When approaching active, critical reading, I must read the text a few times to absorb what is said. After the second time reading it, I go back, and I’ll highlight important parts of the text that I want to remember later. In the margin, I’ll usually try to do a short annotation. Typically, when reading, I’ll usually ask myself questions about what’s going on in the text, and what something may mean. As I am reading the text, I usually will add comments at least every few paragraphs. All texts have a purpose, thus outlining the main points and evidence as I write helps me to visualize the overall argument or purpose of the text, like Gilroy’s advice at active reading. When informally reading and responding, I usually read the text a few times, trying to grasp a few different viewpoints. By doing this within the text I am reading, It educates me on the effects of a text on different types of people. I incorporated this strategy in my own writing by paying attention to other possible opinions about what I write. Doing this allows me to “interrogate” the text by questioning each point. By not immediately trusting what you read, you can go back and read the same points that provide a new perspective on an issue, minimizing bias. In researching for essay 3, critical reading helped me to decide which sources were reliable or not. I used a few commercial and non-profit site that have the possibility for low credibility. I decided based on my close reading that those sources were credible. After reading, I also may free write about what I read for a minute or two to either quickly summarize it, or draw a few conclusions from it.

active reading