How to Take Notes like a Literature PhD | from Commonplace Book to Encyclopedia

Main Ideas and Concepts

• The speaker proposes a personal “encyclopedia” reference system for organizing reading notes.
  • It is more advanced than a commonplace book.
  • It is designed for quick retrieval later.
• The aim is not only to collect quotes, but to help the reader become someone who:
  • Reads and remembers, not just reads and forgets.
  • Builds familiarity with original literature (novels, poems, plays) and with its place in literary history.
• The method was developed while studying for Harvard generals and field oral exams and is presented as working across the humanities (including English literature, history, philosophy, and theology).

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Core Methodology (Step-by-Step)

A) During Reading (Active Note Capture)

Rule 1: Read without putting the book down

• Don’t stop to chase details in the moment (including footnotes).
• Keep attention focused as long as possible to strengthen concentration and reduce distraction.

Read with a pencil in hand

• Underline/mark passages while reading, but do not copy them out yet.

Rule 2: Annotate as you go

Underline/box three distinct types of information:

1. Dates

   • When you encounter a date, box it.
   • Underline the important associated event.

2. Interesting quotations

   • Underline passages that stand out.
   • Copy them later.

3. Interesting facts about the author

   • Record notable author information discovered in the text.
   • Organize it later.

Make a quick index during reading

• On the blank flap/back of the book, write down:
  • the topic/interest
  • the page number
• The speaker credits a similar strategy to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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B) After Reading (Transfer into the Encyclopedia)

• Don’t wait until everything is finished; instead, plan to log entries after each book.
• The speaker argues that copying later helps preserve the book’s argumentative/narrative arc, but it also requires going back and flipping to retrieve underlined passages.

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C) The Encyclopedia Structure: Three Parts

The system is a personal encyclopedia organized into three main components:

1. Timeline Section (organized by dates)

• Input: boxed dates from reading.
• Storage: entries logged into a double-column encyclopedia file (example shown as a Google Drive document).
• Method:
  • Create separate files by century (the speaker began after realizing they lacked sufficient 17th-century knowledge).
  • Build the skeleton timeline first by copying a skeletal structure from Oxford histories of English literature.
  • While reading biographies, history, books, and literary works, fill in:
    • what was published
    • major events
    • notable actions/biographical milestones for figures connected to those dates
• Purpose/benefit:
  • Shows literature and history as a continuous flow, not disconnected thematic blocks.
  • Highlights overlaps between authors and eras that are often overlooked (e.g., multiple authors alive/publishing in the same years).

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2. Topical Section (organized by themes/topics)

• Input: topics noticed in books + quotations supporting those topics.
• Method:
  • During reading, record interests/mentions in the back-flap index with page numbers.
  • After finishing the book, type the underlying passages into the topical encyclopedia.
  • Optionally maintain:
    • a shorthand/abbreviation system
    • a list of attributions (the speaker stopped using abbreviations and instead keeps attributions with quotations)
• Organization style:
  • Entries are alphabetized by topic/keyword (example: “Addison,” then “Genius,” “Style,” etc.).
  • The speaker often logs:
    • definitions (e.g., for “genius”)
    • key ideas about style, criticism, rhetoric, and related areas
• Purpose/benefit:
  • Makes it easier to find what you learned later about specific concepts.
  • Helps connect quotations and ideas across many texts.
  • Can begin chaotic, but should be kept more orderly than the speaker’s earlier version.

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3. Author Section (organized by authors, mainly chronologically)

• Input: biographical facts and statements about/within authors’ works.
• Organization:
  • Unlike the topical section, this is organized chronologically (not alphabetically).
  • The speaker creates:
    • author-level entries (life/work facts)
    • work-specific headings when information concerns a particular work
• Purpose/benefit:
  • Builds a network connecting authors, their works, critics’ perspectives, and historical/political circumstances.
  • Reinforces the principle that new knowledge sticks best when it is connected to what you already know.

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D) Review and Retrieval

• Re-read or refresh periodically
  • The speaker sometimes prints the encyclopedia (e.g., spiralbound) and re-reads it at the end of the year.
  • Rereading is framed as keeping the paths of memory fresh, even if it’s not “sensational” reading.

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E) Key Philosophy / Principle Behind the Method

• Literature is described as one long conversation across centuries.
• To understand authors, you must track:
  • what they say
  • what they respond to
  • what they say about other authors
• Therefore, notes must be organized so you can retrace connections over time.

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Speakers / Sources Featured (Named)

Speaker

• Unspecified speaker (the PhD candidate / Harvard exam prep) — primary narrator throughout.

Quoted or Credited Sources (authors / critics / historical figures)

• Samuel Johnson
  • quoted on reading footnotes
  • quoted on Joseph Addison
  • referenced via commentary including an “essay on the life of Pope”
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • credited for the reading/index strategy
• John Milton
• Francis Bacon
• Lancelot Andrewes
• Arthur Hildersam
• John and Thomas Hooker
• George Herbert
• John Dunn
• Thomas Adams
• Robert Southey (e.g., “Shakespeare of the Puritans”)
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Charles Lamb
• Isaac Ambrose
• William Shakespeare
• W. B. Yeats
• T. S. Eliot
• Walt Whitman
• Ezra Pound
• Emily Dickinson
• Jane Austen (e.g., Pride and Prejudice)
• Lord Byron (1813 example)
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (1813 example; “Queen M.” referenced)
• Robert Southey (poet laureate referenced)
• Additional overlap references:
  • Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound
  • Ezra Pound, W. B. Yeats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, T. S. Eliot, Walt Whitman

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Sources Used for System Examples / Quotations (Topical / Author Sections)

• Joseph Addison (topic example; Samuel Johnson’s assessment used)
• The Spectator (Addison cataloging by essay and number referenced)
• James Boswell (style quotations referenced)
• Henry Taylor (style quotations referenced)
• Aristotle (style quotations referenced)
• Jonathan Swift (style quotations referenced)
• Arthur Quiller-Couch (style/writing quotations referenced)
• Matthew Arnold (genius/criticism referenced)
• Sir Joshua Reynolds (genius referenced)
• Hugh Blair (rhetoric/style periodic quotation referenced)
• Milton’s and Dryden’s works (referenced in context as author-section examples)
• Gorgias of Leontini
• Plato
• Arthur Golding (translator of Ovid’s Metamorphoses)
• Ovid (Metamorphoses)
• Jeremy Taylor (Holy Living and Holy Dying; Caroline divine reference)
• Walter Jackson Bate (attribution referenced for commentary on Dryden)
• King James? (not clearly named; excluded)

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Reference Template Source

• Oxford histories of English literature (used as the timeline skeleton/template)