Making Marginal Notes Recording your questions and reactions in the margins turns you from a passive receiver of information into an active participant in a dialogue. (If you’re reading a library book, write your reactions in a notebook.) You will get much more out of the ideas and information you read about if you create a “conversation” with the writer. Here are some examples of the kinds of reac- tions you might write down in the margin or in your notebook: ■ Questions often come up when you read. They may be answered later in the text, but by that time, you may have forgotten the question! And if your question isn’t answered, you may want to discuss it with someone: “Why does the writer describe the new welfare policy as ‘unfair’?” or “Why does the character react in this way?” ■ Agreements and disagreements with the author are bound to arise if you’re actively reading. Write them down: “That’s not necessarily true!” or “This policy makes a lot of sense to me.” ■ Connections you note can be either between the text and something that you read earlier or between the text and your own experience. For example, “I remember feeling the same way when I . . .” or “This is similar to what happened in China.” ■ Evaluations are your way of keeping the author honest. If you think the author isn’t providing suf- ficient support for what he or she is saying or that there’s something wrong with that support, say so: “He says the dropping of the bomb was inevitable, but he doesn’t explain why” or “This is a very selfish reason.” Making Observations Good readers know that writers use many different strategies to express their ideas. Even if you know very little about those strategies, you can make useful obser- vations about what you read to better understand and remember the author’s ideas. You can notice, for exam- ple, the author’s choice of words; the structure of the sentences and paragraphs; any repetition of words or ideas; important details about people, places, and things; and so on. This step—making observations—is essential because your observations (what you notice) lead you to logical inferences about what you read. Inferences are conclusions based on reason, fact, or evidence. You are constantly making inferences based on your observa- tions, even when you’re not reading. For example, if you notice that the sky is full of dark, heavy clouds, you might infer that it is going to rain; if you notice that your coworker has a stack of gardening books on her desk, you might infer that she likes gardening. If you misunderstand what you read, it is often because you haven’t looked closely enough at the text. As a result, you base your inferences on your own ideas and experiences, not on what’s actually written in the text. You end up forcing your own ideas on the author (rather than listening to what the author has to say) and then forming your own ideas about it. It’s critical, then, that you begin to really pay attention to what writers say and how they say it. If any of this sounds confusing now, don’t worry. Each of these ideas will be thoroughly explained in the lessons that follow. In the meantime, start practicing active reading as best you can. Begin by taking the pretest. – HOW TO USE THIS BOOK– xi . abcd 16. abcd 17. abcd 18. abcd 19. abcd 20 . abcd 21 . abcd 22 . abcd 23 . abcd 24 . abcd 25 . abcd 26 . abcd 27 . abcd 28 . abcd 29 . abcd 30. abcd 31. abcd 32. abcd 33. abcd 34. abcd 35. abcd 36. abcd 37 start practicing active reading as best you can. Begin by taking the pretest. – HOW TO USE THIS BOOK– xi