Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer non-recreational novels

I know that for novels you're supposed to photoread and then rapidread, but what do you do when your teacher assigns a 400-page novel and you've got a week to read it? Do you actually sit down and read for two hours a night? There has to be a better way.

My suggestion would be you have to decide what you want out of the novel first. If you just want the information so you can pass test, use all the steps of PRing, if you want to enjoys the novel for what it is then PR then rappid read.

-Benny

To followup a little on Benny's response....

If your purpose in reading the book is to pass the test, then you can probably formulate questions that you'll be asked, or are likely to be asked, based on a) previous exams from this professor, and b) this book.

You might want to characterise the questions you've had from this teacher before.

Some general questions, which can't hurt:

Who are the characters? What are the important scenes? Are there any wacky plot twists? Is there a passage that "rings true"? What is the most intense scene in this book? What is the most memorable? Is there some great dialog?

There might also be meta-questions (depending on what level you're at), such as, "why is this book important?"

Finally, I've found that reading a book the "old fashioned way" once I've photoread makes the reading go much faster, and easier to remember.

Good luck!

On the last novel I read (for pleasure) I photoread and then rapidread. At the beginning I was going really fast because I wasn't concerned with perfect comprehension. After a while, though, I couldn't help but slow down to a crawl because I was interested. It was disappointing. The photoreading steps work in little chunks, but not in long sittings. Maybe I should rapidread in 15-minute chunks? That's a lot of breaks...how long should I take in between short sittings like that?

Take a five minute break after 20 to 30 minutes anyway, then take a 10 to 15 minute break after the next 20 to 30 minutes.

For activation I would suggest that you focus on say the characters for then setting, plot location, theme, Symbolism, Philosophy, Imagry etc. If you superread and dip with those things in mind you'll probably be able to finish the book in a lot less time. You could probably find the answers to those questions in an hour. Once you have them you have the option of doing a rapid read. You'll probably spend a lot less time on it by first superreading and dipping for an hour discovering those details.

My questions article explains what to look for in the way of theme, symbolism etc. If you haven't got a copy feel free to email me for one.

Alex