Part 2: Active Reading Process
Effective readers are active readers. They interact with the text while reading. They actively read by annotating, answering pre-reading questions, doing quick research, and discovering what a text has to say. Active readers get the most out of their reading in college so that they can confidently participate in class discussions or write about the texts they have read.
Annotation is a critical active reading skill. As children, most of us were told never to write in books, but now that you are a college student, your instructors will tell you just the opposite. Writing in your texts as you read—which is called annotating—is encouraged!
Annotation is a powerful strategy for engaging with a text and entering into a discussion with it. You can jot down questions and ideas as they come to you. You might underline important sections, circle words you do not understand, and use your own set of symbols to highlight portions that you feel are important. Capturing these ideas as they occur to you is important, for they may play a role in not just understanding the text better but also in your college assignments. If you do not make notes as you go, today’s great observation will likely become tomorrow’s forgotten detail.
Watch the following video to see examples of annotation:
Now that you have learned about annotation, you will be asked to apply what you have learned. Open the two example narratives you have chosen:
- “In Giving I Connect with Others” by Isabella Allende
- “Never Give Up” by Mary Curran Hackett
- “Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing” by Cecilia Munoz
- “The Power of Hello” by Howard White
To get started, make a prediction (your best educated guess) about the text. Based on the title, the author, and the first paragraph: What do you think these two essays will explain? Write a prediction about the main points or concepts that you think will be explored in the texts. Support your prediction with evidence from the texts.
Next, annotate the text. The purpose of your annotations is to identify/describe important points, to identify characteristics of narrative writing, to describe your connections/reactions, and to describe what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of this example.
As you read the two pieces, use the following process to annotate the texts:
- Mark the thesis (main idea) and the main points of the piece.
- Identify the supporting details the author uses to support the main points.
- Mark key terms and unfamiliar words (Example – key terms starred * and unfamiliar words marked with a question mark or circled).
- Write your comments, questions, and notes in the margins of the piece. Consider the following: How does the author capture the reader’s interest? Which were the most interesting and least interesting parts of the piece?
- Write your connections to your personal experiences related to the piece.
- Mark any elements that need a reread or parts that you would need to come back to (example – brackets or a different color highlighter).
You can complete your annotations by hand or use a digital tool such as Scrible. The following video demonstrates how to use Scrible to annotate text on a website.
NEXT PART OF THE PROJECT
Now that you have annotated two sample essays, you have learned how to apply annotation skills. You should now be prepared to discuss the texts you have read. You also have annotated examples that you can use to guide you as you write your own narrative essay.
Move ahead to learn about prewriting skills.
Licenses and Attributions
CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously:
- The content on this page was adapted from Annotate and Take Notes by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, license: CC BY-NC 4.0.
Video Content (linked)
- “Annotating Text” authored by Katie Henderson. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license
