My approach to Annotation & Connection to Gilroy
Here is a page of Animals Like Us, where I try and get a grasp of the writers Main ideas to formulate thoughts for my project Link:IMG_1920.JPG 1Here Is page 500 of CSL, notice the marginal comments leading to connections to personal life for a better understanding of text. Link: IMG_1919
The focus here should be on the underlining and starring of specific areas in the text. I often use this technique to highlight key words or phrases to help me gain a grasp on the writers ideas. Link: IMG_1921
Susan Gilroy, the author of “Interrogating Texts: Six Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard” talks about marking up the margins of the text with ideas the seem important to you, and asking yourself questions in order to better understand what the writer is portraying. I share a lot of connection to this. Traditionally, when I am asked to read and annotate a piece of writing, I like to go paragraph by paragraph. I approach the text by jotting down any thoughts that come to my mind when I first initially read the paragraph. I usually pair this with either the underlining or circling of what I think may be key words or ideas. Once I have finished with the paragraph, I start to piece my thoughts together. I ask myself questions such as “what is the point of this section?” and “What connections can I draw to other sections, as well as my personal life?”. By annotating the reading in this way, I allow myself to comprehend each section at a time, which allows me to focus on smaller ideas rather than tackling every word at once. This can be seen in my annotations of Consider the Lobster and Animals Like Us, where my comments progress and grow with meaning as they move further along.
In addition, Gilroy also mentions this idea of ” Set course readings against each other to determine their relationships (hidden or explicit).” The task of project 3 was to use several of these course readings, connect them and develop a common theme. The theme I chose between the sources was the idea of moral obligations. Upon looking over my final draft, there can be numerous connects made between different texts. For example, in essay 3 I compare Foer and Wallace, stating “This event signifies way more than one person, it represents everyone who becomes vegetarian. The temptations are real, but are the moral obligations enough to keep us from these temptations? Or in Wallace’s case is the boiling of lobsters alive for own own personal needs justified by our need to eat? Whether its Foer’s or Wallace’s example We are truly stuck in the troubled middle, no matter your culture or beliefs”. Here, I compare the examples both authors used and draw a commonality between the two.
Active and Critical Reading –
In journal 14, we were asked to reread DFW piece Consider The Lobster, and to see how our views changed. When I did this, the notes I wrote down and my understanding of Wallace’s claims became larger, and more clear. Throughout journal 14 I explain that I gained a better understanding on the idea of moral obligations on our use of animals, rather than just should we boil lobsters or not. Also, it also became clear to me that us humans are placed in this idea of a “troubled middle”, meaning humans have to choose between killing animals for food, or breaking years of traditions.
Link to Journal 14: Journal 13 and 14
Ability to Learn (Informal Reading Response) –
Another way I am able to comprehend texts and draw accurate conclusions is through our class discussions. For example, after writing that journal 14, and reflecting on how my own perception and understand of the Consider the Lobster, we had a class discussion. While listening to this discussion, Gunnar brought up a point on how culture ties into how people perceive the Maine Lobster Festival. I had never thought of it from this perspective, so this added to my understanding of the text. People from Maine see this as a celebration of the lobsters, while outsiders see it as a mass slaughter of them. I actually included this into my project 3, and used it as a discussion piece on how there are numerous moral obligations placed on us in terms of our relationships with animals.
