Part 2: Active Reading Process

The articles on humor that you will read below describe connections between humor and well-being. As you read these articles, be on the lookout for claims (opinions and arguments) about the relationship between humor and well-being. Consider how there may be multiple perspectives about humor’s impact on work and health.

You will also need to look for evidence that supports the authors’ viewpoints on this topic. Watch the following video to learn about the importance of including evidence in writing.

When you annotate your readings, please identify the claims the author is sharing (or opinions) and the supporting evidence. You will need this information later when you summarize these readings.

To learn more about the types of evidence that may be included in an argument, please read Three Ways to Support an Argument by the UMT Writing Center. When you annotate the humor readings in this module, please note the types of evidence used to support the arguments made in the articles.

  • For example, if you see statistics, such as “the study showed a fifty-one percent reduction of total accidents and a seventy-two percent reduction of injury-causing accidents” (“Three Ways to Support an Argument”), highlight the statistic and add a comment with the word statistic.
  • If you see examples, such as the personal example “When I needed to go to the doctor to get a shot, I put off scheduling the appointment as long as possible” (“Three Ways to Support an Argument”), highlight the example and add a comment with the word example.
  • If you see a quote from an expert, such as “…echoed by Naomi Miller, chairman of the history department at Hunter College in New York…” (“Three Ways to Support an Argument”), highlight the quote from the expert and add a comment with the word expert.

Now, annotate two articles from the choices below.

Choices:

  1. What Makes Us Laugh — And Why? by Vicki Haddock
  2. Can Humor and Laughter Boost Your Health? by Gil Greengross
  3. Workplace Humor Has Some Unexpected Benefits by Grant Hilary Brenner

While annotating, do the following:

  • What is the topic sentence of each paragraph or section? (Highlight or underline the topic sentences. After you have found the topic sentences, try to find the thesis statement (main idea). (Highlight or underline)
  • Write summaries of each paragraph/section.
  • Identify different types of evidence. Look for personal examples, anecdotes or stories, statistics, facts, and quotes. Mark the types of evidence you see and label the evidence.
  • Mark key terms and unfamiliar words (Example – key terms starred * and unfamiliar words marked with a question mark or circled). Define any unfamiliar words.
  • Write your comments, questions, and notes on 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).

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Integrated Reading and Writing Level 2 Copyright © 2018 by Pamela Herrington-Moriarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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