WRITING CENTER "INFORMATION PICK-UP" (S.S.C.C.)
ANNOTATING:
• WHAT IS ANNOTATION?
• HOW IS IT USEFUL?
• HOW DO YOU USE ANNOTATION?
• REFERENCE SUGGESTION: MORTIMER ADLER'S "HOW TO MARK A BOOK"
"Confusion about what it means to own a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type--a respect for the physical thing--the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contains, without staking his claim by pasting his bookplate inside the cover," writes Mortimer Adler in "How to Mark a Book".
Reading with a pencil or pen in hand may enhance one's understanding as well as one's study habits. Annotation refers to the "critical or explanatory note added on to a text," the marking up of a text for enhanced reading, or note-taking done while a person is reading.
Annotation may be useful in the following ways:
• It may help readers to remember the written material better.
• It may help readers to hold a "conversation" with the author and read more actively. This, in turn, aids comprehension of the material.
As Adler writes, "Well, the physical act of writing, with your own hand, brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory. To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the questions they have raised in your mind, is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions."
• It may help readers to review the materials which had been read for an exam or other purpose.
• It may help readers remember their initial reactions to a piece of writing.
People may annotate by writing their thoughts in response to a writer's ideas in the margins; circling unfamiliar words for later reference or research; underlining main ideas; using asterisks next to important resource material; and so forth. Good annotations need to be clear, sparing, organized and relevant to the material.
People may have different approaches to annotation, and each student may find what works best for him/her.
Sources:
Mortimer Adler's "How to Mark A Book" & Carolyn H. Fitzpatrick and Marybeth B. Ruscica's Reading Pathways: Second Edition.
(Revised 1998)