04/24/2020

Ratelolahy Jean Emile

ENG 150

Assignment: How to Mark a Book

For a true seeker of knowledge in life, they set a mark of accomplishment in each line,
percept of their stage. Whenever we want to deepen our understanding about something in
general circumstances, we must use every available gift and tool to find out the hidden treasure
in it. For instance, here Mortimer J. Adler taught on his works about “How to mark a book”,
instead of just reading it and obtaining nothing out of it.

 I admire Adler for showing me the way and benefit of marking a book, and I think each
of the steps and the reasons that Adler shared here is the right way to earn understanding from
any book. At first, the author emphasized that there are some certain rules that reader must
respect such as keep others book if we lend them from our friends or librarian, however, he made
clear that if we desire to mark or make annotation in books, we must buy them for
ourselves, because the book is belonging to us so nobody would tell us not making mess
with our book. Moreover, I like how he encourages us to purchase a book because this is one
way of honoring the rights of the author.

Now, Adler himself explained that marking a book is indispensable for the reader, of
course if they own the book or bought it. He gave three reasons why we readers should mark the
book we read like: -it keeps the reader awake,-it is thought-through book, -the notes help the
reader remember their or the author’s thoughts while reading the book.
I would like to share with you the importance of writing and marking a book by using our hands
with pen or pencil, he said with eloquently “ Well 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….And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you
and the author.” I believe in Adler's ideas and I truly agree with him. I know this is the only way
that you and I can expand our expertise from reading books or other materials.