Note-taking
The author gives examples of note-taking so be patient with him with his hundred-page book.
This book is written from personal knowledge of the often misleading material with which the average student's note-books are filled; from the conviction that improved standards in note-taking will increase measurably the effectiveness of a student's work, and from some experience in training students to better habits in the actual process of taking notes. For several years the writer has conducted classes that met once a week through a semester, devoting their time to various aspects of the note-takers problem; and into this book have gone the results of that experience.
Those who attempt to train students in note-taking must take the opportunity to do so, either taking up the subject by itself or treating it in connection with some regular lecture course. In the former case, the subject is appropriately taught by the English department, as a branch of expository composition; but in the latter case, the task may be undertaken by any instructor who finds that good notes are necessary for successful work in his course.
The purpose of this book, therefore, is twofold: to make suggestions, especially in the exercises, for a practical course in the subject; and to provide, both in the text and in the illustrations, sufficient material for instruction in note-taking under the direction of some interested teacher. The plan of the book explains itself, and so needs no comment here, but some hints as to methods of class conduct may be useful.
The work of the instructor is greatly facilitated by having selected passages typewritten and distributed to the class in mimeographed sheets. To correct carefully each set of notes collected from a large class is a laborious matter; but if typical papers, good and bad, are placed before the members, the qualities that go to make success or failure in notes can be brought out clearly, and with a minimum of labour. Typewritten passages in the hands of students are far more useful than the same passages written out by hand on the blackboard.
If the regular work of a course does not supply suitable material for note-taking, it can easily be supplemented; in fact, the opportunity thus given to draw on material not directly connected with regular work is itself a privilege. Every alert teacher finds an abundance of topics of local interest, of large ethical significance, or of special importance politically and socially, by which he may stimulate the intellectual life of his students.
He may use these topics for class talks or for assigned reports outside of class. If he prefers not to prepare original lectures, there are plenty of suitable addresses, articles, and chapters, which he can use for reading aloud. For notes to be worked up outside of class there is admirable material in the current and bound numbers of such magazines as the Atlantic Monthly, or the North American Review, or in certain books from the library, a list of which may easily be prepared. No one book yields better results, as material for note-taking both in class and out, than Bryce's American Commonwealth, owing no less to the intrinsic interest of the subject matter than to the care with which its organization is made clear.
Contents:
I. THE AIM OF NOTE-TAKING
False Ideas 1
A Shorthand Copy 1
Suggestive Jottings 2
Unaided Memory 2
The True Ideal 3
Results of Good Note-taking 6
Two Divisions of Note-taking 7
II. HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES
Notes from Reading 9
rinding the Substance 9
Looking for Ideas 10
Looking for Complete Statements H
Testing Statements 12
Expressing the Substance 14
Using General but not Vague Terms ... .14
Adding Related Ideas 15
Notes from Lectures. 16
Taking Sufficient Time 17
Observing Signals of Voice 18
Watching for Hints as to Subject ...... 19
Following up Hints by Writing . .... 20
HI. HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES
Notes from Reading 24
Why Organization Helps 24
How Text Indicates Plan 24
How to Express Plan 27
Indenting Minor Parts 28
Numbering a Series 28
Leaving Blank Lines 30
Underscoring for Emphasis 30
Bracketing Digressions 31
Notes from Lectures. 32
How to Use a Syllabus 32
Hints for Recognizing Plan 33
IV. SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING
Reports from Printed Material ...... 44
Summaries of Articles 44
Topical Outlines 49
Selected Quotations 50
Reports from Orai, Material 52
Newspaper Reports 52
Newspaper Interviews 57
Mechanical Processes 61
Tlie Note-book 61
Abbreviation of Words 63
References and their Abbreviation 65
Punctuation of Quotations 66
Exercises
For Outside Work 69
For Class Work 71
APPENDIX. EXAMPLES OF NOTES
Good and Bad Condensation 74
Good and Bad Organization 77
Specimen Notes 79
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