AP Level Annotations during a Close Read:
Track:
Major character list with small space for character summary and for page references for key scenes or moments of character development, etc.
Build a list of themes, allusions, images, motifs, key scenes, plotline, epiphanies, etc. as you read. Add page references and/or notes as well as you read.
Vocabulary words-Possible ideas for lists include the author's special jargon and new, unknown, or otherwise interesting words.
A quick plot summary of what happens in the chapter.
Title each chapter or section as soon as you finish it, especially if the text does not provide headings for chapters or sections.
Any/All Key information in a novel might include:
themes; passages that relate to the book's title; characters' names; salient quotes; important scenes, passages, and chapters; and maybe key definitions or specific vocabulary. Remember that key information will vary according to the genre and the
reader's purpose, so make your own good plan.
Suggestion:
Top margins: provide plot notes—here. Go back after a chapter, scene, or assignment, and then mark it carefully. (Useful for quick location of passages in discussion and for writing assignments).
Bottom and Side Page Margins: Interpretive notes (see list below), questions, and/or remarks that refer to meaning of the page.
Interpretive Notes and Symbols to be used are:
• Underline or highlight keywords, phrases, or sentences that are important to
understanding the work.
• Write questions or comments in the margins—your thoughts or “conversation” with the text.
• Bracket important ideas or passages.
• Use Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already underlined or bracketed
• Connect ideas with lines or arrows.
• Use numbers in the margin: to indicate the sequence of points the author makes in
developing a single argument.
• Use a star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin (use a consistent symbol): to be used sparingly, to emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book.
• Use ??? for sections or ideas you don’t understand.
• Circle words you don’t know. Define them in the margins.
• A checkmark means “I understand”.
• Use !!! when you come across something new, interesting, or surprising.
• And other literary devices (see below).
Some of the things you may want to mark as you notice them are:
• Use an “S” for Symbols: A symbol is a literal thing that also stands for something else, like a flag, or a cross, or fire. Symbols help to discover new layers of meaning.
• Use an “I” for Imagery: Imagery includes words that appeal to one or more of the five senses. Close attention to imagery is important in understanding an author’s message and attitude toward a subject.
• Use an “FL” for Figurative Language: Figurative language includes things like similes, metaphors, and personification. Figurative language often reveals deeper layers of meaning.
• Use a “T” for Tone: Tone is the overall mood of a piece of literature. Tone can carry as much meaning to the story as the plot does.
• Use a “Th” – Theme: In literature, a theme is a broad idea in a story or a message or lesson conveyed by a work. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes explore timeless and universal ideas. Most themes are implied rather than explicitly stated.
• Plot elements (setting, mood, conflict, etc.)
• Diction (effective or unusual word choice)
As you mark, you begin to notice patterns the author has or where he or she deviates from a pattern and much of the work of a critical or analytical reader is noticing these patterns and variations. Notice that annotations are meant to be more than a “scavenger hunt” for literary techniques and rhetorical devices. Along with marking these, you should comment on the effectiveness or significance of the device. It’s great if you can detect alliteration in a passage, but that in and of itself is useless unless you can tell that this alliteration demonstrates the mental breakdown of the character, for example. It’s amazing if you recognize the hubris of a character,
but how does this instance differ from those occurring previously in the novel?
Adapted from“An Annotation Guide: How and Why to Annotate a Book” by Nick Otten and https://www.covcath.org/uploaded/06_Students/Annotation_Guide_AP_Language.pdf
https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-while-reading/annotating/annotating-a-work-of-fiction/