “damn” or “omg” that I write on the margins. You should give it a try.
In “How to Mark A Book,” by Mortimer J. Adler, Adler states that in order to become a real reader, and truly connect to the book one should “write between the lines,” literally. When writing between the lines, or annotating, you are more likely to stay awake and aware of what is going on. When circling or underlining things you are thinking about the context, and processing what the author is saying. Critically thinking about the context can help you connect to the reading in a deeper level, much like having a conversation with the author. When owning a book it is perfectly okay to write all over the book, you are noting things that are important to you or circling vocabulary that you do not understand. You are taking things from the passage with you and this is exactly what the author wants.
Growing up, we are taught to respect what is not yours; desks, scissors and especially books. However, Adler expresses that “Full ownership(of a book) comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way …is by writing in it.” I completely agree with this. Full ownership of a book means that you have put effort and time into thinking or arguing all the points that the author has made. It is always a good idea to write your thoughts on the margins because you can always go back and see exactly where your point of view stands. When putting all of your effort in reading something, and annotating you are more likely to connect to the author, understand the material and it will be useful when concluding your final thoughts.
One of the most helpful tips I read was Adler’s first annotating tip, “Underlining: of major points, of important or forceful statements,” I find it helpful because this is the most basic way to start annotating is by simply underlining things that pop out to you, or things that seem important. Another helpful tip is “Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page, for the sake of: recording questions(and perhaps answers)…” After underlining whatever you found useful, it is a good habit to simply summarize what you underlined in the margin for future references, or if you do not know why you underlined certain sentences you can write a question mark to remind you to look deeper. I know that getting into the habit of underlining ideas and them summarizing them in the margins will help me take the reading slow, and will benefit me when looking back at the section.
Besides the annotating tips and the fairly good reason to do it, I also enjoyed another part of the passage, the types of book owners. There are three kinds of book owners, the first has all the best sellers, and other sets that have been recognized all over.However, they are all untouched, unmarked and perhaps unread. The second type of book owner, has a variety of books but only a few read, all still unmarked. The last type of book owner, the third type, has very few books, all of them dilapidated, worn out and written in. I own a few books, all of them were recognized and made into movies, and unmarked. I am the first kind of book owner.I also found another paragraph really interesting, when Adler is concluding his thoughts. Adler describing why it is important to annotate when reading, despite all of our theories that it will slow down our reading and hurt our skills. “There is no such thing as the right speed for intelligent reading,” some material is meant to be read quickly, while other is meant to be read slowly.I think that we often confuse the efficiency and speed of things as a sign of success, and we start to think that reading slowly or being the last one to finish a test is a sign of stupidity. Overall, “How to Mark A Book” has some grateful tips for annotating and getting into the habit of annotating. It shows you a new perspective of why it is important to read and mark up a book.
In the book “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, the author explains that it is necessary to write in a book as long as you own the book because that more you take notes the better the book can be understood even if you have to go back to a section you will easily remember about what it was that was read because you have quick notes that explain what happened. The message that he is trying to point out is do not keep the books clean but fill the empty margins and spaces with your thoughts or phrases that would give an easy flashback to each paragraph. I agree that marking book and putting your thought and ideas is a great way to really concentrate and stay focused on what is being read since half the time we daze off into space or just plain fall asleep but this would get you more involved with the writer instead of staring at a piece of paper with words on them. I do agree with all of Adler’s ideas to mark up a book in ways it becomes your own personal diary that only you can understand by using one or more marking tips that he list in his book. The tips that I like to use are circling keywords and phrases and underlining (aka highlighting). One tip I would like to use in the future is making symbols that express my thoughts on a phrase or paragraph. The most useful message for me in this book was to not be the bookkeeper that just had books or occasionally read a book and kept them clean but to be the one who respected the writer by giving the book some more thoughts by keeping mine in them.
After reading Adler’s How to Mark a Book, I was able to understand that the message Adler is trying to convey is that if you want to enjoy a book you should take notes and not be afraid to write all over your book. I agree with him mostly because the techniques he mentioned are techniques I use when I read. For example, I agree with him when he mentions, “…reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author.” I can relate to this because as I read out loud I talk and say comments as if I’m talking to the author. Then, I write them down next to what I read in order to remember it.
I find it helpful to take random notes on the margins of anything that comes to my head such as “oh damn” or “ooh ok” as a way for me to understand and remember what I read. I don’t really use highlighting only underlying because it’s easier for me to keep track of my reading. However, I do need to try to look up any words that I don’t know the definition of. In addition to that, I also hope to start putting numbers on the margins in order to keep track of different arguments.
When I finished reading How to Mark a Book, the message I found useful the most is when he says to stop reading if I start to draw or get distracted. I find this useful because I would usually keep reading, hoping I’d get back on track, but I don’t and I forget what I read.
In Mortimer Adler “How to Mark a Book”, he strongly recommends to not just read a book but to understand the book. He explains, in order to understand a reading, we need to mark the book with notes, questions, and opinions. We tell beginners to not write on books but as they grow up they soon find out that marking a book is essential to understanding it. Like Adler say’s “that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love.” What Adler means is that we mark a book because we want to understand it. I completely agree with Adler. I do believe that marking a book helps you understand the concept better than to just reading the book. Yes, marking a book does take more time but it’s worth taking the time to understand it than to not understanding it at all.
When I’m assigned to read something, I always write in the margins. I usually write short summaries of the paragraph or my opinion. I find writing in the margins the most helpful because I can go back to the page and read my comments. One tip I really want to try is the “Numbers in the margin.” I really never thought to follow the authors argument and now thinking about it, this might be why I don’t understand some arguments when reading about them. What I really liked about this article is that the author tells us to not be afraid to disagree with the author. I’ve always thought you had to agree with the author but apparently you don’t. Another thing that opened my mind was the speed of reading doesn’t measure our intelligence. From reading this article, I now feel prepared to mark a book and to understand the book.
In ” How To Mark A Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, his main idea throughout the reading was that readers should connect themselves with their books in other to understand its content better. To do so he suggest that you and the book become one, “, and the best way to make yourself part of it is to write in it”, I completely agree with him because by writing your thoughts, questions, and opinions down you make this connection with book as well. Because the book is your property and by engaging your mind with it, the odds are greater of you understand its message. For example when Mortimer states ” the point is not to see how many of them you can get through but how many can get through you”, I believe that the purpose of every book is to send its message but how is the reader going to receive that message if he/she isn’t engaging themselves?
Mortimer then gives you tips on, I believe the most important one is the first one “underlying: of major points, of important or useful statements”, Its then easier to go back to those underlined words because I know they contain some level of importance. The one I’m interested in using is the fourth one ” Number in the margin: to indicate the sequence of points the author makes in developing a single argument” , I personally struggle to keep my notes neat, I go back and forward trying to find key points I will use in essays. This tip seems very promising , and its a very simple to do when writing, it’s not time wasting. As a person who speed reads a lot his message about speed reading really impacted me,” most of us have taken in by the notion that speeding reading is a measure of intelligence”. This made me reflect on now most teens read very quickly but never actually gather or remember any information. He’s right its not a measure of intelligence , its a measure of stupidity it makes me want to slow down and actually engage myself more. After all, it was the tortoise who one the race in the end.
In Mortimer J. Adler’s “How to mark a book,” he exemplifies that reading actively can benefit yourself if you really look into the book and actually make notes of things that will help you remember. He tries to get you to set everything aside with no distractions and just read and understand everything in the book. I agree with Adler’s main idea that the only way to understand a book is to take notes and annotate it. This motivates your mind to remember these things that you wrote down about the book. Making marks, slashes, highlights, and tears are what a book should really look like. Whenever I read I make notes in my book and if I forget something at some point I go back and read my notes all over again. The thing that I find the most helpful to me is that having a conversation with the author is a better way for you to understand the book. Just by writing in the book about the important things is what having a conversation with the author really is. The most useful message I found from reading this essay was that to really own a book, it has to have scratches and marks all over it.
In “How to Mark A Book,” by Mortimer J. Adler, Adler’s main idea is to read in between the lines, to set apart what you have been told about reading and put it in a whole other perspective. The message that Adler is trying to convey is that if you want to fully understand the book you need to make it your own, underline, circle, highlight, write in the margins, cross out what you don’t agree with. His message to his readers is to simply mark up your book and to not be afraid to make notes in the open spaces. I completely agree with this idea. I agree mostly because it all makes sense, and i can relate to his arguments. one of them being that when writing and marking up your book it keeps you awake. When i annotate a book it makes me more active and I start to think critically about what I am reading. What I find to be the most helpful when reading and annotating it highlighting the main points and underlining the authors arguments. one tip that I would like to try is to use the end papers at the back of the book to make a personal index of the author’s main points. The most useful message i found from reading this essay is to be an active reader. I tend to always doze off and get sleepy when reading but since annotating it has helped me to actually stay awake and be more engaged.
In ” How To Mark A Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, what he is trying to convey to his readers is that you should most definitely take notes in your books, explore it deeper by annotating all thoughts and points that you deem important. I agree with Adler for this reason. This strengthens the readers skills on actually understanding what he or she is reading and going a step further to make notes on key point and or ideas. I personally find Adler’s “Numbers of the other pages in the margin to be useful. This tip in particular wrap all the key details together that are scattered out through readings. And i find this to be very important on understand the concept of the reading as I read along. And last but not least the most useful message I got out of this reading is not to be afraid of marking up a book. Let your mind think and your hand write down what you think is important to take note of. “… the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you- how many you can make your own.”