Annotated Table of Contents: Efficient Reading

Teaching English, How To.... by Raymond Stopper

Part Four: Reading

Chapter 18. Efficient Reading: How can students find information quickly? "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." This view of reading was expressed by Francis Bacon in his essay, "Of Studies," in 1625.

While among professional reading educators, this advice has become almost a cliche, I believe that few students are actually shown how to set purposes for reading or how to determine the extent to which a book or a chapter or an article needs to be read to achieve their purposes. In this chapter I will show how previewing the material to be read will save readers time and improve comprehension.