What Makes a Good Annotation?

Annotating a text helps you better comprehend and breakdown the message presented. It also allows you, as the reader, to pinpoint things that stood out to you, such as important words or phrases. Annotations also create a visual map that shows your thought process as you read and how you interpret things.

Having strong intent and being meticulous makes a good annotation. First, you need your text of choice and writing utensils that vary in color. When annotating you want to underline important words, circle words you don’t know or understand, highlight portions that stick out to you, and emphasis passages that you find to be most important. You also want to draw connections. For example, if I were annotation the story Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko, I would visually draw a connection to the multiple times she mentions hunger and food. Visually creating a connection between the hunger element of the story strengthens your comprehension of the piece as a whole. That is the purpose of annotations. When you are annotating it is also a good idea to make notes, thoughts, or questions in the margin, for yourself or to share with the class. In order to have a good annotation, you must be precise, comprehensive, draw connections, and visually express your analysis and intake of the text.