When making notes on a reading, you might want to do most, if not all, of the following (1, 2, and 4 might be minimal, but you could skimp on those and expand on others):
**1. Articulate in summary ways, in your own words, the central arguments, theses, of the piece.
**2. From these, try to voice the goal of the article: what is it trying to do, by making these arguments, interpretations, or pursuing these ideas? What is the implicit, or explicit, larger goal of the piece?
**3. What theories does the article employ, and what types of theories are they: Freudian, Marxist, feminist, Foucaultian, structuralist, etc? What types of disciplines are used -- history, sociology, anthropology, religion, etc?
**4. What underlying assumptions and biases does the writer employ? How much is the work ackowledging of its stance, of the standpoint of the writer? Are the writer's own gender, class, sexuality, historicicity taken into account, and does the writer do any self-critique?
5. What data or evidence does the article use, and how was the data gathered, used, and what methods were employed? Any critique of the methods, data?
6. What does your dialogue, critical thinking about, excitement about, boredom with, confusion about, irritation with, curiosity about (or combinations of above) the article show you about your own values, goals, methods as a student? What can you learn about your own learning and the article -- your limits and you directions as well as those of the article -- by critiquing (which can be an appreciation of) not just the article but also your own response to it?
7. What can or could the article add to the dialogue of the course or the class discussions, as it introduces or pursues particular issues, methods, theories, topics, descriptions, etc.
8. What connections can you make between this piece and other readings, discussions, or films we have engaged with in the course?
9. What connections do you personally make with the article? These may be intellectual, academic, autobiographical, etc.