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What If I Wanted To Memorize A Chapter In A

Textbook So I Could Ace A Test On That Subject?
Last Updated September 29, 2016 By Anthony Metivier

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Heres agreat question about how to memorize textbooks I received from a Magnetic Memory
Method fan:

What if I wanted to memorize a chapter in a textbook so I could ace a test on that subject?
That would be cool, wouldnt it?
Good news: Its 100% possible.

No Joke
When I was studying for my doctoral examinations and later for my dissertation defense
(rigorous 2 hr. + grilling sessions in front of a committee of 4-7 accomplished professors), I read
a total of over 500 books and articles.

Im not kidding. I almost broke my back at the

library on several occasions!

Heres exactly how I used to operate and still do when Im conducting research or just want to
memorize the contents of a book using memory techniques. Its an ongoing memory
improvement project to continue learning from textbooks and it all begins with this important
step every time:

Leave Your Fear At The Door:

These Details Will Show You How To Memorize
Textbooks

Unfortunately, a lot of people get hung up on the details when learning how to memorize
textbooks.
For good reason:
There are some operational factors in what Im about to describe that might not seem to involve
memorization.

Trust me:Each step is essential as you learn how to memorize textbooks. If it werent, I wouldnt
have included it.
Before I take any of the steps that Im about to describe, I always begin with a carefully defined
Memory Palace. As I talk about in all of my trainings, I always make sure that each Memory
Palace involves a location that Im intimately familiar with.
If youre having a hard time finding good Memory Palaces, check out the MMM Podcast episode:
How to Find Memory Palaces. It will help.
Plus, make sure that you have the free Memory Improvement Kitso you can use the worksheets
and videos as a guide.

Create Limited Set Memory Palaces Based On The

Textbooks
You Want To Memorize

I always chart out between 4-10 stations within each room of that Memory Palace. In the past, I
usually made more (like 50 or so, often with between 30-50stations within a single room). These

days, Im more focused on small sets of information because I find that leads to more
meaningful quantity over time with my current Mandarin Chinese learning project.

Create The Right Mindset

This is important:
Decide to work with the correct mental attitude. For example, when sitting with a textbook or
journal article, I need to have the attitude that I willwalk awaywith the most essential
information firmly magnetizedinto my mind.
You should do this too.

Then Chillax

Seriously.
Take a moment to relax.
I recommend that youadopt a traditional meditation pose on the floor, or lay down for awhile
and do some progressive relaxation. Either way, I spend time practicing a bit of pendulum
breathing and maybe even the Human Charger.
With those operating procedures covered regardinghow to memorize textbooks,lets get into
further detail.

1. Look At The Book And Read The Conclusion First

When approaching a new book, carefully examine the front cover and the back cover.

Next,read:
the colophon page
the table of contents
the introduction
the conclusion
Finally, scan through the index (if available).
The scholar Gerrard Genette calls these parts of a book the paratext, (the text beside the text).
This step takes about five minutes and effectively trains your brain to understand the scope and
dimension of the book with respect to its topic.
Why read the conclusion first? Part of the reason is to judge whether or not the authors
conclusion about his or her own subject was profound enough to warrant reading all of the steps
needed to arrive at it. The introduction and conclusion also give clues regarding which chapters
of the book might be the most important to focus on.

2. Manage Index Card Mania

Its important to decide how much information you want to take away from a textbook in
advance. That way, you dont overwhelm yourself.
And you can start in a structure manner. Like this:
Take out an index card and write down the name of the author, the title of the book and all of the
bibliographic information.
Number this card 1 in the top left corner. Before starting with a book, I tend to decide in
advance exactly how many pieces of information I want to retain from it. This is the principle of
predetermination that I discuss throughout the Magnetic Memory Method training. Often, I
default to three facts or details per chapter, but always keep enough index cards on hand in case
I want more.
The reason for deciding these matters in advance is because
a) failing to plan is generally planning to fail (especially when it comes to structured reading), and

b) predetermination prevents overwhelm.

Remember:
Less is more. When you use the Magnetic Memory Method for something like foreign language
learning or studying, youll find that by focusing on just a few key points, a lot of the surrounding
information will automatically stick to the memorized material.
Try it. It just happens.

3. Get Started

The beauty of having operating principles is that you never sit around wondering how to get
started. You just dive in.
So after readingthe introduction and conclusion, you should nowhave in mind which chapters
you want to read first. Just get started with one of them.
If youre having decision anxiety, just go in the order they appear in the book from beginning to
end. Dont let thinking get in the way of forward progress.

4.Think In Threes

Heres the deal:

At this point, you know that there are three pieces of information youregoing to walk with away
from eachchapter. Youvegot yourindex cards ready to go and can start gathering the
information.
It doesnt have to be a limit of three. You might want to go for five or ten. The important point is
to pick a structured operating principle and go with it.

5. The Ownership Mindset

Since youvealready adopted the attitude that youregoing to succeed and literally own the key
information in the book, its time to play a game totally unlike otherbrain games I teach. This
game works especially well if the book is boring or completely outside your interest.
Pretend that yourethe talk show host of a program and later that evening and youve got to
interview the author. Millions of people will be watching, so you reallyneed to thebook. And
youneed to read it fast.
What this mindset allows is for you to ask questions while yourereading. Youllget really
curious, and instead of reading passively, youllactively engage with the writing.
Also, ask else questions. This means that instead of stopping after a round of:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
You add else to each one:
Who else?
What else?
Whereelse?
Whenelse?
Whyelse?
Howelse?
This technique will help you create new knowledge as you learn.
Try it. Youll love it.

6. Categorize Every Gem

(Studying Is A Numbers Game)

When y0u come across a gem of a detail, write it down on the index card. Write down the page
number where youfound the information on the bottom right corner.
Do this regardless of whether or not youvejotted down a quote. Should you ever need to find
that information again, youll know where to go. If you have any secondary ideas, use the back of
the index card to capture them.
At this point, dont do any kind of memorization. Yourefamiliarizing yourself, learning,
connecting the details with information you already know and gathering new facts and details.
Thats it.
So lets assume now that youve read a book that has ten chapters and youve got three index
cards for each.
Each card is numbered, meaning thatyounow have 30 index cards. All you need now is to
beprepared with 30 station in 1-3Memory Palaces that youve hopefullyalready assigned to
thebook.

7. Start Memorizing (Magnetically)

Yournext step is to simply start with card #1. Youwant to remember the title of the book and the
name of its author. That information is memorized at station #1.
If you happen to know the title of the book already by heart, then you dont need to use the first
station in this way, but it can still be useful to do so, and heres why:

8. Use The Author As A Visual Element

You can use the author as a lexical bridge or Bridging Figure to move from station to station
as you learn how to memorize textbooks.

See if you can find a picture of the author online. Lets say that you are reading the book

Paratexts, by Gerrard Genette.

Ive Googled him up and Genette looks like this. Gerrard Genette reminds me of Gillette razor
blades, and so I see him shaving in that first room. To remember that its Genette and not

Gillette, I see him shaving away a beard of Ns growing crazily out of his face. For Paratexts, I
could ease either a pear bouncing up and down on a textbook, or a can of Para Paint splashing
over a book there are always options.
Heres another option you can try for finding memorable characters to use as you learn how to
memorize textbooks:

How To Find Mnemonic Imagery For Your Memo...

9. Exaggerate Everything

Now lets say that card #2 says: A text does not exist outside of the text itself.
That sounds pretty obvious, doesnt it?
Maybe, but we dont often think about the fact that until someone comes along and reads a
book, the book essentially doesnt do anything. There are billions of books standing unread on
shelves around the world that only exist when someone is reading them or talking about them.
This is what Genette means when he says that a text does n0t exist outside of the text itself.
Our minds are a kind of text, so when we are reading, two texts are intermingling.

To remember all of this, my second station will feature the book Paratexts itself. I imagine it as
an object inthe Memory Palace Im using.
On that specific station in that specific Memory Palace, words are trying to escape from the
book, and theres poor Genette trying to beat them back in because, according to him, there is no

text outside of the text itself. He needs to get all of that text back in!
As always, the images are big, bright, colorful and filled with exaggerated action.
To get some of the other concepts in Genettes thinking that Ive just described, I might see
Genette giving up the battle, and then opening up a lid in his head, which is also filled with words,
and allowing the words from Paratexts to mingle with the words in his mind.
From there, on to the next index card.
Now that you know how to memorize textbooks, youcan model this process to remember any
point, historical date, or formula in a book!

10. Test Yourself Before The Teacher Does

The final step when learning how to memorize textbooks is to test yourmemorization of the
details, facts and concepts you have memorized from the textbook.
I recommendwriting a summary from yourmind and then checking it against the index cards.
One of my supervisors required me to submit summaries to prove that I was reading the books
on my list, so I got into that habit and have always been grateful for it.
If youre a student, I highly recommend that you take this step now that you know how to
memorize textbooks. It will not only deeply immerse you in your topic area, but it will provide you
with material that youve already written when it comes to composing essays, pieces for
publication and even your dissertation further on down the road if you decide to complete a PhD.
Also, be sure to revisit the information in your mind following a procedure like the Rule of 5 or the
more rigorous Recall Rehearsal procedures of the Magnetic Memory Method. Its by rehearsing
the information into long term memory that you really make it your own.

The best part is that the more you read, the more connections you naturally make, reinforcing
what youve already learned. Now that you know how to memorize textbooks, youre going to be
a Magnetic powerhouse of information!

Learning How To Memorize Textbooks IsFun!

What happened during my doctoral examinations? Instead of being stressful as they are for
nearly everyone else
They were fun!
I had been in a relaxed state while reading and memorizing the material, and complimented this
byspending a bit of time relaxing before attending the exams. I literally threw myself into a state
of self-hypnosis in the corridor outside of the examination rooms.
When I was asked a question, my mind zoomed to where the material was stored in one of my
Memory Palaces. Once I found the information, I was able to talk at length about, whether it was
Gerrard Genettes idea about paratexts or Aristotles philosophy of friendship in The

Nichomeachean Ethics.
In case youre wondering what I did with all those index cards:
I used to wrap them with an elastic band, one per book, and then store them in a shoe box.
Somehow, index cards and shoes boxes were made for one another. But all those index cards
are gone now and so I enjoy having nothing to do but go through the Memory Palaces in my
mind. And thanks to the memory techniques and ongoing memory improvement work I do, that
step is often unnecessary.
But its fun. And Im confident it will be just as much fun for you.
Further Resources
Check out this infographic from How to Memorize A Textbook, a similar episode of the Magnetic
Memory Method Podcast.

Filed Under: Podcast

Comments

Csar. says
December 13, 2014 at 10:51 am

Thank you, just thank you.

Not only for your great work, but for being awesome in the sense of intelligent and practical
with that intelligence. I dont appreciate too much when people use these honorable
techniques to just compete, instead of to what they were thought for: being a wise person
first, and a genius then.
Thank you from Spain and I hope to have you on Facebook.
Reply

Anthony Metivier says

December 13, 2014 at 3:08 pm

Thanks for the kind words, Csar. Id be very glad to meet with you on Facebook. Heres
my address there: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AnthonyMetivier/480537711995886
Talk soon!
Reply

Jake says
June 30, 2015 at 12:39 pm

Greetings!
Ive used this technique for a few books now. Its worked great so far. But I wondered about
the justification for step 6. I tested some and found I preferred to omit step 6 and instead
directly add info to the memory palace while reading.
I am missing out on something by doing this, or is it just preference?
Reply

Anthony Metivier says

June 30, 2015 at 9:46 pm

Thanks for the comment, Jake.

You can skip step six if it doesnt serve you. I always did it at that time for academic
purposes and as an extension of my interest in library sciences.
Its also good exercise and often useful to have memorized the page number associated
with the information. You can also connect it to the chapter and get an on overall
comprehensive understanding of the book as a system. I think youll find it useful if you
keep it in.
But if its not useful, then by all means, it certainly can be excluded from the Magnetic
Memory Method without reducing its overall power.
Reply

Oscar says
February 29, 2016 at 12:06 pm

I am studying for a law exam currently, and I have a question concerning this method.
So the way I understand it is that if I memorize a few key points from each chapter, the
surrounding details will just stick to the memorized material, so am I right in saying that I
need to first memorize the key points, and then start reading the book from cover to
cover, and then the material will immediately stick? Or does it take some time for the
memorized material to consolidate in order for them to become magnetic? Because I
have memorize some key points last week, and just read through the textbook today, and
yet the details didnt seem to stick.
Thank you very much.
Reply

Anthony Metivier says

February 29, 2016 at 4:42 pm

Thanks for this note, Oscar.

With practice, you should find the details consolidating more and more as you
master memorizing and recalling the key points. But the promise here is not that all
the details will immediately stick, but rather that you will experience your mind filling
in the blanks. Again, this is all relative to your experience with using mnemonics. You
also need to consider the integrity of your Memory Palaces in accordance with good
construction principles and how effectively you are using associative-imagery to
decode the target information. This episode of the podcast will help you with
troubleshooting any of these problems.
It also helps if you have a memory friendly diet, a good fitness program and regularly
receive fitful sleep.
Hope this helps and look forward to any further questions or experiences you have.

Reply

Marco Baldassari says

September 29, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Hi Anthony,
If Im reading 3-4 books at the time and dont have sufficient Memory Palaces with me as I
always try to use my house or my path to work, how would I not confuse myself? (I know, I
should make more Memory Palaces right?
Or, can I use the same palace somehow so to memorize more books at once?
Can I use the same Memory Palace for different books and HOW not to confuse the stations
from one book to another? How do I start from Station #1 (TITLE of the book!) and link to
ONLY THAT to the next stations without confusing with same Station #1#2#2 of another
book in the same Memory Palace?
When you have 30 cards, how do you subdivide them with concepts/details?
Thanks and congrats for your Method!!

Reply

Anthony Metivier says

September 29, 2016 at 3:55 pm

Thanks for these GREAT questions, Marco.

First off, yes, always create more Memory Palaces. It is an important chain of events:
create and use, create and use, create and use. In a short period of time youll be a
master.
Yes, you can reuse Memory Palaces, but please be cautious of The Ugly Sister Effect.
That podcast will give you a lot of help in that respect.
The ultimate answer to not confusing stations and memorizing a lot of information and
managing it all is simple: practice. Just dive in and do it. The art of memory is learned by
doing and then experiencing what happens during the process. Thats the path to
mastery without overthinking the process.
As for subdividing 30 cards for concepts and details, ideally, the author of that book will
have already done that for you. If not, then thats the reason why index cards are so
awesome: You can arrange them in any order that you want.
In other words, you dont have to memorize all the points from one book in one Memory

Palace. You could memorize points from multiple books based around a theme. And
because youve gathered the data on index cards, you can shuffle and sort them to
match the stations in a Memory Palace in any way that you wish.
Ive done this as well and it is super powerful. Its also very good for when you want to
memorize things like speeches or just have things in mind in a particular order during
presentations.
Hope this helps and thanks again for your post. I look forward to your next one here on
the Magnetic Memory Method website!
Reply

Glenn says
September 30, 2016 at 12:40 pm

With regard to the idea of memorising a specific chapter in a text book, let us take a step
back or a step forward, if you prefer. What if we could memorize the entire book as per the
subject the great subject of one of Anthonys great videos.
To my mind, the one thing that stands out above all else is the spine as the easiest part of
a book to recall. We see it the most dont we? This is perhaps one good reason for thinking
that even the seemingly least important details should engross our attention when it comes
to utilising our minds and learning memorisational techniques as per Anthonys creation, the
Magnetic Memory Method.
Reply

Anthony Metivier says

September 30, 2016 at 4:18 pm

Thanks for this great post, Glenn. I really appreciate you stopping by to leave this
comment. Youre absolutely right that memorizing the title and the name of the author is
right in front of us as a great memory project and/or exercise.
You remind me of the years I spent working in various libraries. I used to know the Library
Congress and Dewey Decimal systems by heart and can still recall some of the basic
letter and number associations with different topic areas.
At one point, I had my entire book collection alphabetized according to author, which is
also a great exercise that involves memory and being familiar with ones collection.
The only problem is that I donated everything in my library (including a signed copy of
The Name of the Rose!) before returning to Germany to play in The Outside
In any case, I can reconstruct a great deal of my library from memory and have rebuilt
some of it in Kindle. Its not the same, but I am currently working on finding a home and
have a top secret project for collecting a ton of books that I hope to be revealing soon.
What does your personal library look like? Do you have any of it committed to memory?

Reply

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ABOUT ANTHONY METIVIER

Anthony Metivier has taught
as a professor, is the creator
of the acclaimed Magnetic
Memory Method and the
author behind a dozen
bestselling books on the topic
of memory and language
learning. Read More...

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