Analysis Of Mortimer Adler's Essay 'How To Mark A Book'
540 Words3 Pages
In the essay “How to Mark a Book”, Mortimer Adler reveals his own opinion about what he felt about the actual true meaning of owning a book. Alder suggests his own practices of notating his readings which solidifies information he reads for future use. He discusses the advantages discovered to the ones who are the most dedicated to reading. He argues that books must be “absorbed into the bloodstream” in order for it to do any good. Alder’s opinionated reasons range from keeping the reader intrigued on a personal level to stating a purpose in his writing. Mortimer Alder’s classifies all novel owners in three different categories depending on the level of attention they have towards literature. The first category was the “shelf decorators.” Alder mentions that these were the individuals who only owned wood pulp and ink. They owned all of the best-sellers, but they all were untouched and just for decoration. The second category was the “partial owners.” They owned many books. A few books were read, but every book still looked as new as the…show more content… He believes that doing this improves the reader’s comprehension about the book. Marking down your thoughts in your own words, makes an imprint of the whole idea. This suggestion of Adler’s makes an appeal to the reader’s logos. He then explains how it wouldn’t be possible to comprehend a difficult reading without taking notes. He says that marking in books would reveal the main idea to the reader. He explains how reading should be active and comprehending. Alder gives a list on how to properly mark in a book, off of his own personal experiences. This list that he provides portrays to the reader that he trusts his own method, and wants them to experiment it. Adler believes that one should be able to always absorb and comprehend the information while reading. Logos convinces the reader of his argument because he appeals to the more logical view of the