My critical reading process mainly consists of me attempting to find holes and flaws in the authors argument. This approach allows me to make notes of the flaws in an authors argument as well as identify and annotate the authors important points and identify what exactly I should find important about the text. In her paper “Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard” Susan Gilroy says that “Analyzing adds an evaluative component to the summarizing process… What is the writer asserting? What am I being asked to believe or accept? Facts? Opinions? Some mixture?”. This passage very closely mirrors my thinking process when I annotate a writing. The specific way that I analyze involves me keeping the mindset of a cynic who’s job it is to derail the authors argument. An example of this in my chosen annotation is in the beginning of page 1 when I noted things like “why is reason counterproductive” when the author claims that reason is counterproductive and “This is a massive claim which I am going to want to see a source or evidence for” when he makes a claim about neurobiology. By making these annotations I am not only making myself more resistant to being misinformed but I am also identifying the authors important claims and thinking critically about the text while also occasionally also tying what the author says to things outside of the text in order to try to break down the authors argument. Gilroy also says that “Annotating puts you actively and immediately in a “dialogue” with an author and the issues and ideas you encounter in a written text”. The dialogue I always seem to put myself into is a debate with the author which I believe is an extremely effective way to understand text. I believe that you understand much less when you blindly believe things and that the friction of debate and argument lead to true understanding. This is why the first time I saw the big buzz phrase “necessary edges” in my chosen annotated essay I said “what is this getting at” instead of “wow what a great idea” and I think that this gives me an edge in understanding written texts.
