Study Is Hard Work

The classic guide for the college-bound student on how to acquire and maintain good study skills. Originally published in 1956, but just as useful and relevant today, this book covers everything from developing a vocabulary to taking tests and using libraries.

Acquiring and maintaining good study skills is, as the author says, hard work. But it is also the only way to succeed. William H. Armstrong was himself a teacher (as well as author of the Newbery Medal–winning novel Sounder) and this book comes from his own experience in the classroom. Only a teacher would make the observation, “It is paradoxical that listening is the easiest way to learn but the hardest study skill to master.”

Chapters includes Learning to Listen, The Desire to Learn, Getting More From What You Read, Putting Ideas in Order, Letting Mathematics Serve You, How to Study Science, and Tests and Examinations.

Armstrong wants all students to develop successful habits. As he writes, “The beginning of success is interest. Being interested is the basic obligation that is necessary for success in whatever work you do.” Work is always necessary for success but Amstrong’s guidance and insight will make the work much less hard and much more rewarding.

Praise for Study Is Hard Work

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, Former 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, Director of Admissions, Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges

An indispensable classic; comprehensive, clear, pragmatic. —Ann Quinn, Former Dean of Studies, Deerfield Academy