Reading Journals Instructions

• Write down the title and author’s name.
• Quotes from your reading. Copy out any quotes you would otherwise highlight or underline — anything you think captures some essential point in the text. You don’t have to do this as you read, if you prefer to read with a highlighter or a pen—copy them out when you’re done, in that case. Make sure you get the page number(s).
• A personal response to your reading. 200 or more words (about two-thirds of a page, double spaced) capturing your impression of what you’ve read. Why is it important (or not important)? What is the author saying, and how is he/she saying it? How do you respond to the piece as a reader, and what connections to you see to other texts you have read?
• Questions raised by the text. Challenge your reading material! Think of a set of questions the material leaves unanswered, or that undermine the conclusions reached. These questions might eventually form the basis of a research project or larger critique.
• Any other notes, thoughts, arguments, or feelings about what you’ve read.

Source: Adapted from Lifehack, “How to Keep an Academic Reading Journal”

For more advice on academic reading, see Lifehack, “How to Read Like a Scholar.”