ANNOTATION GUIDE

This annotation guide is meant to assist you in your critical reading and analysis of a given text. Each person develops
their own annotating style over time, and there are a variety of ways to approach annotation; take these as suggestionsa
jumping off point for your own thoughtful and thorough inquiry!
What to Annotate

How to Annotate

Before Reading:
Preview text title, any subtitles and source

Straight underline ________________ (make a prediction or statement)

Examine any additional textual features or

embedded texts (graphs, charts or pictures)
During Reading: Analyze Authors Craft
(Elements of Voice) and Rhetorical Strategies

Draw an arrow or line and use the following abbreviations to simplify what
you write in the margins, making sure not only to identify, but explain and
analyze what these elements add to the text--the author included them for a
reason:

Diction: Vocabulary/ new words

underline or circle, and define the word. Write a synonym on top of it.

Quotable Lines

Highlight or draw a bracket [ ] for important quotes or quotes that you like!

Details: Narrative Elements

Identify and explain the effect of any narrative elements (e.g. setting, theme, point
of view, plot, structure, shift).

Details: Characters

Identify any traits, explicit or implicit. ChA (Antagonist); ChP (Protagonist); Ch

(Any other character is essential to the text).
CL (Claim), CCL (Counterclaim), Evid (Evidence), Piv (Pivot)

Details: Arguments
Identify and explain the Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose and Speaker
Details: SOAPS
Imagery/Figurative Language

Identify and explain the effect of sensory imagery (e.g. sight, taste, sounds, smell,
touch) and literary devices (e.g. hyperbole, irony, allusion, dialect, metaphor,
foreshadowing, imagery, paradox, symbolism).

Tone

Identify the speakers attitude.

Mood

Identify the audiences attitude.

Important ideas or information

(Themes/ Main Ideas)
Summarize or Paraphrase

Draw a star next to the idea or details of importance or an

exclamation point ! next to something exciting or of particular note.
Summ or Para (At the end of a paragraph, page or chapter).
Other books, classes, life experiences

Make Connections
Inquire

Ask questions (?) about the authors choices or about anything confusing or
unresolved.
Predict what will happen/ take a stance

Formulate Opinions
After Reading:
Reread annotationsdraw conclusions.

Explain the ideas that come together from reviewing your annotations to show the
development of your thinking. Formulate a one sentence theme, explaining the

significance and universality of the text.

Examine patterns/repetition, determine

meaning and impact on the overall text.
Explore theme.