Why annotate?Īnnotating is an active reading strategy that facilitates the critical understanding of information in a text. Regardless of their form, annotations serve the same purpose - to help us better engage with and understand the text. There are many ways to annotate a document, from underlining and highlighting to writing notes in the margins. His humorous marginalia is now collected and exhibited in libraries. But it's also widely used by many others, from business professionals to authors like Mark Twain. The word “annote” from Latin “ad” meaning "to" + “notare” meaning "to mark or note," was first recorded in the mid-15th century.Īnnotation has traditionally been used for scholars, researchers, and students to engage with texts. This form of note-taking can help us remember key information in any text, whether it's a textbook for school or a novel we enjoy.Īlthough writing inside books has generally been discouraged and frowned upon in recent decades, the practice of annotation dates back centuries. These notes can be about anything - our thoughts, reactions, questions - and they can be written in any way we want, from symbols to complete sentences.
What is annotation?Īnnotating is the act of adding notes, comments, or highlighting to a text as we read through it.
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Get ready to learn how to annotate effectively with this five-step guide. In this article, we'll discuss what it means to annotate and how it can benefit your learning and comprehension. When done correctly, annotation can help you engage with the text, identify key points and themes, and even improve your comprehension. As children, we were taught not to write in our school books or library books, so annotations seemed taboo.īut what if writing in a book was not only OK but also encouraged?Īnnotation is a practical and valuable way to engage with text, whether it’s a novel, textbook, or article. This will allow you to skim your notations at a later date to locate key information and quotations, and to recall your thought processes more easily and quickly.It can feel a little mischievous to write on the pages of a book, as if we're breaking some rule. Lastly, as you annotate, make sure you are including descriptions of the text as well as your own reactions to the text. Dedicate different tasks to each margin: Use one margin to make an outline of the text (thesis statement, description, definition #1, counter argument, etc.) and summarize main ideas, and use the other margin to note your thoughts, questions, and reactions to the text.Example: Yellow for definitions, orange for questions, and blue for disagreement/confusion. If you use highlighters, consider using different colors for different types of reactions to the text.Example: Underline for key points, highlight for vocabulary, and circle for transition points. Include a key or legend on your paper that indicates what each marking is for, and use a different marking for each type of information.
As you annotate, use these strategies to make the most of your efforts: You can also annotate on post-its if you have a text you do not want to mark up. You can annotate by hand or by using document software. Annotating means you are doing the hard work while you read, allowing you to reference your previous work and have a clear jumping-off point for future work. Even if you regularly understand and remember what you read, annotating will help you summarize a text, highlight important pieces of information, and ultimately prepare yourself for discussion and writing prompts that your instructor may give you. However, annotating isn't just for people who feel challenged when reading academic texts. As you annotate, you should note the author's main points, shifts in the message or perspective of the text, key areas of focus, and your own thoughts as you read. This page will introduce you to several effective strategies for annotating a text that will help you get the most out of your reading.īy annotating a text, you will ensure that you understand what is happening in a text after you've read it. Sometimes called "close reading," annotating usually involves highlighting or underlining key pieces of text and making notes in the margins of the text. Annotating is any action that deliberately interacts with a text to enhance the reader's understanding of, recall of, and reaction to the text.
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