When a passage is hard, skip the summary. Keep the question on the point you have not said yet.
About this passage: don't explain yet. Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer. If I'm stuck, give a hint, not the answer.
I restated this passage in my own words. Point only to the sentence that does not match the text, then ask me one question that fills that gap.
Don't summarize. Ask me which of two meanings this word could have in this passage, and wait until I choose.
Why this helps
One question at a time leaves room for you to answer first. Trying to recall beats rereading for longer-term memory (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x). That study compared a test with rereading. It is not a claim about any reading app.
Use it in EasyReadAI
Highlight one passage and ask beside that line. You can also customize the prompt: open Settings → Reply style, paste it in, and later questions follow it. One highlight at a time.
See Ask AI. To export a chapter for ChatGPT or Claude, use EPUB to text.
Where this came from
Rewritten from the Socratic prompts shared by Vertech Academy and aitoolsguidebook. The second and third prompts were written for this page.
More prompts: the collection.
Common questions
Why not let the AI explain first?
Hearing your own account shows which sentence you already have and which one is missing. When you stall, a hint is enough. Skip the full answer.
How do I use this in EasyReadAI?
Highlight one passage and ask, or paste the prompt into Settings, then Reply style. One highlight at a time.