C.S. Lewis, letter to Arthur Greeves (February, 1932; on Froissart):
To enjoy a book like that thoroughly I find I have to treat it as a sort of hobby and set about it seriously. I begin by making a map on one of the end leafs: then I put in a genealogical tree or two. Then I put a running headline at the top of each page: finally I index at the end all the passages I have for any reason underlined. I often wonder—considering how people enjoy themselves developing photos or making scrap-books—why so few people make a hobby of their reading in this way. Many an otherwise dull book which I had to read have I enjoyed in this way, with a fine-nibbed pen in my hand: one is making something all the time and a book so read acquires the charm of a toy without losing that of a book.
– via Laudator Temporis Acti
As a retired educator, a lot of my work was built around the concept of active learning. That doesn’t necessarily mean group work: it is about engagement. In fact, if you see someone engaged in active learning, it may look like they are doing nothing at all. It is really about being present in your work and thinking about what you are doing. Ironically, I am easily distracted and doing things like taking notes, underlining pertinent quotes, writing brief summaries, outlines, or creating concept maps helps keep me focused on my reading. It is almost as if we are reverse engineering the book (or article or any other body of ideas). I am going through the same process as if I were writing a book: I start out with notes, outlines and often a concept map to help me keep people, plotlines and scenes all together and connected. When we are in a writing group or class, the active learning (or active creating) can come when we present our to one another and ask questions about it. I like Lewis’ idea that reading can be treated as a hobby. Why are we so careful about scrap-booking or growing roses and sometimes so cavalier about our reading?
