PHRASES AND CLICHÉS FOR THE ANNOTATION OF A TEXT
1 Title
The text is entitled…
The title of the text is…
Subtitle..
2 Source
It was published in…
The author is… / unknown
There is no info about its author
3 Topic
The text deals with…
(field of knowledge)
… is connected with
… is about
…is
4 Format
interview, lifestory, history, discourse
5 A list of basic points
The author tells about such problems as…
A list of basic points include…
The main/basic points covered/presented are …
6 Presentation of points (the style) At the beginning…
The author starts telling about…
then/next/after that..
finally/in conclusion…
at the end…
in the last part…
7 Personal view
The text/info is well-known/new/interesting/informative
About the info, style, language
…may be of special interest for..
There are many specific terms.
The language is easy and simple
An appraisal of a book or a film.
Exercise Write down an appraisal (or review) of an article, a book, a film, etc. (you may choose
to your liking) using the patterns given below. Enlarge this list with your own structures.
The book under review is headlined …
The title strikes as unusual.
The title restores the main idea.
The title intrigues the reader.
The key words of the the text are …
It is written by … whose real name is …
The author focuses on/discusses/informs (tells) the readers about/points out/pays
attention to/draws attention/develops the idea of/touches the problems of …
The author starts by telling …
The author begins with general information about …
The author continues …
The idea is developed …
The author perfectly described the problems of … and (vividly) showed…
Reading this text we noticed (found out) that…
At the end of the text (book) …
I found this book interesting and informative.
This book is rather easy to read.
I was intrigued by the book.
The language of the book is …
This article is popular, scientific, etc.
An appraisal of a book or a film.
Exercise 1 Here are two appraisals of a book. Read them carefully. Work in groups.
Compare their organization, and the way they present points.
I I once read a book called 'The Collector'. It's about a man who kidnaps a girl, and she
eventually dies. It's quite a horrible story, but I liked it. Ferdinand Clegg is very inhibited with
women, he doesn't know how to talk to them, so he kidnaps a girl he's seen in the town. He
keeps her in a cottage and takes her photograph. In the end she dies but he didn't kill her. It was
written by John Fowles. I liked it very much.
II 'The Collector' is a novel written by John Fowles. It was first published in 1963, and it
is a sort of horror story. It is one of the most sinister books I have ever read. It holds your
attention from the start and becomes more shocking as it progresses. 'The Collector' is a good
title. The 'hero', Ferdinand Clegg, collects butterflies, but he adds to his collection the girl of his
dreams, Miranda, who is an art student. We learn enough about his background, an orphan
brought up by his aunt and uncle, to have some understanding of his behaviour. He is a very
lonely character and painfully shy, especially with women. We see him following Miranda from
a distance, fascinated by her every move. There is a turning point when he wins some money,
and his plans become a reality. He buys a remote country cottage, captures Miranda and keeps her
there just to look at and admire. All he wants of her is to take her photograph. She is his latest and
most precious 'butterfly'. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the portrayal of
Miranda, as she tries to handle the bizarre situation she finds herself in. Her behaviour goes to
extremes - from trying to understand Ferdinand and be his friend to violence and trying to escape.
In the end she falls ill and dies, while he does nothing to help. The reader feels all Miranda's hopes
and fears until the final dreadful outcome. This is a book which, once you have started, is
impossible to put down.
Exercise 2 Divide the second version into paragraphs. What is the purpose of each
paragraph?
Exercise 3 Analyse what tense is used to tell the story and describe the characters? Why,
do you think?
Exercise 4 Underline any words or expressions which you think are useful to describe a
book or film.