How to read a chapter and check your understanding

Start with a question

Before opening a chapter, write a question with an answer you can check. “Why does the narrator change their mind?” gives you a narrower task than “Summarise everything”. Use the contents to find the relevant section and bookmark the passage where a plausible answer begins.

Record a claim, evidence and a limit

Write three lines. Put your answer in your own words, add the chapter and passage that support it, then record a doubt or alternative explanation. A chapter and a short textual cue help you find the passage even after changing the type size.

Open the book after testing yourself

Close the page and reconstruct the answer from memory. If you recall the conclusion but lose the evidence, return to your bookmark and find the line that convinced you. The next day, apply the same reasoning to another example and see whether it still works.