Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime [Paperback]

William Howard Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 156792025X | ISBN-13: 978-1567920253 | Publication Date: July 16, 2010 | Edition: 2

This is the best guide ever published on how to acquire and maintain good study skills. It covers everything from developing a vocabulary to improving the quality of written work, and has chapters on studying math, science, and languages; taking tests; and using libraries. If anyone you know is college-bound, buy this book: it will prove a lifesaver and a godsend.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This uncompromising title foreshadows the clarity and honesty contained within . . . The student who reads [this] carefully will be prepared not merely for success in school, but for something far more important: a life of self-fulfillment. David R. Godine is to be praised for bringing this remarkable book before the public in a new edition. --John R. Silber, President, Boston University

He speaks truthfully about the discipline required for learning, and about the pleasures of order and system in acquiring knowledge. Any reader, of any age, will enjoy this book. --Jill Ker Conway, Author and Former President, Smith College

There is much to admire in this wonderfully commonsensical book. The optimistic, and realistic, assumption that learning is accessible to the ambitious, that one can learn how to learn, underlies a kind of democratic scholasticism. Mr. Armstrong knows that the bright futures belong to students who make the effort. The modest effort required to read this practical little book should be handsomely repaid, in school and in life. --Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Director of Admissions, Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges

He speaks truthfully about the discipline required for learning, and about the pleasures of order and system in acquiring knowledge. Any reader, of any age, will enjoy this book. --Jill Ker Conway, Author and Former President, Smith College

There is much to admire in this wonderfully commonsensical book. The optimistic, and realistic, assumption that learning is accessible to the ambitious, that one can learn how to learn, underlies a kind of democratic scholasticism. Mr. Armstrong knows that the bright futures belong to students who make the effort. The modest effort required to read this practical little book should be handsomely repaid, in school and in life. --Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Director of Admissions, Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine; 2 edition (July 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156792025X
• ISBN-13: 978-1567920253
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book from a great teacher, May 28, 1998

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W. Pickard (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime (Paperback)

I was sent away to Kent School in Connecticut in the 8th grade in 1962 because I was getting into too much trouble at home. I was a smart but poorly schooled student dumped "cold turkey" into a very challenging academic environment.

My first class at Kent was W.H. Armstrong's class on Study Skills (first part of first term) and Ancient History. He wrote both of the texts we used that year, and I can testify that this book - and Armstrong as a teacher - saved me. I went on to become an honor student and have lived a pretty good life based on skills I learned from him.

Readers of his book will not have the benefit of daily contact with the author - but if you read the book and follow the process - there is no question that you will become a better student.

Armstrong was a tough task master and an inspiring teacher. He would not tolerate sloppiness. He checked our "plan books" frequently to make sure we were writing down assignments. He made us memorize poems and other material. He taught us to outline, and to read effectively.

He made even this kind of dry material come alive. He would do chin-ups in the doorway of his classroom while he was lecturing on how to take notes effectively, or the Mesopotamians, or the water systems of ancient Egypt, or the value of sheep manure in his garden. His voice never strained, and we all sat there transfixed.

He was - and still is - a fascinating individual. He knows how to plan and organize, and how to teach others to do it too. He walks his talk, and uses examples from his own life in the book to prove his points. (He knows how many hours it takes to build a house because he built his own by hand from field stone he collected out of his sheep pastures.)

He was the best teacher our class had in 5 years at the school, and we dedicated our yearbook to him in 1967 when we graduated.

Having him as a teacher was great - but the lessons are all in the book. I bought it again for my 10 year old to prepare him for the mo! ve from Elementary to Middle School, and I am giving it to him in small doses.

If you read the book and internalize it, you or your child will become a better student.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Before the Gates of Excellence the High Gods Have Placed, July 5, 2004

By 

Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime (Paperback)

Sweat ... ."

This passage from the Greek Poet Hesiod (which concludes: Long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning) is the core message of this book. It is also the passage that was posted on William H. Armstrong's classroom wall for over 30 years. This book and the work ethic instilled by Mr. Armstrong in his classroom did change my life to a very good degree. It took longer for the lessons imparted here to sink in on me than on others but they were there when I needed them once I got to college.

Study is Hard Work, as its title suggests, pulls no punches. It is direct and to the point. Excellence is not easy. It takes work and organization. Mix well and repeat! Mr. Armstrong sets out a number of excellent suggestions which, when read, cause you to smack your head and say - "how obvious". Obvious yes, but overlooked or forgotten until seen in print in simple declarative sentences. The fact that study is hard work is an important lesson for children, particularly bright children, to learn as they move from elementary to middle school and then on to high school and college. Ones ability to thrive on sheer native intelligence alone gets more difficult each step of the way. This book serves as preparation for the increased level of sheer work that is involved in maintaining that level of excellence. It is similar to a dentist advising you "this may hurt a bit". Foreknowledge is a valuable tool.

As has been noted, Mr. Armstrong's approach may seem a bit blunt in today's environment. That fact alone seems a compelling reason to read the book. The fact that the suggestions noted in the book may seem a bit dated provides those children who can absorb these lessons with a valuable competitive edge in our increasingly competitive school and work environment.

I have recently purchased this book along with a teacher's lesson plan book,another organizational tool used by Mr. Armstrong, for my daughter. It is a book worth buying. It is a book worth going over with your children even if, as with the dentist, it hurts a bit.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's been around for a while, but it's advice is timeless..., April 2, 2003

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A. Flanders "in8consumr" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime (Paperback)

William Armstrong's small work is a great way for all life-long students to understand what it takes to streamline techniques for higher learning. Although many might fault the book for it's brevity and say that the author doesn't go into enough detail, I felt the author's advice was very pertinent, and very self-explanatory. His 50 year experience in teaching shines through with a gently guiding hand, placing the responsibility in the hands of each student. There are no tricks that are presented here, as indicated by the very name of the work. So, whether you're looking for ways to succeed in that upcoming course that's supposed to be tough or just trying to brush up on ways to maximize your efforts in a lifetime of learning, you're definitely on the right track, by reading this one.
One other thing to keep in mind, because the author wrote this work so long ago, it provides a great baseline in it's fundamental principles. I would also suggest Adam Robinson's "What Smart Students Know" to supplement the principles introduced in "Studying is Hard Work". Robinson's work has some more methodology and covers some more modern principles like memorization and the use of "hooks". Good luck in your learning!