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ENG 180-22 Notes on Article Annotation (adapted from Engaging Ideas, by John C.

Bean)

First, remember that scholarly journal articles are written for professionals in a particular field. The intended audience is primarily experts with PhDs and scholars who are working on becoming experts and earning advanced degrees. The average undergraduate student (like you, perhaps?) or advanced graduate student (like me) will likely not understand all of what we read, but we should be trying to grasp the main points authors are making. Joining an academic conversation so simplistic that we learn nothing new does not count as scholarship; rather, it is coasting. Learning requires an encounter with information and ideas that are new to us. Dont be afraid to use a dictionary. In fact, be afraid not to use one, because there will be words we do not know without looking them upand it will make understanding the article even more difficult if we dont know what the words mean. (I usually circle a word I need to look up, then hand-write the definition in SMALL CAPITAL LETTERS in the margin. This makes the definition easier to find when I need it again.) With this in mind, use annotation to help you grasp the information and argument(s) presented in the article you are reading. Below you will find suggestions on how to annotate a reading assignment. (For future reference, this same method can work well on all kinds of reading, especially those assignments that seem difficult.)

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When you are tempted to underline or highlight (or have underlined/highlighted) a passage in the article (such as a sentence or paragraph), write a note in the margin about why you want to highlight or underline it. Mark it with the highlighter or underline it or circle it if you want, but then move on to the next step Ask yourself the following questions, then annotate the passage by writing the answer(s) in the margin. 1. What is the basic meaning (in my own words) of this part of the article? 2. Why is this passage important? (Is it a major new point, a significant support, a summary of the opposition, a really weak or really strong point? Why does it matter?) 3. What questions do I have about what it says? Or about what it is trying to say? 4. What do I agree with, or what do I doubt? (And why?) 5. Why has the author included this passage in the article? In preparation for a summary, you can also annotate entire sections of an article. Once you have carefully read a section (usually with its own title, or subhead, and often separated by extra line spacing before and after), try applying the same five questions shown above.

Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professors Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. San Franscisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.

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