Annotating the text
Annotation is marking the text with insightful comments or questions you have. Most proficient readers already do this in their heads, but as soon as they are on the next page their memory of what they just read becomes fuzzy, and analysis becomes a hit-or-miss game of trivia recall—you might remember what happens or what you notice…you might not. Think of annotations as “showing your work” while you read just as you sometimes show your work in a math problem. You are showing what you are thinking while you read and analyze—and thinking is a word-based activity, not just a nebulous puff of energy. This, of course, requires ACTIVE participation with the text, engaging your mind while you read, not skimming the page. Listening to your iPod or the TV can split your focus so that you don’t have as much of a connection with the text. Marking important sections can also be helpful in locating them quickly in discussions. Some of the things you may want to mark as you notice them are:
As you mark, you begin to notice patterns the author has or where he or she deviates from a pattern and much of the work of a critical or analytical reader is noticing these patterns and variations. Notice that annotations are meant to be more than a “scavenger hunt” for literary techniques and rhetorical devices. Along with marking these you should comment on the effectiveness or significance of the device. It’s great if you can detect sibilance in a passage, but that in and of itself is useless unless you can tell that this sibilance demonstrates the mental breakdown of the character for example. It’s amazing if you recognize the hubris of a character, but how does this instance differ from those occurring previously in the novel? |
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Dialectical Journals:
20 pts. each
1. As you read, look for passages or statements that you find relevant, that make you think, that have an impact on you, or that you have questions about.
2. Create two columns on your paper. On one side, you will write the passage/statement you are responding to. You can abbreviate if the passage is long.
3. On the other side of the column, you will record your response. Each journal should be a thorough, thoughtful response to the text. It will help you practice and perfect important skills, such as interacting with textual evidence and embedding it into your own writing, and analyzing text in depth and being specific in your claims/observations. A one paragraph response will not be developed enough to earn all points.
Do not simply summarize the literature or class discussion. I want you to engage critically with the text. Your response may consist of personal opinions, related issues, related experiences, and criticism of the reading, and it can be drawn from the reading and from in class discussions.
20 pts. each
1. As you read, look for passages or statements that you find relevant, that make you think, that have an impact on you, or that you have questions about.
2. Create two columns on your paper. On one side, you will write the passage/statement you are responding to. You can abbreviate if the passage is long.
3. On the other side of the column, you will record your response. Each journal should be a thorough, thoughtful response to the text. It will help you practice and perfect important skills, such as interacting with textual evidence and embedding it into your own writing, and analyzing text in depth and being specific in your claims/observations. A one paragraph response will not be developed enough to earn all points.
Do not simply summarize the literature or class discussion. I want you to engage critically with the text. Your response may consist of personal opinions, related issues, related experiences, and criticism of the reading, and it can be drawn from the reading and from in class discussions.