annotation [an-uh-tey-shuh n] noun A critical or explanatory note or body of notes added to a text.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster Read this first; it will tell you what the heck to do with Their Eyes Were Watching God. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Read this second, and annotate as you read. In addition to annotations, you will need to select a Most Valuable Passage (1 paragraph, max) for each chapter. Somehow indicate it as separate from your other annotations (highlight in a different color, bracket it, etc. – this differentiation should be obvious to your teacher, should they choose to take up your annotations for a grade), and write a brief note at the end of the chapter explaining your choice.

Sure you can highlight. But also… Add notes to any highlighting or underlining to specify importance. Bracket important passages Connect related ideas Outline main ideas in the margins Write brief comments and questions in the margins Place an asterisk or exclamation point beside something unusual, special, important, or poignant Write “yes” or “no” near statements with which you either agree or disagree Paraphrase important ideas Note relationships between concepts (cause & effect, comparison, contrast) Add your own examples Circle unknown words and define them Note passages that you don’t understand with a “?” Write questions you have for your instructor or to investigate later Note passages that seem inconsistent Note passages that generate a strong positive or negative response Identify cultural, social, historical, or literary allusions Add brief note about developing thematic ideas at end of each chapter.

Visualizing an important description Symbolism Themes Question to myself Connecting details Tracking Motifs

Inferred importance of details Imagery Conclusion about narrator Question for further research Character development Personal response

Prediction Personification AND effect it creates Brief analysis of conflict Suspense AND question of interest to answer later. Mood Connection to outside text Setting AND its possible effect on character Significant observations about narrator Central concepts that may develop theme