Annotation

1. Annotation The Key to Analysis

2. Why Annotate? • Annotation is a key component of close reading • Effective annotating is both economical and consistent • Makes reading easier and more efficient • Helps you go back and find answers faster

3. Different Purposes for Annotation • Definitions • Main Idea/ Author’s argument • Chunk Text into sections/paragraphs • Think Aloud • Literary Devices/ Rhetorical Devices • Make Inferences • Comprehension/ Reinforce Understanding • Take ownership of Text • Connect to personal experiences

4. How We Will Annotate in Class • Left side- Annotating for understanding (with the grain): explanatory notes, summaries, clarification, text structure, organizational signals, transitions, identifying main and supporting claims, identifying rhetorical strategies, structural features, author’s purpose, key terms, and anything else author is doing

5. How We Will Annotate in this Class • Right Side- Annotating for the purpose of talking back to the text (against the grain): critique author or argument, evaluate what author is saying, identify difficult or confusing parts, ask questions

6. Checklist for Annotation • Label Structural Features such as – • Title • Source Information including Author and Date of Publication • Headings and Subheadings • Pictures, Illustrations, Graphics, and Captions • Changes in Font and Bulleted Lists • Number the Paragraphs • Underline and paraphrase the main ideas in the margins • CAUTION: Use this method sparingly. Underline only a few words. Always combine with another method such as comment. • Never underline an entire passage. Doing so takes too much time and loses effectiveness. • If you wish to mark an entire paragraph or passage, draw a line down the margin or use brackets

7. Checklist Continued • Write the type of text at the top of the page. Make a brief note that describes the author’s overall purpose • Circle key terms that are essential to understanding the author’s purpose. Write synonyms in the margins • Write questions on the right side of the margins that reveal higher levels of critical thinking

8. Why Should We Annotate? (more) • Keep in mind the reasons we annotate: 1) time saver- locate things faster & easier 2) Will need to do in real-world- job (reports) & at in personal life (contracts, statements, etc) • Your annotations must include comments. I want to see evidence of thinking.

9. Evidence of Thinking • Have a conversation with the text. Talk back to it. • Ask questions (essential to active reading). • Comment on something that intrigues, impresses, amuses, shocks, puzzles, disturbs, repulses, aggravates, etc.

10. Evidence of Thinking • Comment on lines / quotations you think are especially significant, powerful, or meaningful. • Express agreement or disagreement. • Summarize key events. • Make predictions. • Connect ideas to each other or to other texts. • Note if you experience an epiphany. • Note anything you would like to discuss or do not understand.

11. Evidence of Thinking • Note how the author uses language. Note the significance if you can. • effects of word choice (diction) or sentence structure or type (syntax) • Rhetorical devices • point of view / effect reliability of narrator • repetition of words, phrases, actions, events - patterns motifs or cluster ideas • narrative pace / time / order of sequence of events tone / mood • irony*** imagery • contrasts / contradictions / juxtapositions / shifts themes • allusions setting / historical period • any other figure of speech or literary device symbols

12. Sample Book Annotation Write questions, comments, observation, critiques, etc. on right side Write what author is doing, summaries, text features, etc. on left side

13. But it Takes too Long! • The most common complaint about annotating is that it slows down your reading. • Yes, it does. That’s the point. • If annotating as you read annoys you, read a chapter, then go back and annotate. Reading a text a second time is preferable anyway.