How to Mark a Piece of Literature

This handout is inspired by Mortimer Adler, who said I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love. Before you mark up a text, you must believe in this statement: In good literature, nothing happens by accident. If you truly believe this, then you must conclude that every word, every sentence we read in class was put there for a very important reason. Marking up a text is your way of exploring those reasons. Full ownership of a text doesnt come until youve made it part of yourself. The sentences you read must be absorbed into your bloodstream to do you any good. Marking up a text is the easiest way to release a piece of literature into your bloodstream. Your goal essentially is to mark and meaningfully scribble in your text from front to back. Only then will you truly own the text. Marking in a piece of literature keeps you alive, awake. Youll need to be awake to fully experience the great, complex writings well be encountering in this class. 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. Your notes will become an integral part of the text and stay there forever. You can pick up what youve read today the following week or year, and there are all your points of agreement, disagreement, doubt, and inquiry. Its like resuming a conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off. Essentially, marking a text is a conversation between you and the author, you and the characters, you and the setting.

What should you write in your text? How should you annotate? A pencil is better than a pen because you can make changes. Even geniuses make mistakes, temporary comments, and incomplete notes. In addition to your pencil notes, usually I will ask you to make marker annotations. These are items in the text I want you to adorn with color. Highlighting and underlining is good, but never do it without adding a comment in the margin. Why did these words capture your attention? Your text should include items from three categories. Read through the text three times focusing on each category. Start with category 1: 1. On the Lines: The LITERAL level (the who, what, when, where, and how of the text) [PENCIL] Circle EVERY unfamiliar word and define it in the margin. Use one of the many amazing dictionary apps to locate a definition. When you see the author use figurative language, please circle it and name it. If you cant remember the name (metaphor, simile, personification, etc.), describe the figurative language (the author is describing a tree as if it were human) Circle and name other literary devices you might notice. Point out striking DICTION (word choice), a word that stands out because of its strangeness or beauty or harshness. If youre reading an argument, number the sequence of points the author creates. Periodically write what is happening in the margins. How often you do this will depend on the difficulty of the text. At the end of each chapter (in a novel) stanza (in a poem) or scene (in a play) briefly summarize the material. Create a $2 summary. Imagine each word is ten cents. Your summary must be exactly 20 words. I will be grading your summary on how well it accurately portrays the entire section.

 Identify the mood of the passage by writing an emotion in the margin and drawing circles around words with arrows pointing to the emotion. When you see an author describing something, circle the description and write one of the five types of imagery: o Visual (something seen) o Auditory (something heard) o Olfactory (a smell) o Gustatory (a taste) o Tactile (a touch) Next, reread the text, focusing on category two observations. 2. Between the lines: Inferential and interpretative level [PENCIL] Draw conclusions about the abstract meaning of words, images, symbols, and so on. To do this, you must put together clues. Please mark shifts. This is ultra-important. Shifts can occur in tone (the speaker or narrators attitude towards a subject), point of view (who is telling the story), diction (word choice), or syntax (sentence structure). Record any instances of irony. Irony is a twist that occurs because either the reader or a character is expecting one thing, but he or she gets something surprising. Mark any instances of ironic juxtaposition. Its a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, characters, settings, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Make a predictionPredicting is a great thinking exercise. Take a risk! You might be surprised to find your prediction is rightor wrong! Ask questionsAre you confused about something? Write the question down. You might find the answer later, or you might get an opportunity to ask it to your classmates or teacher.

 React to what you readmaybe you just read something that made you mad, startled you, or brought you to tears. Write down your reaction to the text so you remember it later. Dialoguewhat does it reveal about character? Something that grabs your attentionwhy? When you read an idea on one page that reminds you of something on another page, circle the idea and write see page ___ on both pages. Create a star or asterisk to indicate what you believe is an important point. Explain why. Finally, read through the text a third time, looking for category three observations: 3. Beyond the Lines: Questions and observations about the authors purpose and theme Identify tone: the cumulative effect of imagery, figurative language, diction, and syntax, all of which point to the authors attitude Identify theme: patterns of meaning that, when viewed through the lens of tone, reveal the works larger message Make connectionsMaybe something you read reminds you of an experience youve had or parallels a part of your life; record these connections and they will help you find meaning and relevancy in what you read. USE THIS SPARINGLY. Be honest with your conversation. Express your doubt, your struggle. The reader sometimes has to wrestle with a text, and marking a text is sometimes an expression of your differences. Give an opinionDo you like or dislike an idea? Do you think the author is too boring? Amazing? Record this opinion next to the passage that inspired it. Locate important passagesIs there a quote that you think is important or thoughtful? Is there an idea you think might be

worth remembering? Is there a big idea that is at the foundation of the article? These are important to locate, as they are what you might quote in your investigation or written essay later. You might be asking yourself, How do I know if I am annotating enough? Considering that everyone reads (and annotates) differently, this question is difficult to answer. However, you are expected to pretty much fill in the margins with your observations. At any point, I might grade you on your annotation effort.