Annotation Guide

To annotate means that you should write on the text to help you figure out what it means. Essentially, when you annotate, you have a type of discussion with the author. You engage the text. You react and respond to it. Use at least four DIFFERENT annotation types for each page of text. Write your comments in the margins of the text. Later, use the comments in your paper.

WHAT to DO? / WHEN to DO it? / Did it
Summarize/Paraphrase / When the text is difficult to understand, slow down, reread, then rewrite.
DEFINE / When vocabulary or phrases are hard to understand, circle them, then look them up.
RESEARCH
BACKGROUND / When the text refers to something you don’t know, highlight it, and then research it.
GIVE REASONS & EXAMPLES / When the text says something you understand, give your own reasons and examples of what you think the author meant.
ANALYZE / When the text has long sentences or is complicated, take tiny parts of it, figure out what one part means, then take another tiny part, figure out what it means. Keep doing this until you understand the whole thing.
PREDICT / When the text seems to be leading you somewhere, try to guess what will happen next.
QUESTION / When the text says something that you wonder about, something confusing, question it.
AGREE/DISAGREE / When the text says something that you believe or something you want to challenge, circle it, and tell why you agree or disagree.
ELABORATE / When the text says something that you agree with, but the author does not go far enough or does not provide enough details or examples, you can extend the idea or say more about it because maybe you are somewhat of an expert on the topic. Describe your own perspective.
CLARIFY / When the text is confusing, sometimes you have to keep reading to see if the author explains or clears up the confusion later in the text. Watch for clarifications. Mark them. Draw arrows back to the part that confused you – but now does not confuse you. Mark the clarification.
CONNECT
To your experience
To another text
To the world / When the text reminds you of something, connect to it in these ways:
-PERSONAL EXPERIENCE – maybe you had the same experience or know someone who has. You can express disbelief, humor, agreement, disagreement, surprise, etc. Tell how what you read is similar to your personal experience, or people who have had the experience.
-ANOTHER TEXT – maybe you saw a movie, or read another story or article, or heard a radio program that this reading reminded you of. Discuss the similarities in the margins of the text.
-THE WORLD – maybe you know of a current event or a situation in the world that is similar to the issues in the text. As you watch the news and hear of current events, make a connection between the current event and the text.
STRUCTURE / When you want to understand how the text is organized or how the text is making you react to it, search for these elements:

Introduction, body, conclusion (entire text)
Claims, explanations, evidence, commentary (individual paragraphs)
Types of diction, facts, incidents, observations
Types of imagery, sentence structure, tones
Types of figurative language or stylistic devices

Note what repeats? What contrasts? What is symbolic? What is different, strange, or unusual about the text? Comment on these.
HIGHLIGHT / When you discover important ideas in the text, BIG ideas, MAIN ideas, highlight them.

Turlock High School: ge 1