Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.
The first few annotations from Roxane Gay, from the first project, elaborate on relations I saw between Gay and Michael Chabon’s son Abe, who was talked about in the piece “My Son, the Prince of Fashion”. The annotation that jumped out to me was the one that related their levels of commitment to feminism and fashion, but really this was their level of commitment to feminism and fashion. I also talked about this in the blog post “Roxanne Gay, Bad Feminist Response”, where I talked about their unique ways of expression and definition. I not only mention their commitment levels, but also while admiring the way that they are openly different and proud. I also talk about this in the essay, titled “Being the Best Version of Yourself”, where I elaborate on their commitment to being unique. Specifically I talk about how Gay is seen as a “fake feminist”, yet also the sacrifices and commitments she has made for the quality of women that she shows fight for. This also relates back to Chabon and his son when it is mentioned in the conclusion. There are parallels between Abe’s love for fashion and Gay’s label as a sort of feminist, as both have great amounts to do with self-expression and definition.
I was able to use my annotations in the reading by Kenji Yoshino and build my second essay around them. A major part of my essay was based on when he used the example of how FDR would somewhat try to hide his disability. While most knew he was in a wheelchair, he would still sit before his cabinet entered. I thought this was a really good example of how disabled people cover their unwanted traits in society today. While no one wishes to be handicapped, some people have to live there whole life with it, an do through many hardships. My annotations outlined my ideas about how disabled people should not have to cover their disabilities. My annotation very much fell under the category of ‘Understanding’.
In the final essay, I was still able to annotate my sources effectively in order to gather evidence while I actively read the writing pieces. While reading Chen and Jamison’s pieces in ‘Emerging’ I used sticky notes to annotate right in the book while I read. Over the course of the semester I found this the best way to annotate because it kept me more engaged in the reading and it was much more convenient to jot annotations down on a little sticky note. For other pieces, like TED Talks and online readings, I would jot things down in a notebook or on my computer. Over the course, of the semester, I certainly got much better at actively reading and annotating. I feel like I can still improve in this facet of class, but I also feel like I enjoy reading much more now after this class. I realized that reading can be done with short pieces like these, and not just long books and novels. I really enjoyed the writing pieces we read in this class and that definitely played a role in allowing me to better my self in the realm of active reading and annotating.
