1. Annotations
A Quick Guide

2. What is it? A reading strategy designed to help you
Focus in on key ideas
Make connections with the text
Gather evidence for class discussions and assignments

3. Why Annotate?
It is WAY easier than taking notes throughout the reading
A proficient way to make sure you are understanding the reading
It will give you the answers you need for quizzes, essays, and more
It will make you superior to all others at Corona Del Sol

4. So…..What does it look like?

5. All of that?! Not really…. That is one student example
Keep in mind, your action/explanations of your annotations should be short and sweet
Most annotations should realistically only be a word or two
The only annotations that requires more than a few words are questions
Questions about the text will be written at the bottom of the page in footnote format

6. Theme (Example) The power of true love
A boy and a girl fall in love. The boy is forced to join the army and fights to survive in a war-torn country as his beloved waits at home. When he returns from war, the two are united and married.
The love story has many common themes in literature:
The power of true love
Fate, which sometimes tears lovers apart and then joins them together
War

7. Mood/Tone I’ll just swing by your office at 4 tomorrow!
I will meet you in your office tomorrow at 4:00.
These two passages convey exactly the same information, but one does it in a highly informal tone while the other uses a formal tone. The tone is set by many different qualities: the contraction (“I’ll”) is a key indicator of informal tone. But there’s also a colloquialism (“swing by”) and an informal punctuation mark (!).

8. Foreshadowing
A professionally dressed woman hurriedly leaves the house, slamming the front door. She frantically searches for her keys in the bottom of a giant purse while balancing a briefcase under her other arm. She finds her keys, gets in the car and begins backing out of the driveway, and then slams on the brakes. “I feel like I’m forgetting something,” she says. She shrugs and drives away.

9. Foreshadowing (cont.)
With only this information, we can predict the outcome of this story—the woman has forgotten something important at home, and she probably won’t realize it until she needs it, perhaps at a meeting. Her clothing, behavior, and dialogue are all clues that work together to foreshadow what will happen in her future

10. Allusion
Prometheus is the title of a 2012 science fiction movie starring Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba. This is an allusion to the character Prometheus in Greek mythology, who stole fire from the gods and was sentenced to a terrible punishment after he was caught. This allusion makes sense when you think about the fact that the movie is all about the origins of mankind.
Ah, Krusty – this is your Waterloo! (Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons)
This is an allusion to the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon Bonaparte suffered a crushing defeat from which he would never recover. Using this allusion, Sideshow Bob suggests that he is about to bring down Krusty just as Napoleon was brought down at Waterloo.

11. Allegory
An allegory is a story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath. For example, the surface story might be about two neighbors throwing rocks at each other’s homes, but the hidden story would be about war between countries. Some allegories are very subtle, while others (like the rock-throwing example) can be more obvious.

12. Allegory (cont.)
In most allegories, the hidden story has something to do with politics, religion, or morality — complex subjects that are difficult to understand directly. Many authors find it easier to think through these issues by translating them into allegories, which are easier to understand (and more fun to read) than dense philosophical arguments.

13. Symbols
A symbol is any image or thing that stands for something else. It could be as simple as a letter (*hint hint* Maybe one worn by an adulterer). Similarly, every word is a symbol for the idea it represents. Flags are symbols for nations. And of course, we have all sorts of visual symbols that we use every day:  & =
Symbolism gives a writer freedom to add double levels of meanings to his work: a literal one that is self-evident and the symbolic one whose meaning is far more profound than the literal one. The symbolism, therefore, gives universality to the characters and the themes of a piece of literature. Symbolism in literature evokes interest in readers as they find an opportunity to get an insight of the writer’s mind on how he views the world and how he thinks of common objects and actions, having broader implications.

14. Symbols (cont.)
In the Lord of the Rings movies and books, the One Ring is a symbol for power, selfishness, and greed. Everyone wants it and many characters are willing to kill for it.\The symbolism of the story implies that power seduces, corrupts, controls, and destroys people who are attached to it, just as the Ring does to its owners.
The dove is a symbol of peace
Black is a symbol that represents evil or death
A broken mirror may symbolize separation….or....you know....bad luck?

15. Works Cited
"Literary Devices and Terms." Literary Devices. n.p.10 Mar Web. 12 Aug