Speaker 1: How to remember books, plays, tales, et cetera. In the
preceding chapters we have given you suggestions for the development
of the principal forms of memory. But there are still
other phases or forms of memory, which, while coming under
the general classification, may be still considered as worthy of
special consideration. For instance, there may be suggestions given regarding
the memorization of the contents of the books you read,
the stories you hear, et cetera. And so we have
thought it advisable to devote one chapter to a consideration
of these various phases of memory that have been left
out of the other chapters. Many of us fail to
remember the important things in the books we read, and
are often mortified by our ignorance regarding the contents of
the works of leading authors, or of popular novels, which,
although we have read, we have failed to impress upon
the records of our memory. Of course, we must begin
by reminding you of the ever present necessity of interest
and attention. We cannot escape from these principles of the memory.
The trouble with the majority of people is that they
read books to kill time as a sort of mental
narcotic or anesthetic, instead of for the purpose of obtaining
something of interest from them. By this course, we not
only lose all that may be of importance or value
in the book, but also acquire the habit of careless
reading and inattention. The prevalence of the habit of reading
many newspapers and trashy novels is responsible for the apparent
inability of many persons to intelligently absorb and remember the
contents of a book worthwhile when they do happen to
take up such a one. But still even the most
careless reader may prove himself and cure the habit of
inattention and careless reading. No apporter says, we have not
read an author till we have seen his object, whatever
it may be, as he saw it. Also read with attention.
This is the rule that takes precedence of all others.
It stands instead of a score of minor directions. Indeed,
it comprehends them all, and is the golden rule. The
page should be read as if it were never to
be seen a second time. The mental eye should be fixed,
as if there were no other object to think of.
The memory should grasp the facts like a vice. The
impressions should be distinctly and sharply received. It is not necessary,
nor is it advisable, to attempt to memorize the text
of a book, excepting perhaps a few passages. Is that
may seem worthy to be treasured up word for word.
The principal thing to be remembered about a book is
its meaning. What it is about, then may follow the
general outline and the details of the story, essay, treatise,
or whatever it may be. The question that should be
asked oneself after the book is completed, or after the
completion of some particular part of the book is what
was the writer's idea? What did he wish to say?
Get the idea of the writer. By taking this mental attitude,
you practically place yourself in the place of the writer,
and thus take part in the idea of the book.
You thus view it from the inside rather than from
the outside. You place yourself at the center of the
thing instead of upon its circumference. If the book be
a history, biograph, autobiography, narrative, or story of fact or fiction,
you will find it of value to visualize its occurrences
as the story unfolds. That is, endeavor to form at
least a faint mental picture of the events related, so
that you can see them in your mind's eye or imagination.
Use your imagination in connection with the mechanical reading. In
this way, you build up a series of mental pictures
which will be impressed upon your mind and which will
be remembered, just as are the scenes of a play
that you have witnessed or an actual event that you
have seen, only less distinct. Of course, particularly you should
endeavor to form a clear mental picture of each character,
until each one is endowed with at least a semblance
of reality to you. By doing this, you will impart
a naturalness to the events of the story, and you
will obtain a new pleasure from your reading. Of course,
this plan will make you read more slowly, and many
trashy tales will cease to interest you, for they do
not contain the real elements of interest. But this is
no loss, but is a decided gain for you. At
the end of each reading, take the time to mentally
review the progress of the story. Let the characters and
scenes pass before your mental vision as in a moving picture,
and when the book is finally completed, review it as
a whole. By following this course, you will not only
acquire the habit of easily remembering the tales and books
that you have read, but will also obtain much pleasure
by re reading favorite stories in your imagination. Years after.
You will find that your favorite characters will take on
a new reality for you, and will become as old
friends in whose company you may enjoy yourself at any time,
and whom you may dismiss when they tire you without offense.
In the case of scientific treatises, essays, et cetera, you
may follow a similar plan by dividing the work into
small sections and mentally reviewing the thought, not the words,
of each section until you make it your own, and then,
by adding new sections to your review, you may gradually
absorb and master the entire work. All this requires time, work,
and patience, but you will be repaid for your expenditure.
You will find that this plan will soon render you
impatient at books of little consequence, and will drive you
to the best books on any given subject. You will
begin to begrudge your time and attention and hesitate about
bestowing them upon any but the very best books. But
in this you gain. In order to fully acquaint yourself
with a book before reading it, you should familiarize yourself
with its general character. To do this, you should pay
attention to the full title and the subtitle, if there
be any, the name of the author, and the list
of other books that he has written, if they are
noted on the title page or the one preceding it.
According to the usual custom, you should read the preface
and study carefully the table of contents that you may
know the field or general subject covered by the book.
In other words, endeavor to get the general outline of
the book into which you may afterwards fill in the details.
In reading a book of serious import you should make
it a point to fully grasp the meaning of each
paragraph before passing on to the next one. Let nothing
pays ask you that you do not understand, at least
in a general way. Consult the dictionary for words not
familiar to you, so that you may grasp the full
idea intended to be expressed. At the end of each chapter, section,
and part. You should review that which you have read
until you are able to form a mental picture of
the general ideas contained therein. To those who wish to
remember the dramatic productions that they have attended, we would
say that the principles above mentioned may be applied to
this form of memory as well as to the memory
of books. By taking an interest in each character as
it appears, by studying carefully each action and scene, and
then reviewing each act in the intervals between the acts,
and by finally reviewing the entire play after your return home,
you will fasten the whole play as a complete mental
picture on the records of your memory. If you have
acquainted yourself with what we have just said regarding the
recollection of the contents of books, you will be able
to modify and adapt them to the purpose of recollecting
plays and dramatic productions. You will find that the oftener
you review a play, the more clearly you will remember it.
Many little details overlooked at first will come into the
field of consciousness and fit into their proper places. Sermons, lectures,
and other discourses may be remembered by bestowing interest and
attention upon them, and by attempting to grasp each general
idea advanced, and by noting the passage from one general
idea to another. If you will practice this a few times,
you will find that when you come to review the discourse,
and this you should always do. It is the natural
way of developing memory. The little details will come up
and fit into their proper places. In this form of memory.
The important thing is to train the memory by exercise
and review. You will find that at each review of
a discourse you will have made progress. By practice and exercise,
the subconscious mentality will do better work and will show
that it is rising to its new responsibilities. You have
allowed it to sleep during the many discourses to which
you have listened, and it must be taught new habits.
Let it know that it is expected to retain that
which it hears, and then exercise it frequently by reviews
of discourses, and you will be surprised at the degree
of the work it will perform for you. Not only
will you remember better, but you will hear better and
more intelligently. The subconsciousness, knowing that it will be called
upon later on to recollect what is being said, will
urge you to bestow the attention necessary to supply it
with the proper material. To those who have had trouble
in remembering discourses, we urge that they should begin to
attend lectures and other forms of discourse with the distinct
purpose of developing that form of memory. Give to the
subconscious mentality the positive command that it shall attend to
what is being said and shall record the same in
such a way that when you review the discourse afterward,
you will be presented with a good synopsis or syllabus
of it. You should avoid any attempt to memorize the
words of the discourse, your purpose being to absorb and
record the ideas and general thoughts expressed, interest, attention, practice, review.
These are the important points in memory to remember stories, anecdotes, fables,
et cetera. The principles given above are to be employed.
The main thing in memorizing an anecdote is to be
able to catch the fundamental idea underlining it and the
epigrammatic sentence or central phrase which forms the point of
the story. Be sure that you catch these perfectly, and
then commit the point to memory, if necessary, make a
memorandum of the point until you have opportunity to review
the story in your mind. Then carefully review it mentally,
letting the mental image of the idea pass before you
in review, and then repeating it to yourself in your
own words. By rehearsing and reviewing the story, you make
it your own and will be able to relate it afterward,
just as you would something that you had actually experienced.
So true is this principle, that, when carried too far,
it endows the story with a false sense of actuality.
Who has not known men who told a story so
often that they came actually to believe it themselves. Do
not carry the principle to this extreme, but use it
in moderation. The trouble with many men is that they
attempt to repeat a tale long after they have heard it,
without reviewing or rehearsing in the meantime. Consequently, they omit
many important points because they have failed to impress the
story as a whole upon the memory. In order to
know an anecdote properly, one should be able to see
its characters and incidents, just as he does when he
sees an illustrated joke in a comic paper. If you
can make a mental picture of an anecdote, you will
be apt to remember it with ease. The noted storytellers
review and rehearse their jokes, and have been known to
try them on their unsuspecting friends in order to get
the benefit of practice before relating them in public. This
practice has been called by flippant people trying it on
the dog. But it has its good points and advantages.
It at least saves one the mortification of being compelled
to finish up a long drawn out tale by uh well,
I'm afraid I've forgotten just how that story ended, but
it was a good one.