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Annotating An Essay or Short Story: Annotation Steps

Annotation involves underlining or highlighting key points and circling unknown words in a text. It is also important to write comments in the margins to help connect ideas and review the main points. When annotating, one should underline main ideas, vocabulary, and important names and dates. Comments in the margins can label parts of the text, provide personal reactions, ask questions, or argue with the author. These annotations provide a shortcut for reviewing the text and preparing a written response or for a test.

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Marianna Sambani
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200 views1 page

Annotating An Essay or Short Story: Annotation Steps

Annotation involves underlining or highlighting key points and circling unknown words in a text. It is also important to write comments in the margins to help connect ideas and review the main points. When annotating, one should underline main ideas, vocabulary, and important names and dates. Comments in the margins can label parts of the text, provide personal reactions, ask questions, or argue with the author. These annotations provide a shortcut for reviewing the text and preparing a written response or for a test.

Uploaded by

Marianna Sambani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Annotating an Essay or Short Story

Annotation involves highlighting or preferably underlining key points and circling


unknown vocabulary words. But equally important is writing comments in the margin
of the text. These comments/labels help you make connections to the reading and
provide an excellent short cut for reviewing the key points of the essay in order to
compose your own written response or prepare for a test or quiz on the reading.
Annotation steps:
!

Underline, highlight, or circle main ideas, key points, important vocabulary,


important dates and names, etc.

Add your own comments in the margins of the text. These comments may
serve any of the following purposes (or you might have ideas of your own)

Label the type of material the paragraph covered, for example,


Childhood years, Examples of Edisons inventions, Causes of
extinction.

Label the organization, for example, Introduction, First main idea, and
Background information.

Add your own personal reactions and connections. As you read, you will
be reminded of similar events that have happened in your own life,
issues you have read in other classes, or things you have seen in the
media. You might write, My experience with accident, Like Native
American story in sociology, or Chilean coal miners.

Ask questions about issues you dont understand in the text or new
questions that occur to you. These questions provide ideas for research.

Argue if you dont agree with the writer or the essay. You might write,
No! Not my experience, or Author has never had a blue collar job--he
doesnt know! These arguments may provide a spring-board for your
own writing.

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