Notes on Annotation
What is annotation? Annotation is having a written conversation with the text on the text.
Things to annotate for IN THE RIGHT HAND MARGIN:
 questions I have over the material I’m reading, even if I can’t answer the question yet
 thoughts that pop into my head as I’m reading
 identify and define ALL unfamiliar words (Ms. Solomon defines a word as “unfamiliar” if
a. you could not get up in front of the class and explain the meaning, AND b. you can’t
also give an example of it.)
 identify and explain all unfamiliar allusions. What is an allusion? An allusion is a
reference to someone or something in history that the author assumes the reader will
be familiar with.
o Examples are: historical people, historical events, historical places, historical
concepts, literature, art, music (historical does not necessarily mean that it is in
the past or dead)
o How to recognize an allusion: if it’s capitalized within a sentence, it’s probably an
allusion. Don’t get allusions mixed up with words that simply have to be
capitalized according to grammar rules.
Things to annotate for IN THE LEFT HAND MARGIN:
 You should be annotating for the way the author of the article manipulates the language
to get you to think or feel a certain way. Examples are: simile, metaphor, analogy,
repetition, parallelism, imagery, personification, anaphora, etc.
 You should also annotate for pathos, ethos, and logos
o pathos=the author attempts to generate an emotional reaction in the reader
(emotion)
o ethos=the author refers to a source that the reader believes is credible or
authoritative (authority)
o logos=the author presents information that appeals to the reader’s logic or
rational thought (logic)