Consider if you are reading a novel, a play, an expository work. It may sound simple, but it is not. For example, is Gone with the Wind a romance or history of the south?

Any book that consists mainly of opinions, theories or speculations conveys knowledge and is an expository work. It is also important to know in which way a book is instructive. For example, a book on physics does not deal with a problem the same way as a book on morals.

The best way to do this is with inspectional reading.

Every book has a structure that should be understood. There is a difference between a pile of bricks and a single house. A book is like a single house. It is made up of different rooms, sizes, shapes, outlooks, uses. Each major part has an amount of independence.

A ...