When I read an article, I normally read it carefully and try to understand the true meaning behind why the author wrote it. For example, in class we had to read Galen Strawson’s article, “I Am Not A Story”, which talks about narratives and the life story one creates. I had originally taken notes and annotated his article, but I hadn’t truly understood its ideas and what points he was trying to get across. I reread the article, using different colors while annotating, and found his main points and key sentences that stuck out to me as interesting instead of confusing. Throughout the article, he contradicted himself many times, but when I read the article the second time I realized it was more like him developing a conversation to himself, that he believed everything he was saying, but some of his beliefs conflict. He mentioned a few times in the article that he didn’t think the ‘narrative’ way of thinking was the only way, and I completely agreed with that. So while reading I normally highlight and draw arrows with explanations at the end of them to either reword or define something to make going back to look at the annotations easier for myself. I also add in comments at the beginning or at the end of the paragraphs summarizing in a sentence what the gist of it was so that when I need a  refresher of the information I can quickly find it. Susan Gilroy talks about annotating and asking questions, in her article “Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in your First Year of Harvard,” that is how I write my margin notes. I think to myself, this is confusing, so how can I make this less confusing? This sounds important, why is it important? Using these strategies helps me make sure I understand what I am reading and that I will be able to answer questions and even use quotes correctly in my own papers. I even follow her advice when she talks about looking at the parts of the paper and put them together to make it more meaningful for myself. These techniques help when writing essays because while annotating I can find quotes that I can implement in my essays and be able to expand on them to make stronger claims and arguments.