Reviewing my first annotated course reading annotation pages and my informal reading response evidence, I realized that I have a pretty straightforward approach to active, critical reading. I typically do what Susan Gilroy says about annotating and having an ongoing conversation with myself. She says, “annotating puts you actively and immediately in a ‘dialogue’ with an author and the issues and ideas you encounter in a written text.” I like to write down any thought or question that I think of while reading through, that way I can really generate my own opinions about the reading. This later directly helps me come up with what to say in my own paper. Other methods of annotating that I use are underlining and putting brackets on the important parts that stand out to me. I knew it was important if it answered the question that was being asked or if it was a main point of another area that expanded the overall topic of the paper. I think that my ability to “interrogate” readings as Gilroy says, is pretty successful because I always find ways to incorporate them into my essays. I’m always thinking of my opinion and what I agree with and disagree with, and my reasoning for why I think that is how I make my arguments compelling and effective.
