'How To Mark A Book' By Mortimer J. Adler

In the essay “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, the author explains that “marking up a book is not an act of mutilation, but of love” (1). Adler points out that marking books keeps a reader vigilant to what they are actually reading (2). The author continues on to say owning a book is more than having it sit on a shelf; owning a book means for the reader to make it unique for him or herself, doing so will make reading that much more enjoyable for the reader. Adler also claims that writing small notes or comments as you read helps readers to summarize what they’ve just read, even days later. He says that writing in books allows the brain to store that information deeper into the long term memory making it easier to come back to (2).

Today, no one seems to give much value of literary works or reading. Not because it doesn’t give anything beneficiary, but because not everyone had the urged to at least finish a book. We now live in a world where social medias almost dominates our daily activities. It’s unlikely to have a place for us to consume a non-fiction or fiction book. As absurd as it sounds but that’s how people often think. We now live in an egalitarian society, where everyone is given the freedom and right of its own.

A good way to think of this is like how a conductor makes notes on his musical scores. The conductor can mark them up again and again each time he returns to study them. This is the reason why you should mark your books. But a great book, rich in ideas and beauty, raises and tries to answer questions the reader may have and this demands the most active reading the reader is capable of. This person

Adler gives examples of different ways one can still actively read and make annotations while getting around writing in a book when he suggests, “How about using a scratch pad slightly smaller than the page-size of the book...and then insert these sheets permanently inside the front and back covers of the book” (Adler 19). By offering other ways to make annotations, Adler makes the point that there is no excuse to not actively read. Another way he creates an encouraging tone is by pointing out the flaws of people who do not own books in more than a physical way by using words such as “deluded” (Adler 17) to steer them away from passive reading. Adler’s use of logos also makes the tone persuasive. He explains why writing is necessary by mentioning “the physical act of writing, with your own hand, brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory” (Adler 18). By providing a fact, Adler provides reason for his ideas to effectively reach out to his audience. One other strategy Adler uses to keep a consistent tone is enumerating devices for marking a book. If Adler would have summarized them in paragraph form, it would have made the tone more informative than persuasive. With listing, he gives off the impression that one should consider trying many different

Whenever I read books, articles, etc. that I know I will be tested on or need to remember I make side notes and highlight. While reading I determine what I believe is most important. I pick out key terms, names, dates, and numbers. I might make side notes and summarize some things. I also like to highlight words or phrases I may be unsure of that I later look up the meaning so I have a better understanding of the text. After reading the essay, How to Mark A Book, by Mortimer J. Adler, my reading process isn't going to change much. I agree with Adler’s assertion that books are as much a part of your head or your heart. I believe this because people can learn a lot from things that they read. For example, you can learn about nature, different

To be an active reader is to be able to express yourself in the book one reads. Mortimer J. Adler argues in his article, “How to Mark a Book”, that to be an active reader, the reader needs to actually write in their book; but also to fully claim ownership of their book. According to Adler, there are plenty of ways one can mark in a book; underlining, vertical lines at the margin, asterisk, numbers in the margin, circling or highlighting, writing in the margin at the bottom or top, etc. One does not initially understand what they are reading, until they feel like they are having a conversation with the author. Adler emphasizes marking in a book keeps the reader mentally awake, helps their thoughts become more alive, and also remember later what

In life, there are many different types of books from each genre, and each person has a choice on which one they like or don’t like, which one is the most helpful, or the least helpful. But sometimes, no matter how much you like books, or how helpful they are, some societies believes, or have been lead to believe by propaganda that books shouldn’t exist, all books are bad and should just be burned. They’re society believes that books just bring unnecessary emotions in life that books just brings people down, or that what people have been lead to believe. But in that society there are people who are trying to fight back by saying how books are actually useful in life, and brings excitement, or useful information into people’s life. But sometimes,

All the information stored in books supplement learning in class, and is an efficient way to bolster learning. They teach of society in the past and present, as well as the author’s perspectives on certain subjects during their time. We learn of Ray Bradbury’s society, where there was fear that books would die at the hands of technology. Books help us learn and understand through the real and the make-believe, in which this knowledge is crucial for success in school and life. Libraries at schools make for a convenient way to access information and boost learning.

The memory soaked pages of your favorite book can be an absolute treasure (at least personally), one that can transport a person to unknown lands and teach them of adventure or real life lessons. Despite the earlier stated themes that objects are not important, I can argue full well that books are an item that easily develops your character. My books are objects that I hold dearly, for many of them have shaped myself as a

Before we divulge into the topic of this essay, let me begin by stating that neither the author of the main source, Steven Johnson, nor I intend to devalue books or look down upon them. In his book, Everything Bad Is Good For You, he starts off talking about the importance of books. He says, “We should all encourage our kids to read more, to develop a comfort with and an appetite for reading” (Johnson 21). Reading provides many different benefits, some including “concentration, the ability to make sense of words, to follow narrative threads, to sculpt imagined worlds out of mere sentences on pages” (Johnson 23). As an avid reader myself, I have always had an interest in books.

Growing up, writing and marking in any book was frowned upon and thought of as disrespectful. It was like damaging property, but after reading Mortimer Alder’s essay, “How to Mark a Book,” my thoughts have definitely changed. Alder discusses many things, such as, the three different types of book owners, different ways to mark up a book, and why is writing in a book necessary. Everything he mentioned really stuck with me and I am glad to have read this essay.

Can you imagine what life without books would be like? In the story, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury created a world where owning books is unlawful. The novel includes an abundance of reasons why books are essential. Social interaction is vital. Becoming resourceful is based solely on the insights found in books. A blissful outlook is unattainable. Regardless of how people’s opinions differentiate, books increase your mind’s ability in social interaction, academic development, and helps you be happy.

Tie to audience: Why is it important to know how to annotate a book properly ? That is because of how Common Core standards want us to be able to read and comprehend passages independently and if you to go to English 2A or English 3 Honors, annotating would become a necessary skill to have. Even later on

"How to Mark a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler is an essay over the author 's belief on the importance of marking or writing inside a book. Adler 's primary purpose is persuasive. He writes to convince the reader to partake in writing in one 's own books when reading to become more efficient. Adler 's secondary purpose is expressive because of the way he describes his least favorite type of reader: "There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers - unread, untouched. This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books" (17-6).

In the article On Refusing to Read written by Amy Hungerford (2016), the author argues that with amount of books being published nowadays but the limited time and energy being devoted and social factors being involved, scholars and intellectuals refuse to take time considering the value of the books that they choose, instead, doing research on those that are commonly accepted by normal public in order to make their articles published more easily and to enhance the reputation. Amy (2016) also claims that the narrow choices of the books may cause more valuable ones to be buried. Meanwhile, the visual text, delivered by Jerome Corgier (2016), shows that an upside down umbrella holds a bunch of English words but some overflow from it, which conveys that accepting every piece of information is inefficient and inept. Both texts agree that the abundant outside information influence readers’ selection on books they read. However, the visual text emphasizes more on the imbalance of what individuals take in and what they refuse to read; the article mainly argues the interaction between social forces and scholars’ personal choice towards reading books.