How to Read in Grad School

Reading becomes an art (or a science?) in grad school.  Mostly because without the proper technique, it is impossible to read everything that is assigned.  Unfortunately, everyone has different strategies, so it is a process of trial-and-error to find the one that works for you.  I am still  working on this.  I like to read every word -- partly because I get caught up in the narrative and forget to read for the argument and partly because I am afraid I will miss something important.  

The other challenge is to read actively and to critique the historian's argument while reading.  This can get complicated when you have books that are about the same topic but seem mutually exclusive.  A verse in Proverbs expresses this dilemma perfectly: 

The one who states his case first seems right, 

until the other comes and examines him.

Proverbs 18:17 

This semester I not only have to read some thirty books for the classes that I am taking, but I also have to read for my comprehensive exams in the spring.  These reading lists will probably end up requiring me to read over one hundred books.  This is where reading strategies come in handy.  Anyway, I was reading one of my comps books, and I came across these reading tips from an 18th-century German educator.  I thought they were amusing...

You should never read while standing or after having finished a meal.  Instead, you should wash your face with cold water and take your book outdoors, where you can read it in the bosom of nature - and aloud, for the sound of the voice facilitates the penetration of ideas.  But most important, you should have the right spiritual disposition.  Instead of responding passively to the text, you should throw yourself into it, seize its meaning, and apply it to your own life. "We must relate everything we read to our 'I,' reflect on everything from our personal point of view, and never lose sight of the consideration that study makes us freer and more independent, and that it should help us find an outlet for the expression of our heart and mind." (Robert Darnton from Johann Adam Berg's manual on reading)