So You're Going to Major in English (2)

Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….

So You’re Going to Major in English….(2)

A Word about Reading….

Maybe I was the only one in the world who thought that to read a book was to begin on page one and plod steadily through until the last page. And above all, never walk away from a book until you've finished it. Once started, you must complete it.

I still thought that way even through college.

What a waste! Sir Francis Bacon had it right when he said in 1625 that “some books are to be tasted” and some few books to be read thoroughly and carefully.

Take my advice:

If the book is nonfiction: (1) Read the Foreword or Preface. They will summarize succinctly the major ideas of the book. (2) Read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter. The first paragraph will introduce the topic of the chapter and the last paragraph will usually summarize the major ideas of the chapter. You will also learn which chapters are probably most significant to the meaning of the book. (3) Read the first sentence of each paragraph in each chapter. If you are “hooked,” read everything. If you are not, keep reading the first sentence of each paragraph. You will be gathering the main details. If you have personal questions at the end of the chapter, skim back over it to find the answers to your questions.

How to read a novel: OK. You’re going to think I am crazy, but reading from first line to last in a 500-page novel inevitably put me to sleep. Try this!. Read a paragraph a page. You will become “hooked” and you will keep reading until you hit another slow spot. Then go back to reading a paragraph a page. You will be amazed at how much you will learn from just a paragraph a page. What if—like Henry James and Sir Walter Scott—the paragraphs are pages in length? Start in the middle of the paragraph and read for the length of a modern middle-sized paragraph. You will often be caught up and want to keep reading. You will lose nothing from the continuity of the plot. And you won’t fall to sleep.

How to read a professional journal: Read the first and last paragraph of the first article. Jot a brief summary. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Need to know more details? Go back and read the first sentence of each paragraph. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Rarely—and I mean rarely—will you need to go back and read the entire article.

Those of you who insist that the only way to read a book is from first word to last, go right on doing so. Using my methods for reading, I will have finished ten books to your one and will know as much or maybe more about the ideas in the book.