Annotations are notes for the future. They’re how you hold up your end of the conversation with the text. You are expected to annotate—annotations checks can occur at any time, without notice)—but the way in which you do so is up to you. Here are some suggestions:
- Highlight key words, images, and patterns and mark significant passages.
- Flag or ear-mark critically important pages.
- Raise discussion-worthy questions in the margins.
- Draw connections through page number references. (For example, “See page xx.”)
- Write a summary at the end of each chapter. Address questions such as: What happened? How and why? What purpose does the chapter serve? In other words, why does it exist? What is it doing to/for the narrative or text as a whole?
- Keep a list, or index, of important themes, symbols, and motifs on the inside cover of your book. Write corresponding page numbers for each.
A close annotation is when one examines a significant passage (of no more than one page) closely, as if under a microscope. To do so, first retype the passage so that it takes up one complete, double-spaced page in landscape format. Then, mark up the passage by following the directions below.
- look up unknown words.
- circle words that carry considerable weight, have “heft.”
- mark images, symbols, metaphoric language.
- consider denotation (what words mean) and connotation (what words imply).
- consider text (what’s on the page) and subtext (what meanings it may carry).
- Make connections to elsewhere in text.
- Draw conclusions. What statement is being made? By who? What about? What are its thematic or symbolic implications?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment