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Annotating Your Text
What is Annotating?
Annotating is a method of writing down your ideas of a text. To annotate means to
add markings, notes, questions, comments, and observations to the text you are reading. Students often combine annotating with highlighting (See Highlighting Your Text skill sheet).
Why should I annotate?
Annotating is an excellent start for making study notes, outlines, and summaries.
Instead of reading passively, annotating creates an active relationship between you and what you are reading by “talking back” to the text in its margins and further identifying what you want to learn.
What tools do I need?
You will need a pencil. Use a pencil when you first read the text. This allows you to erase
when you reread the information later and make final decisions about what is important. When do I annotate? Annotate after you have finished surveying the text. Preview your text before you begin. Be sure to read the title and subtitles. Identify any headings, bold or italicized words. Look at diagrams and/or visual aids. Read the introductory material, opening paragraph, final paragraph, and any questions. This survey of the text will help you focus on what type of information you need to annotate.
How do I get started?
Have a plan. Ask yourself, “Why am I reading this?” Are you reading to answer questions,
find specific information, or for a specific assignment? If so, review your assignment before reading.
Annotate Your Thinking
1. Mark the main idea and major supporting details. Look for a general sentence
that sums up the paragraph. Supporting details explain or prove the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many.
2. Use the margins to talk back to the text.
3. Personal reactions. Write brief ideas, personal knowledge, or questions you have.
Include possible test questions, paper topics, or sections you will need to read again.
4. Paraphrase. Briefly restate the author’s ideas in your words. These to do not need to
be complete sentences—more like short headlines.
5. Pay attention to transitions and signal words. Often they are markers of major
details and can help guide you through a paragraph to alert you what will come next. Look for words and phrases: First, such as, later, for example, also, however, consequently
6. Mark points that you feel would be helpful to remember. Keep in mind why you
are reading the selection. Will you need to know ideas or terms for a test or paper?
7. Develop your own symbol system. Use underlining, boxes, circles or stars to
indicate key names, dates, and events. There are samples on the back of this page, but be sure to create a system that will make sense to you when you look back at it later. You may want to combine annotating with highlighting to give the added benefit of color to your notes.
8. Test your annotating system. Ask yourself the following questions.
a. Did the act of annotating help me understand the text? b. Do I show the main ideas of the text? c. Do I show how the text is organized? d. Can I find information quickly? e. Have I used my system consistently? f. Can I translate the annotation into useful notes or a summary? Further explanation and activities for Annotating can be found in the following texts: Flemming, Loraine. Reading Keys, 3 rd^ ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. (See pages 18-24) Flemming, Loraine. Reading for Results, 11 th^ ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. (See pages 32 - 34 ) McWhorter, Kathleen T. Reading Across the Disciplines: College Reading and Beyond, 5 th^ ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, 2012. (See pages 190- 200 ) Rothman, David and Jiliani Warsi. Read to Succeed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, 2010. (See pages 122-
Sample Annotation source: Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey, 13th ed. Boston, McGraw Hill, 2009. 26 October 2011. www.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/ free/0073385492/664084/bri38559_ch20.pdf
