Joys Of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

by Gautam Baid

Elementary reading. This is the most basic level of reading as taught in our elementary schools. It is when we move from illiteracy to literacy. 2. Inspectional reading. This is another name for “scanning” or “superficial reading.” It means giving a piece of writing a quick yet meaningful advance review to evaluate the merits of a deeper reading experience. Whereas the question that is asked at the first level (elementary reading) is “What does the sentence say?” the question typically asked at this level is “What is the book about?” 3. Analytical reading. Analytical reading is a thorough reading. This is the stage at which you make the book your own by conversing with the author and asking many organized questions. Asking a book questions as you read makes you a better reader. But you must do more. You must attempt to answer the questions you are asking. While you could do this in your mind, Adler and Van Doren argue that it’s much easier to do this with a pencil in your hand. “The pencil,” they argue, “becomes the sign of your alertness while you read.” Adler and Van Doren share the many ways to mark a book. They recommend that we underline or circle the main points; draw vertical lines at the margin to emphasize a passage already underlined or too long to be underlined; place a star, asterisk, or other symbol at the margin for emphasis; place numbers in the margin to indicate a sequence of points made in developing an argument; place page numbers of other pages in the m...