Probably Adler's most famous work, I'm going to spend the next week or so (I'm guessing based on length, a lot of it appears to be indexes, reading lists, etc.) going over this, following the mark up methods from his other article (plus maybe some in here, since that's got a section, assuming it's different. I've decided I want to try to do a bit more paper reading, so I got a physical copy. I find cramming the notes in the margins annoying (and detrimental to my already iffy handwriting) so I'm trying one of his tips and cut out a stack of paper slightly smaller than the book that I can take notes on and tuck in. This is similar to how I usually took notes in undergrad, just moving them from an external notebook to integrated pages. The notebook is probably easier to write in, but these will be easier to reference later (vs flipping back a week later to write an essay and then never caring about).
I only read the preface tonight (it's late, I had to go track down some mail I accidentally sent to an apartment I moved out of several years ago), but it had a couple interesting bits:
1. Adler mentions a shift in reading from fiction to nonfiction. My understanding is that this trend has continued today in two ways. First, men read more nonfiction, but women still read fiction. Two, schools have battered fiction mostly out of the curriculum. I'll have to look into it some more.
2. The Department of Education was still rolled in with Health and Welfare. One of those funny coincidences with how much it's been in the news lately.
3. He quotes an article about how we mostly stop reading instruction around 6th grade, and many people will never learn to read beyond this, even if they go all the way to college. This is pointed to as a failing, while I feel like today it's more often framed than there's no good reason for most people to learn to read past about an 8th grade level.
No comments:
Post a Comment