Comprehension

Comprehension is simply applying intelligence and pre­vious knowledge to any new piece of writing you decide to read — and understanding it. Through the techniques of Modern Reading, comprehension will be improved and deepened, since these skills provide the means whereby the mind grasps ideas more quickly. But the quality of comprehension will always depend on what each individual brings to a new reading experi­ence from his background.

Each one of us has his own comprehension quotient. This represents the sum of a man's knowledge, gained through pre­vious reading, through thought and discussion, through active participation in various fields. For example, if you have read one of Henry James' novels you are prepared for his somewhat verbose and luxuriant style when you read another. You will read the second novel more easily because you have experience and background.

The person who has traveled widely in France and England will read Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" — or any historical novel or book of essays about those countries — with more immediate comprehension because he is familiar with many of the places mentioned.  You can still understand the books if fully than the man with this experience. It is the same with any subject. You will always read with higher comprehension in a field about which you are already informed through read­ing or actual experience.

In Chapter Nine you read a brief article on the events leading up to the Battle of Lexington. You were asked 15 ques­tions at the end to test your power of retention. All but the last tested only the ability to retain facts. The final question was also a test of comprehension — of how well you had followed the author's discussion. Your answer would reveal whether you had seen just how the Boston Tea Party set in motion a series of events which reached a climax 16 months later with the beginning of the War of Independence. You might have remembered all the facts required by the preceding questions. But if you did not answer the last one correctly you missed the point of the article.

So comprehension goes beyond retention, which is simply remembering facts and ideas. To comprehend fully you must not only get the main facts but see how the author marshals them to reach a certain conclusion. To do this, you must identify your stream of thought with his through concentration. Then all the pertinent knowledge which you have stored up in the past will be constantly feeding information that helps you to understand as you go along. Quite obviously the man who has read widely and experienced richly has an advantage in comprehending what he reads because he brings a broad back­ground to each new reading adventure.

Reading Makes You Grow

Faster reading makes it possible for you to enjoy a thou­sand such adventures for every hundred you would have under­taken before.  It has given wings to your mind.  Now you have the means at your command to acquire the background of knowledge which is the only way to lay up the insurance of comprehension through a wide range of books and articles.

As to drills, you have already learned them, for the skills which underlie thorough comprehension grow out of the drills you have studied. To build comprehension your assignment is to enrich yourself in any field that strikes your fancy. Listen to fine music — and read about it. Look at great art and enjoy some of the handsome books which not only reproduce the masterpieces but tell you about the artists and their art. Delve into science and especially the rocketry and missilry which have made the space age a reality rather than a dream of the science-fiction writers. You will find many books, scrupulously correct in their science, which explain the conquest of space so the layman can understand it. They also expose him to the new words which technical breakthroughs have introduced into the language. Try popular books in some of the other sciences too — medicine, chemistry and biochemistry, biology, oceanog­raphy. Ours is an age of scientific discovery which is making historic advances in solving the riddles of life. Stretch your mind by reaching out toward new horizons. This is your opportunity to grow — and grow.

I have left great literature till the last, only because Part Three on "The Art of Reading" is designed to dwell on its pleasures. The new novels, the older ones you never had time to read, the modern histories, the social sciences — all these give perspective to your knowledge and taste in literature. For Part Three we have called in a group of experts to tell you how to get the most from your reading adventures.

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