English

Annotate vs. Highlight When you highlight, all that says is "hey! Hey! HEY!"-- you may have no idea why you highlighted, or what you were thinking. It's basic-level reading, not advanced critical reading. It's a little like how dogs approach the world, according to Gary Larson:

When you annotate -- that is, you use a pen, pencil, or keyboard to add actual WORDS to what you're reading -- three things happen:

1. You're more likely to read critically: to talk back to a text rather than just absorbing it all. (So you're smarter.)

2. You're more likely to stay engaged and remember some of what you're reading, so you don't have to read it again. (So you save time.)

3. You leave yourself notes so that you can come back and pick up just exactly the bits that most interested you in a particular way. (So you save time a second time.)

Minimal Annotation: Reaction

Annotation doesn't have to take any longer than highlighting. Here are some quick options that leave a written record of your reactions:

1. Use double-underline, underline, and wavy underline to indicate that you really like or value a phrase, that you think it's ok, or that you disagree with or don't understand it.

2. Use smileys, question marks, exclamation points in the margins to indicate what you enjoy, doubt, don’t understand, or have strong reactions to.

3. Use short words that indicate different nuances of emotion. In my own annotation world, I can go from very positive to very negative reactions with slight changes: Ha! Heh! Huh. Hmm. Hunh. Huh? Ick. Eeek! Yikes!

4. Try text-messaging abbreviations, too: WTH, IDK, SRSLY?

When you go back to a reaction-annotated text, you can quickly skim for the parts that you found confusing or most helpful, which are often the parts to pay most attention to.

Advanced Annotation: Questions, Connections, Short Summaries

If you're reading something difficult that you'll have to study, write about, or discuss in class, you may want more advanced notes. These can still be short, and they help indicate what your Higher Brain was doing while you read.

1. Ask Questions: "Why this repetition?" -- "Why so boring?" -- "Why this idea again?" -- "What about her references?" -- "How?" -- "Why do all this?" - “Why so short?” Critical readers ask questions like this all the time; smart readers put the questions down on paper or screen.

2. Make Connections: You can make connections to your life, to help you see the relevance and present a context for new information -- "Just like my brother" or "also happens with workplace writing, not just academic." You can make connections to other research, texts, or ideas to help you synthesize what you're doing in a class or a large research project -- "Like Zuckerberg’s story" -- "same issues as universal basic income" -- "Mair’s disagrees—language has power" -- "like identify formation from psychology class?"

3. Write three-word summaries: When the ideas are stated in complex language but you think they're important, write yourself a short summary (often 3-4 words will do) so you can remember the issue and quickly find it again when you need it.

When you go back to fully annotated text, you will see threads of ideas that will help you find something to talk or write about that you're already interested in. This will help you quite a bit with your Reading/Response Journal entries!