The Art of Annotating Using Annotating to Become

The Art of Annotating Using Annotating to Become an Active Reader

WHAT is it and WHY should you do it? Annotating simply means writing in your book as you read. ¡ There are multiple reasons for marking a text as you read it. ¡

Reason #1: Interact with the Book ¡ You learn more from a conversation than you do from a one-sided lecture, so learn to TALK to your book!

Reason #1: Interact with the book ¡ Typical marks: Question marks & questions – be a critical reader by questioning what you read. ¡ Exclamation marks to say “I agree” or “great point” ¡ Smiley faces or other emoticons ¡ Color or highlight your favorite sections ¡ Create graphic organizers like Venn diagrams to help yourself understand relationships ¡

Reason #1: Interact with the Book Comments when you agree or disagree ¡ A short personal narrative that ties to the story ¡ Record the name of a song, a different book, a movie, a television show that maybe came to mind while you were reading a specific section ¡

Reason #2: Learn What the Book Teaches Underline, circle, or highlight key words and phrases ¡ Use the textual clues to define unfamiliar words ¡ ¡ ¡ If that doesn’t help, then get a dictionary and record the definition in the margins of the book Put a reference to another page in the book to provide links between information

Reason #2: Learn What the Book Teaches ¡ Summarize whole passages or even chapters ¡ ¡ Leave a trail in the book that makes it easier to find information later Create your own index in the back of the book ¡ EX: Record each time a particular symbol is used in the work

Reason 3: Discover the Author’s Style ¡ Annotate to highlight style – a particular way an author writes Does the author use descriptions to convey tone? Highlight the super descriptive passages to find out. ¡ Does the author use tons of dialogue in an effort to make the work more “real”? ¡ Does the author use an abundance of figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification)? ¡

Reason 4: Become an ACTIVE Reader ¡ If nothing else, annotating keeps you AWAKE because it prevents you from zoning out. Your BRAIN is constantly questioning, looking for repeated symbols, discovering style, making connections between the text and your life, etc. ¡ Your HANDS are busy underlining, highlighting, circling, flipping back and forth to find passages to connect, etc. ¡