4 Effective Methods Of Reading

Picking up a new book and reading seems simple. Or is it? Understanding the 4 effective methods of reading can help you retain more information, analyze what you just read by developing critical thinking skills, and view things from a different perspective.

Reading has many benefits. Learn what some of them are in our article 7 Fantastic Reasons Why You Should Start Reading Books.

How To Read A Book...

In 1940, Mortimer Adler wrote a book called, simply, How To Read A Book. Not the most captivating title, but if you judge a book by its cover, this one is spot on. In it, he describes four effective ways of reading and their benefits, which we will briefly cover in this article.

While you are reading, see which method you use the most.

Elementary Reading 

As the name suggests, it's the most basic level, the rudimentary reading we did in early years of grade school. Elementary reading is understanding the basic idea being described. You can pick out the characters, the problem, and the solution, but that's about it.

Elementary reading is what most of us do when we browse the newspaper or read a blog article. 

Inspectional Reading 

Inspectional reading is exactly what it sounds like. You're inspecting the book from front to back, reading the cover and preface, browsing the table of contents, and lightly reading a chapter or two to see if it interests you.

The goal of inspectional reading is to decide if the book is something you would enjoy reading. In total, an inspectional overview of a book should take about 5-15 minutes. By that time, you should have an idea whether or not it's for you.

Some textbooks have a scope at the beginning of each chapter, and a summary at the end that answers the issues presented in the scope or points you in the right direction. When you begin skimming through a chapter, read the scope first and keep it in mind while you browse. 

You don't need to be able to answer every question in full detail; getting a general idea of the answers is fine. Look for bold and italic text; these are signs that the information is important.

Think of inspectional reading as a test drive or product demo of the book. You don't have to buy or rent it, but you at least have an idea of what to expect if you did.

Analytical Reading 

This type of reading is best used if you really want to dive into a subject. Think of this as dissecting the book and all its parts. Analytical reading is best when you want to get as much information out of a book as possible.

You may have questions before reading, or new questions while reading, that you want answered. Write down words or phrases you don't understand and look them up. 

As you read, summarize what you read in your own words to help solidify the ideas the author is presenting. When you reach the end of a chapter, take a moment to review it and create a brief synopsis. A few sentences is typically sufficient.

If you want, write in the margins and highlight the book. If not, write on a separate piece of paper the information you find useful and questions you may have.

Synoptic Reading 

Comparing apples to apples and to oranges. What's the same and what's different. This method involves reading multiple texts on the same subject and comparing and contrasting the information you digested. 

Imagine two or more similar texts like a Venn diagram. The contents sometimes overlap, but there will also be new information in one text that may not be in others, or a different view on the same idea.

Synoptic reading can help you see different sides of a problem. As the old saying goes, every story has two sides. If you read the hero's journey, read the loser's journey and see how their story compares. 

Summary

Understanding the different methods of reading can aid you when it comes to retaining important information and filtering out unnecessary fluff so you can spend more time on what's important.

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