Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.
I believe that active reading is one of the best ways to analyze and form opinions about a piece of writing. I have found multiple ways of active reading that have helped me understand articles. As I read, I like to have a pencil and a highlighter in my hand. That way, I can highlight important quotes and I can annotate. For my annotations, I generally like to summarize a paragraph into a couple words, which helps me understand what the paragraph was saying when I need to go back to the article. I have found that my side notes along the text helps me analyze the text and develop my own thoughts about the article. I also like to make sure I am questioning the text when I feel there parts of the writing that are not making sense. As Susan Gilroy says, it is good to “get in the habit of hearing yourself ask questions: ‘what does this mean?’”
I chose to include my strongest annotations that I have done in this course. My strongest annotations can be seen in my annotations from Jonah Lehrer’s “The Future of Science … Is Art?” Gilroy also mentioned that it is good to “take the information apart, look at its parts, and then try to put it back together again in language that is meaningful to you.” I feel like this approach has been the most helpful as I am active reading. If I don’t understand something, I will put it in my own words, and it will make more sense. One thing that is difficult for me is deciding on what is the most important thing to highlight or make a note on. This is something I have definitely improved on throughout the course. I have learned that highlighting the key points is most helpful.
Also, the blogs have definitely helped me think about the article more. After reading the article, it is helpful to write about it because I think it explores my thoughts about the article more than just simply reading it. Lastly, I liked to reread my articles once I have finished reading and annotating the first time. I feel like every time I reread or rewatch anything, I find new things that I did not notice before. This can be especially helpful with active reading because one can notice important details.
