Throughout the semester I used critical reading skills in order to better understand the provided texts and to form my own opinions around the authors’ argument. I used annotations to help myself understand what the authors were arguing for and what they were arguing against. My annotation skills improved during the semester as I focused primarily on writing down notes and comments rather than simply highlighting sentences. For example, these techniques can be seen on the article “Plug In Better: A Manifesto” by Alexandra Samuel, which is posted to the right. In this image, there are notes in the margins and around the paragraphs, such as “author’s main claim” or “connection to Anderson – horse left digital barn.” I used different colored pens and pencils to decipher my ideas and I highlighted only the most important arguments on the page.
After annotating the provided articles, I reacted to the texts in a blog post and compared Alexandra Samuel’s article with Sam Anderson’s article called “In Defense of Distraction”. In the post, “#11:’ Plug In Better A Manifesto’ – Alexandra Samuel”, I evaluate how the two authors are similar and how their arguments both emphasize the important role technology has in society. This pre-essay writing helped me formulate my argument for Essay #2, where I use evidence from both Samuel and Anderson to explain how social media usage can be manageable. By actively and critically reading before writing Essay #2, I had a clear understanding of the text, selected specific quotes to use for evidence, and I had organized my thoughts so formulating a strong, arguable thesis was less challenging. These techniques parallel the advice provided by Susan Gilroy in her selection from her article “Interrogating Texts”, where she explains the significance of having “an ongoing conversation with yourself” while reading. By asking questions to yourself and jotting down your opinions when reading, your thoughts can be organized easily and new ideas can be created.
In the future, I will definitely utilize critical reading techniques, such as annotations and pre-writing, to help me organize my thoughts and ideas effectively. A goal for future critical reading would be to only write meaningful, clarifying and argumentative comments on the text so when I reference the reading again I can locate the most important and useful information.
Link to “Plug In Better: A Manifesto” blog post.
Link to Essay #2.
