Here are guidelines you can use for your notes.

A Reading Journal
from Reading to Write: Composition in Context by Peter Elias Sotiriou (9)

Critical Reading Framework

1. What is the selection saying, or what is it trying to prove?

2. What details are used to support what the selection is saying?

3. Are these details convincing?

4. If these details are not convincing, what is missing?

Critical reading is not passive reading. You should be reading with a pencil or highlighter in hand; underlining important words, phrases, sentences and making comments in the margins.


In your reading journal include some of the following:

1. List questions you may have about the reading

2. Discuss what you liked about the about the selection

3. State what you disliked about the selection

4. Comment on how this reading compares with other readings on this topic that you have read

5. List words or other terms that need defining, also terms that you can define but still don't understand the context used in the passage. Some words carry connotations connected to the culture of the characters and /or author which one might not appreciate or understand unless one is also an "insider."

6. Briefly summarize key concepts in the selection. One can also list themes.

7. List characters or key persons introduced in the section. A profile of the character is also helpful, one you can add to as the story develops.

In Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers see 5 (70-83) in 7th Ed. or 50c pages 401-402 (6th Ed.) The newer text is a better resource.