# The Art of Asking Essential Questions  ## Metadata - Author: [[Linda Elder and Richard Paul]] - Full Title: The Art of Asking Essential Questions - Category: #books ## Highlights - Put another way, intellectually responsible persons recognize when a question calls for good reasoning (from multiple points of view), and they behave in accordance with that responsibility. This means that they realize when there is more than one reasonable way to answer a question. ([Location 282](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=282)) - Here are some of the questions critical readers ask while reading: ■ Why am I reading this? What is my purpose? What do I want to gain? ■ What is the author’s purpose? What can I learn about the author’s point of view by care fully reading the title as well as the preface, introduction, and table of contents? ■ From paragraph to paragraph, can I summarize what the author is saying in my own words? What questions do I have? ■ Is there some part of this sentence or paragraph that I don’t understand? What part am I unsure of? What part am I clear about? ■ If I do not understand something, is the author vague or is there a problem with my reading? ■ What questions do I have? How important is it for me to get these questions answered before reading further? ■ Do I understand the meaning of key terms, or do I need to look them up in a dictionary? ■ Is the author using key words in standard or extraordinary ways? ■ Are the facts presented credible, or should I question them? ■ What are the most significant ideas in this text? ■ How is what I am reading relevant to me? How can I connect it to what matters or will matter in my life? ■ What is the nature of the question at issue in the text? Do I clearly understand the complexities in it? ■ Do I need to investigate the issue further in some other text before moving forward in this one? ([Location 675](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=675)) - Questioning the Fundamental Logic of Academic Disciplines ([Location 853](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=853)) - Questioning Ourselves as Learners Questioning ourselves as learners is essential to deep learning. Internalize the following questions, and routinely ask them of yourself. ([Location 1007](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=1007)) - Conformity of thought and behavior is the rule in human life;independence and non-conformity, the rare exception. Sociocentric thinking, as we intend this expression, is egocentric thinking raised to the level of the group. It is as destructive as egocentric thinking, if not more so, as it carries with it the sanction of a social group. ([Location 1100](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=1100)) - Five Ways to Generate Questions that Lead to Disciplined Thinking ([Location 1203](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07SJXPK4R&location=1203))