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When I read a selection of writing, the most helpful one for me is annotating. I take notes and my own interpretations about the text, and I write down some questions about the paragraph. The second one I use most often is taking inventory. When I read a text, I prefer to list all the annotations and notes I already took to find the pattern of the text. Meanwhile, I also apply outlining during the reading. I used to outline the main gist of each paragraph, then try to list all the outlines and find what information the writer tries to send. This strategy is very helpful for me when I read some academic papers. Research papers are so long that it is hard for people to grasp the main idea of each paragraph. If I outline the keynote of every paragraph and every section, it will be easier to understand the main idea of every section, and the paper. This is a fast way to understand the writer’s idea and an effective way for me to recall the paper when I need to read it again. What’s more, paraphrasing is another strategy I use to read a paper. When the content is so hard to understand, I prefer to rewrite the sentences with my own words. This is a better way for me to grasp what the writer tries to convey. Also, paraphrasing helps me improve my writing skill.

Some strategies I do not currently use, but they are also helpful to read a selection of writing critically. The first one I should improve is looking for patterns of opposition. Finding the opposition is important in critical writing. When I read a critical paper, I will try to find the idea and the opposite idea of the subject. The second one I will apply is evaluating the logic of argument. Logic plays a vital role in a critical writing because it makes readers reading step by step. I will summarize the logic line of an article and how the writer makes the argument clearly. The third one I will apply in next reading is comparing and contrasting related readings. Some likeness texts will help me to understand it better. I will find some texts which have similar key words, and read them together, which will give me a better understanding of the key words.