A meaningful approach to active reading can help you sense of the article you are reading and analyzing. It lays down the baseline of what the authors ideas, keeping track of where ideas shift. There are some texts that are confusing and definitely need to be broken down before complete understanding. The process of active reading can make the text seem less jumbled. To begin my active reading I will read the text without annotating and get an idea of what the author is trying to say. After reading I go back through and mark important ideas and ask myself questions about the text. I used “The Future of Science… is Art?” as an example of my annotating process.

Personally I believe that asking yourself questions is the most important part of active reading, and annotating.  When asking yourself deeper questions about the text, you immerse yourself in the ideas that the author is trying to portray. A selection from the Harvard library says “Get in the habit of hearing yourself ask questions” (Gilroy). Gilroy says this because when you ask yourself questions about the text you are essentially breaking it down into simpler forms. Breaking down each part of the text will give you a map to figure out the maze. Once you have completed you mental map of the text you will be able to expand upon it fluently.