Highlighting:
* Purpose: Primarily used for retention and quick review.
* Process: Marking key words, phrases, or sentences within the text.
* Focus: Identifying important information and main ideas.
* Limitations: Can be passive, leading to surface-level understanding. Over-highlighting can be counterproductive.
Thinking with symbols:
* Purpose: Engaging in deeper critical thinking and active reading.
* Process: Using symbols (e.g., question marks, exclamation points, arrows) in the margins to annotate and engage with the text.
* Focus: Analyzing the text, identifying arguments, connecting ideas, and forming personal interpretations.
* Benefits: Encourages active reading and deeper comprehension.
Key Differences:
* Engagement: Highlighting is more passive, while thinking with symbols actively engages with the text.
* Focus: Highlighting focuses on identifying key information, while symbol thinking focuses on critical analysis.
* Outcome: Highlighting aims for retention, while thinking with symbols aims for deeper understanding and personal interpretation.
In conclusion:
While both highlighting and thinking with symbols are reading techniques, they serve different purposes and require different levels of engagement. Thinking with symbols encourages a more active and critical approach to reading, leading to deeper comprehension and engagement.