Learning Outcome #3 – Active Reading
Outcome: Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.
My journey with active reading and annotating began in my high school years. However, my school lacked a formalized system of subcategories for annotation, like “understanding”, “questioning”, “relating”, “challenging or extending”, “rhetorical”, etc, and all the diverse approaches we reviewed in Professor Brod’s curriculum. I found it refreshing to adopt a more defined method to peer review when I entered college, as it offered clear parameters to guide my classmate and I’s focus and allowed us to connect themes to both ourselves and the authors. I am truly appreciative of being introduced to this technique, given that in high school, my teachers merely advised me to “highlight what seemed important”, in addition to grammar, punctuation, sentence composition, and a broad-spectrum of sentence-level errors and shortcomings.
Image 1: Annotations for Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper
Presented above is one of the initial annotations undertaken by my class, which consisted of annotating the essay Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper. Among all annotating methods, I became particularly invested in was the “understanding” category. By carefully examining the terms “deluded” and “commemorate”, it assisted me with unveiling the subtle meaning and tone of Phelps-Roper’s words, as well as building my contextual mastery. In conjunction with the comprehension technique, I also immersed myself the “challenging” strategy, which seeks to counter the author’s viewpoints and assert my own. In my own eyes, I view the “challenging” strategy as vital in the active reading process, considering that it encourages innovation and new insights, as well as amplifies one’s skills in forming persuasive positions.
Image 2: Annotations for Joy by Zadie Smith
Presented above is one of the subsequent annotations undertaken by my class, which was centered on annotating Joy by Zadie Smith. Unlike my experience with Unfollow, I felt a greater alignment with the author’s perspective in Joy, and the annotation task itself required much less time. Overall, I truly felt a deeper connection to Smith, which came more naturally and with greater fluency.
Image 3: Body paragraph from essay 2 encompassing my annotations from Joy
Notably, the annotation from Joy from image three evolved and made its way into a body paragraph from my second essay, as portrayed above. Had I not invested the adequate and necessary time, energy, and effort to thoroughly annotate Joy, this link may have never materialized in my this essay. The process of active reading enabled me to uncover vital connections that have proven to be essential in my development throughout Professor Brod’s class.
