[The following is a condensed version of my article by the same name published in The Consortium Journal, vol. 4, no. 2 (December, 2025).]

Learning depends upon memory. As Hugh of Saint Victor observes: “Aptitude gathers wisdom, memory preserves it.”[1] However, man’s memory “is dull and likes brevity,” and thus it is best “to gather brief and dependable abstracts” that may be easily remembered, contemplated, and applied as needed.[2] Literary short forms, such as maxims and aphorisms, are both memorable and encapsulate key concepts and principles, thereby greatly aiding the learning process. The strategic use of short forms during the reading process can significantly enhance learning by making it more engaging and memorable. This may be referred to as the art of maximizing memory through literary short forms.

Short Forms and Memory

Two characteristics that make short forms memorable are their conciseness and rhetorical devices.[3] On conciseness, Francis Bacon spoke of the aphorism as containing “the greatest quantity of thought in the smallest space.”[4] They are memorable forms that encapsulate details of most interest.[5] This ability of short forms to communicate much in as few words as possible is the essential characteristic that makes them memorable and apt for a learning environment.

The idea of remembering the essentials, and then building upon its foundation, has been referred to as extraction and elaboration. Extraction is the process of discerning or taking note of “key ideas” or “underlying principles or rules” and then organizing them into a “mental model,” or a “mental representation of some external reality,” whether that be a physical task or body of knowledge.[6] Ben Grant, in The Aphorism and Other Short Forms, refers to this as concision, which involves using “the fewest possible words” to get at what is essential.[7] Elaboration is “the process of finding additional layers of meaning in new material.”[8] Another way of thinking about elaboration is successively building upon the essential or fundamental point, thereby relating the complex to the primordial.[9] Or, still more pointedly, thoughts becoming “the starting-point of new thoughts.”[10] Grant refers to this as intensity—the packing of many meanings—which is related to the brevity of a literary short form, like a seed or gem.[11]

So far, this art of maximizing memory through literary short forms may sound more suited to non-fiction than fiction. Short forms certainly are more prominent in philosophical or scientific works than the novel. One way short forms can be utilized in relation to fiction is by capturing the moral of the story or a lesson learned from a chapter.

Short Forms in the Classroom

Hugh of Saint Victor notes that “Reading consists of forming our minds upon rules and precepts taken from books,” and rules and precepts are essentially synonymous with maxims. He then speaks of reading as of three types: the teacher reads to the students, the learner reads under the guidance of the teacher, and the independent learner simply reads.[12] The point here is that the art of maximizing memory through literary short forms is to be performed by both teacher and learner.

The teacher should incorporate short forms in lectures, providing captivating, principled, and quotable material for students to latch onto as memorable cues for more expansive thought. This is consonant with the instruction by Quintilian, who spoke of sententia—what Grant defines as “a brief and striking saying, and the nearest equivalent in Latin to ‘aphorism’”[13]—as a device that delivers a striking thought at the end of paragraphs.[14] Sertillanges, who writes like a teacher instructing his students in The Intellectual Life, frequently uses maxims, which consolidate his thought and beckons the mind to contemplation. Perhaps this is because he recognized the 20^th century in which he wrote to be “in danger for lack of life-giving maxims.”[15] By following in the footsteps of these sage guides of antiquity and modernity, teachers can make learning and instruction more impactful and memorable in the college classroom.

An excess of notes is to be avoided, as they become overwhelming and unusable, yielding little to no return.[16] The student should therefore keep a record of principled thoughts from their readings, thereby creating a reservoir of essential knowledge on various topics in the various subjects, creating a web of relations that synthesizes knowledge. This makes the commonplace book the perfect apparatus for keeping a record of short forms that can be turned to repeatedly for review and reflection. So close are commonplace books associated with learning, that they have been referred to as a second brain and “an extension of memory.”[17] Montaigne referred to it as “paper memory.”[18]

Using extraction and elaboration to summarize book chapters can serve as both a notetaking practice and a writing assignment. For example, using extraction, the content of Book 1 of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy might be captured with the following maxim: Wisdom is nurse to the suffering soul. This encapsulates the medicine (wisdom) that Lady Philosophy gives Boethius to heal his ailment (clouded mind caused by misfortune). The student would then provide a brief elaboration of the maxim as it pertains to the chapter. The brevity, rhythm, metaphor, and alliteration of the maxim make it memorable. With this so-called peg, the student is equipped to hang items from the chapter, establishing improved recall.

Similarly, novels can be summarized using this method. It may be helpful, and even add to the memorable quality of a maxim or aphorism, by arriving at it through a six-word story. For example, a six-word story of Chapter 1 in The Fellowship of the Ring might go as follows: Bilbo goes. Ring stays. Shadow gathers. The rhythmic 2-2-2 pattern is memorable[19] and captures key elements of the chapter, which can then be elaborated upon. This could then be turned into an aphorism: A burden abandoned today burdens another tomorrow. This communicates the burden of the ring being passed from Bilbo to Frodo. This creative exercise strengthens the memory in the learning process.

Conclusion

The art of maximizing memory through literary short forms is a longstanding tradition from the ancients to the Renaissance and beyond. This art involves noting and using key ideas, principles, and rules from books to better facilitate learning by improving the memory. Both the brevity of and rhetorical devices used in short forms aid in memorization. These short forms work as intellectual cues, enabling students to recall the broader body of knowledge that they serve to encapsulate. This art form is perhaps best captured in the keeping of a commonplace book, which is an important feature of classical learning. And so, in closing, a maxim seems most fitting: In your reading, mind the short forms, for they will maximize your memory.

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[1] Hugh of Saint Victor, The Didascalicon: A Medieval Guide to the Arts, trans. Jerome Taylor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991), 91.

[2] Ibid., 94.

[3] Frank J. D’Angelo, “Some Uses of Proverbs,” College Composition and Communication 28, no. 4 (1977): 366.

[4] Quoted in Geary, The World in a Phrase, 18.

[5] Grant, The Aphorism and Other Short Forms, 5.

[6] Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014), ProQuest Ebook Central, 6, 133, 153, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=3301452.

[7] Grant, The Aphorism and Other Short Forms, 38.

[8] Brown et al., Make It Stick, 207.

[9] Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life, 178.

[10] Ibid., 181.

[11] Grant, The Aphorism and Other Short Forms, 41-42.

[12] Hugh of Saint Victor, The Didascalicon, 91.

[13] Grant, The Aphorism and Other Short Forms, 137.

[14] Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory, trans. John Selby Watson (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015), 426.

[15] Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life, 15.

[16] Ibid., 188.

[17] Ibid., 45.

[18] Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life, 186.

[19] Fishelov, “The Poetics of Six-Word Stories,” 35.