09 May Writer’s Notebook 1.1
Active reading is to read while taking notes in order to better understand what you are reading. Annotating means summarize and mark up your reading. You will be doing a lot of active reading and annotating in your college career. You will annotate articles and chapter readings. In this class, you will annotate every article you read. You will need the practice, so you will become better and more critical readers.
- Read and take notes over the the two handouts attached: Active Reading and Annotating Sources.
- Download the annotation assignment (in a Word document) over the essay “Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics” below.
- Read and annotate the article “Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics.”
- Save your completed assignment to your computer.
- Submit your completed assignment as an attachment by clicking on the link below for your Writer’s Notebook 1.1.
Ten Steps for Active Reading
When you read scholarly articles (see the handout Scholarly Articles verses Popular Articles for more information about scholarly articles) or college textbooks, it is important that you are an active reader and annotate your sources. Annotating is the art of taking notes about and on an article. Annotating an essay proves to your instructor and yourself that you fully understand the concepts within the essay or chapter. Annotating is the first step in learning and comprehending a subject.
This handout will guide you through the steps you need to take before, during, and after reading an article.
- Before reading the article, read the title and respond.
- In the margins or in a notebook, respond to the text based only on the title. i. What do you think the article is about?
ii. What do you expect the author to address in the article? - In the margins or in a notebook, formulate questions based only on the title.
- In the margins or in a notebook, respond to the text based only on the title. i. What do you think the article is about?
- Then look up and read the author’s biography (don’t read the article yet). Sometimes the biography follows the title or is at the end of the article. If you cannot find the biography on the actual article, Google the author and read his or her biography.
- Skim the article.
- Read any section headings or bolded words. If they are short, read the introduction and conclusion.
- In the margins or in a notebook, write down your first impressions. What do you understand? What do you not understand?
- Read the entire article.
- While reading, in the margins or in a notebook, summarize the point of every paragraph in only 3-5 words. If shortening a paragraph into 3-5 words is too difficult, write an entire sentence. The point here is to show that you understand the main idea of each paragraph before you move onto the next.
- While reading, keep a dictionary handy and look up all unfamiliar words You can download the Dictionary.com app onto your smart phone for free. Write the definitions of words you do not know in the margins and create a 3X5 notecard to help you learn the new word. Keep notecards in the front flap of your notebook. That way you will stay organized by topic and class.
- After reading the article, annotate the text by highlighting, underlining, or circling important terms, phrases, or ideas. Be sure to underline the thesis or main point. Use color to connect similar ideas or arguments. Do not simply underline or highlight everything. Be
Handout created by Justine White www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner
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judicious (if you are actively reading this handout, you will look up what judicious means) with your annotating, so it will be helpful when studying, researching, or writing. See the handout Annotating Sources for more help with how to annotate.
- After reading, in the margins or in a notebook, write down the author’s argument, supporting ideas, purpose, tone, and audience. When you can identify these items, you know that you fully understand the article.
- Does knowing the author’s biography help you to understand the author’s argument? In the margins or in a notebook, write down any connections between the author’s biography and the claim.
- Finally, when you complete a reading, in the margins or in a notebook, write down the title and author of other readings from the same or a different class that relate to the text. Write down ideas and/or arguments that are similar to or different from the text to help you make connections across genres and disciplines.
Annotating Sources
During the research phase of writing a research paper, you will come across numerous sources that can eventually provide support for claims in your research paper. In order to understand your sources and be prepared to write, you must take excellent notes or risk having to constantly reread those sources. Annotation is the process of writing useful notes in the margins of a document. If the text doesn’t belong to you or you can’t write on it, you can take notes in a separate notebook or on a set of index cards.
How to Annotate
While there are numerous approaches to annotating a source, the following step-by-step method is a tried-and-true way to get the most out of your note taking. If you develop a different method, it is a good idea to include a key at the top of your first document, so you can remember what the different symbols and actions mean.
- As you read, in the margins or on post-it notes, index cards, or a separate notebook, summarize each paragraph in one sentence. Don’t use complete sentences, just jot down the main idea. If you use abbreviations for words that you may not remember, be sure to include these in your key at the top of the document. When you annotate a longer text, group paragraphs together that cover the same subject and summarize these collectively instead of each paragraph on its own.
- Read the entire document without a highlighter in your hand. Just summarize each paragraph as you read. You’ll begin “marking up” the text after you read it.
- After you have read the text, number each paragraph. This will help you make quick references to various parts of the text without having to write out sentences or paragraphs in your notes.
- Once you have numbered your paragraphs, use a highlighter to mark the thesis for the entire text. Please see the handout Reading Comprehension for further information on identifying thesis statements.
- Draw a box around any counterarguments you come across. If you are unsure how to identify a counterargument, please see the handout Counterargument and Refutations for additional information.
- Underline supporting details in pen or pencil or highlight these in a different color highlighter than you used to identify the thesis.
- If you have trouble understanding any portion of the text, write a question mark beside that section, so you can ask questions in class or with a tutor.
- Circle any vocabulary words you do not know and write down their definitions.
- Respond to the text in the margins or on a sticky note next to the appropriate section.
Also, if part of a text reminds you of another text, make note of this as well.
10.When a text presents a complex argument, you may find it helpful to develop a “road
map” of the text by using a squiggly-line under the topic sentences for each paragraph or sections of paragraphs to trace out the argument. You will have a visual depiction of how the text connects (you can follow this approach in a notebook by using paragraph/line numbers).
Handout created by Topher Garay & Justine White www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner
Tools for Annotation
Whenever you set out to annotate a text, you should make sure you have the necessary tools in order to take effective notes. The following list contains useful items for annotations:
- Different colored pencils, pens, or highlighters. Be sure to identify what each color represents in your key at the top of the document or the top of your corresponding notebook.
- Post-it notes or reference tabs. These are especially helpful when you need to annotate a library book or some other document that you cannot write in. Instead of highlighting, place an appropriately colored reference tab next to the part you would otherwise underline or highlight. You can also write down summaries, questions, and other comments on post-it notes and place these next to the corresponding parts in the text.
- A notebook. Keeping a notebook dedicated to a specific research project can help you to keep your notes organized. This can also be helpful when the margins of the text do not provide enough room to write your summaries, questions, and other comments. Use the paragraph numbers to identify where your notes in the notebook would fit.
- Index cards. If you come across difficult vocabulary, use index cards to write down the definitions of these terms. You can later use these index cards to refresh your memory of the definitions of these terms and begin to make them your own.
- Symbols and shapes. Another approach to specifying what each part of your notes mean is to use different shapes or symbols to indicate certain types of annotations. For example, you could use a triangle beside or around text to indicate key statistics or other forms of data.
- Read and take notes over the article “Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics?” (link above).
- Review and take notes over the handouts Annotating Sources and Ten Steps for Active Reading that are above.
- Complete the annotating activity in your next Writer’s Notebook assignment below.
Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics?
By Mohsin Hamid and Francine Prose
- Feb. 17, 2015
- 28
Each week in Bookends, two writers take on questions about the world of books. This week, Mohsin Hamid and Francine Prose debate literature’s influence on politics.
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