Before I started this course my approach to active, critical reading was not the best. I would essentially take a highlighter and highlight pretty much everything in sight, thinking that I would need to know absolutely every part of the reading. When in reality I needed to improve on realizing what is important to remember and what is just background noise. The first reading we did for this course was “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace. I had never seen such a rich text before, it had me quite overwhelmed. I had no idea where to begin because I had never had to read something thing this dense before. Using my resources I went on youtube and looked up how to read efficiently and effectively. I learned some tips on how to organize my thoughts while reading and how to pick out the important parts. Using different colored pens and highlighters I calmly began reading “Consider the Lobster”. In order for my brain to comprehend the text I had to split it up into several chunks. I color coded different thoughts, I would highlight quotes that I could potentially use in a paper in one color and ideas in a different color.
English 110 has taught me that I was terrible at reading efficiently and effectively. I have found new ways to improve these skills however, I believe that they still need some improvement. Not only has it taught me that I need to read for the important points, it has taught me that I need to actually think about the meaning of what the author is saying at the same time I am reading it. Before this course I would try to think about the meaning after I finished reading. This is not effective because I would end up forgetting a few of the major points that I should have remembered. I have also realized that I need to read in chunks and at a slower pace in order to find out what the author is actually saying. When I break my reading up into chunks or sections I can keep my attention span versus just trying to read the David Foster Wallace piece all in one sitting. I have definitely seen improvement in my skills but, I know that there is always room for improvement.
Journal #1: Consider The Lobster 9/4/2018
Annotations of “Consider The Lobster”
December 5, 2018
