Maybe you’re heading to CGSC or SAMS. Perhaps you need to work through a reading list or write an argumentative essay. You might be preparing for civilian college or graduate school. Wherever you’re going, a little preparation now will save time and help you get the most out of your education. Show up with the keys to success: how to read effectively and write well.
Why listen to me?
I’ve learned some hard-won lessons. I came to CGSC after two years of graduate school at Columbia University and a utilization tour teaching at West Point. While a student at Fort Leavenworth, I finished my Ph.D. in a record-setting four and a half years. I began graduate school pregnant with my second child, which meant finishing a master’s thesis and preparing for comprehensive exams in a sleep-deprived blur. After I became an instructor at (the fabulous) West Point Department of History, the pandemic began. I was teaching, facilitating remote second grade for my son, taking care of a toddler while daycare remained closed, and writing my dissertation, all while my husband worked extreme hours as essential personnel on staff. To survive, I discovered how to be efficient. I hope to pass along some practical tips.
Create a good study environment
Under what conditions do you work best? When do you feel most distracted? If I need to concentrate, I play white noise on my headphones. I only do this for work, and at this point, my brain goes into focus mode as soon as I hear it—downright Pavlovian. What makes you ready to study? Maybe it’s making a cup of tea or putting on music. Know yourself.
Set yourself up for success. Find a study location you like, maybe in the library or your home. Work with your inclinations, not against them. If you know you need accountability to be productive, then create accountability mechanisms for yourself. Study regularly with a partner or group or share your goals with someone willing to check on your progress. Once you’re in your concentration zone, put away your phone. Have note-taking materials on hand. Basically, work hard and play hard. When you focus deeply on studying, you create more time for the rest of your life.
To read effectively, read outside-in
In the past, you’ve probably read books the usual way, from beginning to end. To read effectively, start with outside perspectives and work your way into the book. Many graduate students do some version of this to manage heavy reading loads. Read a book review, then the book’s introduction and conclusion, then observe the book’s structure. This approach ensures you grasp the context and thesis before you try to process evidence. Use your remaining time to speed read the rest of the book, starting with what’s most important to you. Prioritize. In a time-constrained environment—for example, reality—learn the most important things first. Decide how long you have and set a timer. Let’s say one hour for reading. Once it goes off, budget another ten minutes to get your notes in order.
You can find books reviews through repositories like JSTOR, accessible through your school’s library. In just a few pages, they give a concise summary, place the book in the context of other scholarship, and offer a professional opinion on the author’s contribution. Think academic cliff notes. Alternately, you can usually find the publisher’s abstract (and frequently a preview of the book itself) through Google Books. Once you start reading, consider yourself in conversation with the book’s author and the reviewer. What did they conclude? Where do you agree or differ?
Now it’s time to start reading…
Remember, outside-in. Start with the introduction and conclusion. That might be the opening and closing chapters for a book, or the first and last paragraphs of an article. Pause to identify the thesis (that is, the author’s argument and its significance). Make a note of your response. Next, read the signposts. These are things that tell you about the structure and how the author will unfold their argument. They include tables of contents, subheadings, figures, and maps. By this point, you can say a lot about the reading!
You might try filling in these blanks: “The author argues that _____. The argument’s significance is _____. The author uses _____ for evidence. The context is _____. Critics assess that _____. It connects to other things I’ve read because _____. I still need to figure out _____.”
Speed-read with your remaining time, starting with what’s crucial to you. When your timer goes off, stop. There are plenty of web articles and YouTube videos about speed reading, but here are a few basic concepts. Use a pacer (your finger, the end of a pencil, an index card) to keep your eyes focused on the line you’re reading—no wandering ahead, losing your place, or reading the same line over and over. Read faster than you think you can. Try chewing gum or putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, which stops you from mouthing the words (a common habit that slows you down). Try to read a phrase or a sentence at a time, rather than dwelling on each word.
Then, get your notes in order…
Take very selective notes. Taking notes requires you to make choices, and choosing everything is akin to choosing nothing. Some people like to use one index card per reading. Others use one big word document. I like mind-mapping. Whatever you choose, do it systematically. Use the same structure for each reading—try adapting the above fill-in-the-blanks paragraph. Let some time pass before you review your notes. Consult them before class. You learn by considering new knowledge from lots of perspectives. You’ve already considered a reviewer’s perspective, the author’s, and your own. When you review your notes, you add another. Every layer deepens your understanding and increases the chance you will remember and use what you read.
Write well
A common refrain among officers at CGSC and graduate programs is “I haven’t written a paper since college.” Frankly, even if you come to CGSC after graduate school, you may not have received any formal education on how to write. Reading things that are well-written helps. Reading writing manuals does too. The classic is Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. My favorite is Eric Hayot’s The Elements of Academic Style. I didn’t read it until I was years into working on my dissertation, and it filled me with rage. Where had it been all my life? Why hadn’t anyone explained this to me before? Hayot argues (and many scholars who write about writing agree) that if you can draft a great paragraph, you can write well at any scale. Fundamentally, a good paragraph takes the reader from a promise made to a promise delivered.
Elements of Academic Style
Hayot maps out how you can do this. I will summarize his approach but reading the book yourself would be better. On pages 59-63, he offers five types of sentences that become the building blocks of a paragraph. He labels each sentence as a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. A Type-1 sentence is the most specific, and a Type-5 the most general.
1 is raw information, such as a piece of evidence. 2 describes and summarizes. 3 offers a conceptual summary that pulls together pieces of evidence. 4 pulls together ideas. 5 is abstract and general, a solution or strong conclusion.
In Hayot’s paragraph, which he calls an “Uneven-U,” we start with a 4, work down to a 1, the direct evidence, and work up to a 5. The U, which goes 4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5, isn’t symmetrical. It ends on a higher note than it started, hence the unevenness. That might feel a little confusing, but the basic point is simpler. Your writing should advance the paragraph’s claim so that it’s strongest at the end.
You can adapt this idea, perhaps by combining some of these sentence types to write a shorter paragraph. This concept also helps you review your writing. Weak writers often rely on Type-2 sentences (description). Do you use a variety of sentence types? Do you use them in a deliberate order that advances your argument?
Make your writing look professional
A variety of useful programs, many of them free, polish your writing. Grammarly has a free add-on for Microsoft Word and other word processors. It’s not perfect, but it’s easy to use and helpful (caveat, certain instructors at CGSC require you to cite Grammarly). Many editors suggest reading what you’ve written out loud—simple, and surprisingly effective. When you read your work out loud, you instantly hear the awkward passages, the misplaced words, and the weak points in your argument. Finally, have people read your drafts. Find a peer to exchange work with, or form a writing group.
You need not suffer through hours spent formatting citations by hand. Try a citation manager to produce your footnotes and endnotes. Zotero (free) and EndNote (paid) are popular options. I use Zotero and have the add-on installed on Chrome. If you look up a book or pull up an article you want to reference later, you can right-click and choose the save to Zotero option. The reference pops up in your Zotero library, and voila, you can cite it or navigate back whenever you like. You can even store your notes within the citation. And you can generate a bibliography at, literally, the click of a button.
It is a magnificent thing. It may take a little time to set up, but there are plenty of how-to articles and YouTube tutorials to get started. You can get an answer to most Zotero-related questions with a quick internet search. If you’re planning to write a thesis or another long project, you might consider Scrivener (paid) to organize your materials.
A brief note on planning
Detailed discussions on scheduling and calendars are beyond this article’s purpose, but here’s one easy-to-implement suggestion. Try a Sunday meeting. Simply put, this involves spending half an hour planning your work for the upcoming week. Thirty minutes well spent.
Many of these tips allow you to gain back time. More importantly, they help you get real value out of your coursework. You want to minimize time and maximize understanding. Education is an opportunity, but it’s not an opportunity you’re given. It is an opportunity you make for yourself. Figure out what you need to learn and what you’re passionate about. Pursue those things.
Never choose a topic because it seems easy. Find something that matters to you within the bounds of the assignment. In my experience, this is always possible. Grades matter in certain practical ways, but they are poor goals. Aim higher. Seek learning. The people at your next assignment won’t care about your report card. They’ll care whether you can use your education to help the unit. Become a well-informed person who considers competing opinions, conducts research, and solves problems. Produce more rigorous plans and orders. Be a leader capable of operating in a complex environment. Show up to class with the tools—reading and writing well—that will help you learn as much as possible.
Good luck out there!
Maj. Justine Meberg is a student at the Command and General Staff College. She is a Military Intelligence officer. She deployed to Iraq as a Platoon Leader. Later, she served as a Company XO, Squadron S4, Division Artillery Assistant S2, and Battalion S2. She commanded two companies, first a MICO and then a BEB HHC. Before CGSC, she taught history at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She holds a Ph.D. in US History from Columbia University.
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