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How it works Reading skills Why it works Examples

Finish the reading.
See what stuck.

A comprehension coach for high school seniors, college freshmen, and sophomores taking on more complex assigned reading.

See a worked example

No perfect summary required. Start from memory; a focused check takes about six minutes.

After a complex assigned reading
  1. 01
    Close the book and explain it

    Start with what you can recall in your own words.

  2. 02
    Find out what you actually understood

    Get feedback grounded in the source, not a generic summary.

  3. 03
    Work through one weak spot

    Take a focused challenge before the missing connection fades.

  4. 04
    Bring the idea back later

    Review what matters until you can explain and use it.

Built for the jump into college reading

A finished chapter can still hide what did not stick.

01

Reconstruct the argument

Close the reading and explain the main point, support, and relationships in your own words.

02

Locate the breakdown

Compare your explanation with the source and identify the exact comprehension move that needs work.

03

Repair the underlying skill

Practice the missing move, revisit it later, and test whether it holds up in another reading.

Built for high school seniors and first- and second-year college students who can read independently but want stronger command of complex texts.

See what stuck, then strengthen it

Turn an invisible gap into a skill you can repair.

Ember uses closed-book retrieval, source-grounded diagnosis, corrective practice, and delayed review.

01 · Recall

Explain it before you look back.

Your own words reveal what recognition can hide.
02 · Compare

See the strongest thread and the useful gap.

✓Central idea recovered
↗Relationship needs another pass
03 · Challenge

Push the one idea that matters.

How do these two ideas depend on one another?
Take the challenge →
04 · Review

Return before the idea fades.

Previous gapRecovered
Central claimDeveloping
Next review adapts to the weaker result.
05 · Practice

Build the skill behind the gap.

✓You got itCentral claim found
Short exercises improve transferable reading skills.
Before you reread everything

See exactly what stuck and what needs another pass.

A weak answer can come from a missed claim, unsupported inference, unclear relationship, or lost evidence. Ember distinguishes the gap and gives you one focused repair.

  • ✓ Reconstruct the reading before looking back
  • ✓ Trace feedback to evidence in the source
  • ✓ Repair the skill behind the gap
  • ✓ Build evidence that understanding lasted
What’s sticking?

You consistently recover central claims.

Your next opportunity is making the relationship between supporting ideas more explicit.

Central claims · strong
Recommended practice

Show how ideas connect

This pattern appeared in three chapter checks. Try a focused three-minute activity.

Start practice →
Delayed proof

You remembered this two weeks later.

The central argument from your earlier chapter check returned strongly.

14 days ✓
Skill evidence, made visible

See which parts of comprehension are becoming reliable.

Each stone represents a specific reading capability. It becomes more defined only when source-grounded performance holds up across practice, later review, and new readings.

01 · Reliable evidence

Find the main point

Say what the author is really trying to argue.

02 · Developing evidence

Show how ideas connect

Explain whether one idea supports, causes, limits, or changes another.

03 · Not enough evidence

Pick the proof

Choose the examples and reasons that truly support an argument.

04 · Not enough evidence

Explain it clearly

Move from point to reason to example in language you can use later.

05 · Not enough evidence

Check what you really know

Learn when your sense of understanding matches what you can actually explain.

06 · Not enough evidence

Apply ideas with judgment

Test where an argument is useful, where it breaks, and how it should change what you do.

1Observe the skillAssigned readings reveal a recurring gap.
2Repair the gapOne focused question isolates the missing move.
3Gather evidenceLater readings and reviews test whether it transfers.
Before adding another study tool

Useful effort, without another complicated system.

Ember is intentionally selective. It should earn the extra minutes it asks from you.

Do I need to check every chapter?

No. Use Ember for high-value chapters containing ideas you want to remember, explain, or apply.

Does Ember complete the reading or answer homework for me?

No. Ember begins with your own explanation, then helps you compare it with the source and repair the part that needs work.

Is this an AI book-summary tool?

No. You begin with your own recall. Feedback is compared with source material you provide and points back to its evidence.

How much time does a chapter check take?

The target is about six minutes. Daily skill practice takes roughly three minutes, and you can skip or reschedule reviews.

Can I trust the evaluation?

Treat it as directional guidance, not an objective grade. Ember exposes evidence, labels partial sources, and lets you disagree or edit.

For the reading that builds toward what comes next

Do not wait for the exam to find out what stuck.

Explain the reading from memory, inspect the evidence, and strengthen one comprehension skill at a time.

See exactly how it works
Up next

Review queue

Recent

Chapter checks

Skill focus

Find the main point

Practice saying what the author is really trying to argue.

0 of 3 successful days
Delayed proof

Reviews

Start with what is ready now. Everything else is grouped so it can wait.

One skill at a time

Daily practice

One focused question each day. Build reliable skill before moving to the next one.

Today’s skill

Find the main point

Practice saying what the author is really trying to argue.

0 of 3 successful days
3 min
Your sequence

Build one skill at a time

Recommended order
Quick lesson

Topic is not the same as claim

A topic names what a passage is about. A central claim tells you what the author wants you to believe about that topic.

Worked example

Topic: Public transportation

Claim: Cities should prioritize reliable bus service before investing in more expensive transit projects.

Today’s question

What is this passage arguing?

Many workplaces treat fast replies as evidence of commitment. Yet constant responsiveness fragments attention and pushes demanding work into evenings. Teams should establish shared response windows so employees can protect focused time without leaving colleagues uncertain.
How it works

A small learning loop for complex assigned reading.

Use Ember when a chapter asks you to follow an argument, connect evidence, or carry an idea into discussion and coursework.

01

Recall before looking

Close the book and explain the chapter in your own words. This reveals what you can retrieve, not merely recognize.

02

Compare with the source

Ember identifies the strongest part of your explanation and one consequential gap, with evidence from the text you supplied.

03

Take a study challenge

Work through one question aimed at the missing claim, connection, or evidence while the chapter is still fresh.

04

Return without looking

An adaptive review separately tests the previous gap and the chapter’s central claim.

05

Strengthen the underlying skill

If the same gap appears across chapters, daily practice helps build the transferable reading skill behind it.

Designed for targeted repair

The goal is not more study time. It is finding the specific comprehension move that needs work before rereading everything.

Reading skills

Build abilities that transfer across courses and texts.

Ember turns recurring comprehension gaps into a sequenced practice path. Stones visualize evidence that a skill is becoming reliable; they are not prizes for completing activities.

01 · Reliable evidence

Find the main point

Say what the author is really trying to argue.

02 · Developing evidence

Show how ideas connect

Explain whether one idea supports, causes, limits, or changes another.

03 · Not enough evidence

Pick the proof

Choose which examples genuinely support a claim.

04 · Not enough evidence

Explain it clearly

Move clearly from point to reason to example.

05 · Not enough evidence

Check what you really know

Compare how confident you felt with what you could actually explain.

06 · Not enough evidence

Use the idea wisely

Identify where an argument is useful, where it breaks, and what it should change.

One focused questionPractice isolates the comprehension move.
→
Evidence across daysPerformance must hold up over time.
→
Transfer to new readingLater texts test whether the skill is reliable.
See the evidence map

Explore how component skills combine into explanation, evaluation, and transfer.

Open the reading skill map
Why it works

Saving an idea is not the same as learning it.

Ember combines established learning principles in one practical workflow, without pretending every result is an objective grade.

Retrieval practice

Trying to reconstruct an idea strengthens access to it and reveals gaps that rereading can conceal.

Used in chapter recall and delayed review

Spacing

Returning after time has passed provides stronger evidence of durable memory than an immediate repeat.

Used in adaptive review timing

Elaboration

Explaining relationships, reasons, and examples gives an idea more meaningful connections.

Used in study challenges

Checking what you know

Comparing confidence with demonstrated recall helps readers judge their own understanding more accurately.

Used in confidence tracking

Using ideas elsewhere

Practicing the same reading move across new passages shows whether it works beyond one chapter.

Used in daily skill practice
What Ember does not claim

A text comparison cannot perfectly measure understanding. Results are directional, source-dependent, and designed to support the reader’s judgment.

Worked example

A chapter check should feel like a learning artifact.

This example is modeled after a real-style entry: the reader submits source material, recalls what stuck, gets a specific gap, repairs it, and returns later with context.

Book + chapter

The Road to Character

Chapter 1: The Shift

Source signal
The chapter contrasts résumé virtues with eulogy virtues and argues that modern culture overdevelops the self that seeks achievement.
Reader goal
Find out whether the chapter can be explained without looking back.
Recall attempt
The chapter says people often focus on résumé virtues like achievement, status, and success, but the deeper moral qualities that people remember at a funeral matter more. Brooks argues that culture has shifted toward self-promotion and away from humility.
Feedback snapshot

Strong central claim. One missing connection.

The answer recovers the chapter’s main contrast and the cultural shift, but it could say more about why ambition needs to be redirected rather than rejected.

82%Solid recall
What to repair

Connect the idea to judgment.

The response names eulogy virtues, but the practical consequence is still implicit: major decisions should be evaluated by character, not only achievement.

Application response
A practical application from Chapter 1 is to evaluate major decisions through the lens of eulogy virtues, not just résumé virtues.

This is the kind of transfer Ember is looking for: the idea moves out of the chapter and into a decision-making habit.

Study challenge
Take a decision you care about. What would look best on a résumé, and what would build the virtues someone would mention in a eulogy?
Scheduled review
Context shown firstPrior answer + source synopsis
Review promptWhat would change if the decision were judged by eulogy virtues?

The review does not ask the reader to rebuild context from nothing. It orients them with the earlier answer and the chapter signal before asking for recall.

Daily skill follow-up

Explain it clearly.

Next practice: answer with a three-part frame: claim first, reason second, concrete example last.

The claim is ___. This matters because ___. For example, ___.
Trust & privacy

AI feedback should show its work.

Your reading is personal, and evaluative feedback can feel authoritative. Ember is designed to make its evidence, uncertainty, and limits visible.

Evidence

Feedback points back to the source.

Strengths and gaps include the passage used in the comparison, so you can inspect the reasoning yourself.

Uncertainty

Partial sources are labeled.

Highlights and notes cannot represent a whole chapter. Ember reduces confidence rather than hiding that limitation.

Control

Your interpretation remains yours.

Edit responses, disagree with feedback, inspect the source, reschedule reviews, and remove material.

Privacy

Clear handling before clever features.

A production version should plainly disclose storage, model providers, training policy, export, and deletion before asking for source material.

Prototype note

This prototype stores reading data locally in your browser. A production privacy policy and account-level data controls are still required before launch.

Changes save automatically
  1. 1 Add reading
  2. 2 Explain it
  3. 3 See feedback
  4. 4 Strengthen it
  5. 5 Save
Set the ground truth

What did you just read?

Add the chapter and enough source material for feedback to stay anchored to the text.

  1. 1 Name it
  2. 2 Add context
  3. 3 Add source
1

Name the reading.

Give Ember just enough to know what you are trying to recall.

Source hiddenRetrieval works best when you resist looking back.
Recall · without looking

Explain the chapter in your own words.

What was the central claim, and which supporting ideas mattered most? Bullets and fragments are fine.

How free recall is evaluated

Central claimMeasures your ability to capture what the author wanted you to believe, not just the topic.

Essential supportMeasures how well your answer recovered the reasons, examples, or evidence that made the claim work.

Idea relationshipsMeasures whether your answer explained how the chapter’s important ideas connect or depend on one another.

Source fidelityMeasures whether your answer stayed faithful to the source while using your own words.

Before feedback

How well do you think you understood it?

Your estimate stays separate from the evaluation. Over time, the comparison helps sharpen your judgment.

Confidence
Challenge · one useful stretch

Push this idea one step further.

Immediate check complete

That gap is clearer now.

Adaptive review

FSRS will bring this back at the right time.

Ember uses the official FSRS scheduler with your recall quality and confidence.

Scheduled after save Based on today’s response
Why this review?

Ember will explain the schedule after scoring your response.

First reviews may be sooner while Ember learns what lasts.
Source and prior answer hiddenThis is a check of what lasted.
1 of 2 · Previous gap
Before you answer

Re-enter the chapter.

Use the context below to get situated, then answer from memory.

Revisit the gap

What do you remember now?

How confident are you?
Source material

Chapter source
Draft in progress

Delete this draft?

This draft will be removed from your library. You can start the chapter again later.
Learning snapshot

What “Common gap” means

This reflects the pattern that appears most often across your completed chapter checks. It is a direction for practice, not a grade.

No pattern yet
There are not enough repeated signals to name a trustworthy pattern.
Insufficient response
The response was too brief to compare meaningfully with the source.
Weak relationship between ideas
Important ideas were recalled, but the connection between them was left unclear.
Missed central claim
The topic was present, but the author’s main argument was not yet reconstructed.
Missed supporting evidence
The central direction was present, but an important reason or example was missing.
Your result

How the initial check is calculated

Your response is compared with the source you provided. The check considers how much of the chapter’s important language and argument you recovered, whether you explained relationships between ideas, and whether there is enough detail to evaluate responsibly.

Strong
The central argument and meaningful support were recovered with enough detail.
Developing
The broad direction is accurate, but one useful idea or connection needs more attention.
Needs another pass
The topic may be present, but the central thread is not yet clear enough.
Not enough evidence
The response or supplied source is too brief for a responsible comparison.

This is guidance, not an objective grade. Feedback is less certain when only a summary or excerpt is supplied.
Your estimate

What confidence means

Confidence is the estimate you chose before seeing feedback. Ember does not calculate or change it.

Partly
You remembered fragments or felt unsure about the chapter’s main argument.
Mostly
You believed the important ideas were present, with some uncertainty or missing detail.
Very well
You felt you could explain the chapter clearly without looking back.

Comparing confidence with demonstrated recall over time helps you judge your own understanding more accurately.
Your reading system

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Keep your chapter checks, scheduled reviews, and reading-skill progress connected to you.

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