Why do we have to
annotate, take notes, and
keep a journal?
Do you write in
books?
Why or why not?
According to NY Times Writer
Sam Anderson….
One day in college I was trawling the library for a good
book to read when I found a book called “How to
Read a Book.” I tried to read it, but must have been
doing something wrong, because it struck me as oldfashioned and dull, and I could get through only a tiny
chunk of it. That chunk, however, contained a
statement that changed my reading life forever. The
author argued that you didn’t truly own a book
(spiritually, intellectually) until you had marked it up.
Marginalia
Why Annotate?
Annotate any text that you must know well, in detail, and
from which you might need to produce evidence that
supports your knowledge or reading, such as a book on
which you will be tested.
What the reader gets from annotating is a deeper initial
reading and an understanding of the text that lasts. You can
deliberately engage the author in conversation and
questions, maybe stopping to argue, pay a compliment, or
clarify an important issue—much like having a teacher or
storyteller with you in the room. If and when you come back
to the book, that initial interchange is recorded for you,
making an excellent and entirely personal study tool.
Why take notes?
Your quickwrites/ journal
Quickwrites & Journals are places
To think
To generate
To open up
To break down, work through
A place to wonder, experiment, try ideas out
To reflect and respond
Your quickwrites/journal activities
Will be assigned points that are part of your participation
grade (25% category; 2X a quarter)
will introduce major units/works or reflect on what we’re
currently reading in an effort to make the literature more
personal and relevant major paper every semester
May develop into major writing grades (50% category)
need to be dated and labelled/titled
Must be kept in the writing section of your notebooks, and
therefore will be part of your notebook grade as well
Must be thoughtful, reflective, legible
Who do you think owned this
book of notes?
Whose journal is this?
Whose Private Idea book is
this?
Leonardo DaVinci
Mark Twain
Charlotte Bronte, 1836
Now, let’s revisit that “quiz”
1. I have to read every word and look up the ones I
don’t know.
False!
If you stop and look up every word, it’ll take forever, so
use your context clues BUT there are still times to add
to your literary vocabulary
Focus on important phrases and try to identify main
ideas and plot the FIRST time you read, implying that
you’ll read more than once.
2. Reading once is enough
False! We just answered that on the previous slide!
Hint: you don’t have to read and annotate all at the
same time. Read once for comprehension and then
write a brief summary. Then go back and look for
patterns, the significance of literary elements,
characterization and stuff like that. You’ll get a
handout later (today?) with strategies.
3. You are not allowed to skip or
skim passages in reading
False! Tho’ you should skim rather than skip.
It really depends on what you’re reading. If it’s
Robinson Crusoe and he’s listing in great detail how
exactly he built some contraption to help him survive,
and it goes on for 3 pages, you are totally allowed to
skim. If you’re reading an informational text or article,
not so much. If you’re reading Tolkien’s Fellowship of
the Rings, and Tom Bombadil’s songs are driving you
crazy, then perhaps skip for now…
4. If you read too rapidly, your comprehension
will drop.
False!
Research shows that there is little relation between rate and
comprehension; some students read rapidly and comprehend well,
others read slowly and comprehend poorly.
Whether you have good comprehension depends on whether you
can extract and retain the important ideas from your reading, not
on how fast you read.
SO you can train yourself to do this efficiently, especially in classes
that have lots of reading. If you concentrate on your purpose for
reading (locating main ideas and details, and forcing yourself to
stick to the task of finding them quickly), both your speed and
comprehension could increase. Concern yourself with not how
fast you can get through a chapter, but with how quickly you can
locate the facts and ideas that you need.
5. I don’t need to write notes in
the margins as long as I underline,
circle, and/or highlight.
False on SO many levels. This is why we are teaching
you strategies about what and how to do this.
6. If I become an effective annotator and active
reader, I will be better able to predict the endings
of movies and books.
TRUE! At least, it works for me, much to the
annoyance of anyone’s who has ever watched a movie
with me.
What this question is really addressing is the ability to
look for patterns, make connections, and become an
active reader because you’re examining and thinking
about what you’re reading. And once you can do that,
certain details will form into recognizable patterns, and
you’ll be like, “Hey, why did that character do that?
Wait a minute…he wouldn’t do that unless there was a
reason for it.” Think Chekov’s gun. Or “save the cat.”
.
Now let’s grab a couple of
handouts.