~mqb

incremental reading

june 2021

The idea of incremental reading is attributed to Piotr Wozniak's SuperMemo software. The basic idea is to break down a text into desired poritions and have software assist in prompting a portion similar to a flashcard in spaced repetitation to improve active recall.

A attempt with ~mqb/cloze is following a similar pattern but using a Markdown-like syntax and converting to HTML tags.

Using :: to identify a cloze block and : for specific terms as in the following example:

::In :1957:, the :Soviet Union: launched the world’s first artificial
satellite, the :Sputnik 1:.:: ::The satellite was the size of a :basketball:
and weighed approximately :180: pounds.:: It traveled at 18,000 mph, 500 miles
above the Earth's surface. ::It orbited the Earth every :98 minutes:, flying
over the :United States: :seven: times a day.:: Sputnik II was launched on Nov.
3, 1957, carrying the first living thing into space: a dog named Laika.

Then by using ~mqb/cloze the generated output in HTML:

<div data-cloze>In <div data-cloze-term="01">1957</div>, the <div
data-cloze-term="03">Soviet Union</div> launched the world’s first artificial
satellite, the <div data-cloze-term="05">Sputnik 1</div>.</div> <div
data-cloze>The satellite was the size of a <div
data-cloze-term="11">basketball</div> and weighed approximately <div
data-cloze-term="13">180</div> pounds.</div> <div data-cloze>It orbited the
Earth every <div data-cloze-term="21">98 minutes</div>, flying over the United
States <div data-cloze-term="25">seven</div> times a day.</div>

This can then be realized as in the following use case:

In
1957
, the
Soviet Union
launched the world’s first artificial satellite, the
Sputnik 1
.
The satellite was the size of a
basketball
and weighed approximately
180
pounds.
It orbited the Earth every
98 minutes
, flying over the United States
seven
times a day.