Outcome 3(Active Reading)– Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning and thinking. 

Annotating is not a new or foreign concept to me. Throughout grade school I would be given books and essays to read and annotate. Personally, I define active reading/annotating as a way to consume and more deeply understand what it is I am reading. Annotating keeps me engaged and focussed on what I am intending to get from what I am reading, such as further developing a claim for a prompt I will have to write about. 

I found the brief guide to marking texts/annotating sheet helpful in developing a foundation in what exactly to annotate on. As stated on this guide, “we work to be active, critical readers because this approach to reading helps us bring our own ideas and thoughts to the table”.  I used this template for the readings this semester. I found annotations relating to understanding, relating and extending to be most beneficial in helping me learn how to incorporate what “I Say” when elaborating on the “They Say”.

In my first work sample I will give an example from earlier in the semester of annotations in which I wrote understanding, relating and extending thoughts. My second work sample will be from later in the semester when I did not physically write out my annotations but highlighted important areas in developing my claims. 

Work Sample 1 of page of annotations from “Is Empathy overrated” by Paul Bloom. 

Work Sample 2 of page of annotations from “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace

When I annotated using the guideline, annotating to understand(u) the meaning of words was beneficial in helping me grasp connections between ideas. For example, learning that “diffuse” means spread out, aided my understanding of Bloom’s belief of empathy to have more of a negative connotation with the narrow focus it has.

Being able to relate in text to text(T to T) between Bloom and Konnikova in my annotations allowed me to identify similarities and differences when writing my essay. Furthermore, extending on Bloom’s thoughts such as putting in my own words when Bloom is referring to getting dim for those that we don’t know allows me to collect my ideas in relation to Blooms. 

When annotating, I like to physically and easily see what stands out in the reading. The most beneficial part of annotating for me is highlighting anything that can aid what I believe.

In my second work sample I do not have specified annotations. However, by highlighting and starring what catches my eye, I am able to come back to the text later on and develop the connections that originally came to mind. The labels 2 and 3 on this page relate to text that supports my second and third claim of my essay.