Guide
How to Study Classic Books with an AI Tutor
Classic books are often dense, old or awkwardly translated. Here is how to read Plato, Kant, Homer or Shakespeare closely, and where an AI tutor helps.
7 min read
Guides
Reading difficult books
Close reading of the classics, philosophy, poetry and dense textbooks.
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- Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Annotate a Book
How to annotate a book: the right tools, a simple symbol key, what to write in the margins, a chapter routine, and how to turn notes into study material.
9 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Do a Close Reading
Close reading, step by step: how to choose a passage, what to look for, how to turn observations into a claim, with a worked example and the mistakes to avoid.
9 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Crime and Punishment: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Crime and Punishment study guide: the six parts and epilogue, main themes, a name key for the characters, a reading plan, translations and questions.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Frankenstein: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Frankenstein study guide: the three nested narrators, main themes and characters, a reading plan, the 1818 and 1831 texts, and questions to discuss.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Hamlet: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Hamlet study guide: how the five acts and three early texts work, the main themes and characters, an act-by-act reading plan, and questions for class.
9 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Jane Eyre: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Jane Eyre study guide: the novel's five-stage structure, its main themes and characters, a chapter-by-chapter reading plan and questions to discuss.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Macbeth: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Macbeth study guide: how the five acts move, the themes and images to track, the key characters, a two-sitting reading plan and the questions to ask.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Meditations on First Philosophy: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Meditations on First Philosophy study guide: what Descartes argues in each of the six meditations, the key ideas, a reading plan and questions to ask.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Moby-Dick: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
A Moby-Dick study guide: how the 135 chapters are organized, the main themes and characters, how to handle the whaling chapters, and questions to discuss.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read Nicomachean Ethics: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
Nicomachean Ethics study guide: Aristotle's ten books mapped, happiness, virtue and the mean explained with examples, a reading plan and questions to ask.
10 min read - Reading difficult booksGuide
How to Read On the Origin of Species: Themes, Structure and Questions to Ask
On the Origin of Species study guide: how Darwin's one long argument is built, the main themes and key ideas, a reading plan, editions and questions to ask.
9 min read
Reading difficult books
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