How to Highlight a Book

by Jan 12, 2009Books, Dissertation

These are a busy dissertation writer’s tips for highlighting a book:

  1. Use yellow for any statements that grab you.
  2. Use orange for a statement that grabs you but is right next to another statement that already grabbed you, so you can keep them separate.
    Picture 2.png
  3. Highlight in such a way that what you highlight forms a complete sentence. It’s not as difficult as it sounds, and it will help you as you scan the book in the future or take notes.
  4. Use pink for organizing statements, such as “This chapter has two primary objectives, first… second….” This will orient you on the page quickly. I often do this before I actually read a given section.
    Picture 3.png
  5. In an important book I go through my highlights after reading and pretty well copy them all down into Evernote. I try to make my notes form a narrative that describes the book’s contents.
  6. I write in the margins. I didn’t always. I use Pigma Micron pens for that.
  7. I like clickable highlighters so I don’t have to fiddle with a cap.

accent-rt-highlighters.jpg

Read More 

Review: Comanche Empire

The Comanche Empire by Pekka Hämäläinen This excellent book does what modern history is supposed to do nowadays: it gives a voice to the voiceless and the marginalized; it gives agency to the victims. And yet you can’t always predict what will happen when you go...

Review: Means of Ascent

Means of Ascent by Robert A. CaroMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is positively monumental. How does Caro do it? Well, I know how he does it. I read his book on the topic. He does it with a lot of hard and humble work (and some excellent help from his wife). I was...

Review: Think Again by Stanley Fish

Think Again: Contrarian Reflections on Life, Culture, Politics, Religion, Law, and Education by Stanley FishMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I have read multiple Stanley Fish books; I read quite a number of these columns when they were originally published in the New York...

Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text

Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text

Why I Preach from the Received Text is an anthology of personal testimonies more than it is a collection of careful arguments. It is not intended to be academic, and I see nothing necessarily wrong with that. But it does make countless properly academic claims, and...

Leave a comment.

0 Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. 5 Powerful Logos Capabilities You May Have Missed | LogosTalk - […] years I have used a simple highlighting system in which yellow, orange, and pink (and very occasionally purple) carry…
  2. 5 Powerful Logos Capabilities You May Have Missed | Rosary2007's Weblog - […] years I have used a simple highlighting system in which yellow, orange, and pink (and very occasionally purple) carry…