Remember when you were little, and you would write/draw in your books. Your parents would of course yell at you, or tell you that that was not okay, and take the book away. Turns out you were a pretty advanced four year old and just didn’t realize it yet. What you were doing was called annotating. Annotating is almost always a love hate relationship. No matter how you put it, there are going to be ups to annotating, and downs. Annotating can be an amazing study tool. Whenever you have a test over a book, it’s astonishing how much time you save, and how much easier it is, studying with an annotated book. Last year, I read The Secret Life of Bees in my literature class. I had missed quite a few days, and missed quite a few pages of the book. I ended borrowing the book from a friend, and it was unbelievable how much more I comprehended reading it with the annotations on the side. When the exam came up in the winter, I went back, looked at the annotations, and passed with flying colors. I couldn’t have aced it without annotations. There are downsides of annotating. It’s extremely easy to over annotate, or as my fifth grade teacher put it as …show more content…
getting a little “highlighter happy.” It is SO easy to get carried away, and underline, highlight, or take note of every detail. Even ones that have nothing to do with the big picture. I feel like that’s what a lot of people struggle with. The bigger picture. In the end of the book, it’s not going to matter what color of jacket the character was wearing when she fell off the roof. What really matters is that she fell off the roof, and events that led her to fall off the roof. Another example would be if the character changed the color of her hair, and started wearing make-up. Those are some big changes about her appearance, but why did she make them. You have to look at the bigger picture for that event. Did she do it for a guy? Was she going through a life crisis, or an identity crisis? Did she do it to fit in with a group at school? All of those aspects effect the change. You may focus, and highlight, or underline, on the fact she dyed her hair, but not notice that she started to like a guy that dates girls with red hair and makeup. Annotation has the ability to clear-up, and help you understand, the text. When you annotate, you focus on what things mean, you notice context clues that lead you to conclusions and inferences. It causes you to have a deeper knowledge of what you read. So now when the teacher asks a question, you can go in depth with your answer, and have fun with it. You can also ask more in depth questions on characters actions and behaviors, or why that time period or setting. Having a better understanding of the text will help you receive a better grade, and grow your literary knowledge. One downfall of annotating is the time and focus it takes to annotate correctly.
Yes, the focus and time you put into annotating definitely shows through grades, exams, and over all understanding and knowledge of the passage. But it can be draining at points to notice those details, and then take note of it. Especially if you’re an athlete like me. I get carsick extremely easily so I can’t read on the bus on the way to or from a game. So I have to do homework when I get back home around ten o’clock at night. By then I am mentally and physically drained. The least of my worries is whether some girl finds out secrets about her mother, or if the guy gets the girl. Let alone actually going in depth to understand the actions and dialogue of the text. So, yes it does help you in the long run, but actually doing it can be
brutal. Over all, annotating is a love hate relationship. Some people love it, some people hate it. Some people like to do it sometimes, and other times dread the thought of a highlighter and book. It all depends on your overall experience with annotation. No one can make you sit down and love to read and annotate. I personally hate reading, but love annotating. The only way to get me to finish a book is letting me tear it apart, spine to cover, and break down every bit of information and come up with the conclusion. Somedays I’m that four year old drawing all over my story, and other days I’m that teen that all I want to do is watch the movie based on the book. It’s just a love and hate relationship.
2. Chapter 2, page 18, #3: “It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything.”
According to Runciman, there are many plausible reasons that students and other people don’t enjoy writing. Evidence, assumptions, and language and tone are the basis for which Runciman makes his argument. Overall, this argument is effective because reliable and well known sources are used in a logical fashion. Also, the assumptions made about the audience are accurate and believable. Runciman used his assumptions wisely when writing his claim and in turn created a compelling, attention capturing argument. The article was written so that students and teachers at any level could understand and easily read it. This argument is interesting, captivating, relevant through its age, and can relate to students and teachers at almost every academic level.
What goes through your mind when you read? Do you read deliberately, looking for certain aspects, or do you read as a blank slate? When reading, professors expect a deliberateness that will help you to uncover meanings that are not readily apparent. Thomas C. Foster in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” expands on this concept. He endeavors to instruct his readers in the way he believes they should read, in order to get the most out of each book. He concedes that, “When lay readers encounter a fictive text, they focus, as they should, on the story and the characters” but to truly read like a professor you must also divert a portion of your attention on “other elements of the novel” such as “memory… symbol… [And] pattern” (Foster, 15). Foster clarifies
They must form lessons that should aid students in understanding composition, definitions, transition words, and symbolism. There is no denying the significance these lectures bring; however, for some students, it is not enough to repetitively apply the mentioned rules to discussions they find disinterest in, deciding for themselves unwilling to participate in the conversation teachers beg for students to join. As mentioned, Fish proclaims that to diverge from teaching subject matter any other way that is not specifically academic, deviates too much and distracts from the correct process of intellectual thought. In his The New York Times piece, "What Should Colleges Teach?", Fish states his stance expressing one must "teach the subject matter" alone and not to "adulterate it with substitutes". He continues praising "the virtue of imitation," asking students to "reproduce [great author's] forms with a different content". Already, Fish demands from students derivative mimicry in which they must glean an understanding of another's process. I echo Fish's own question: "How can [one] maintain... that there is only one way to teach writing?" As students, we desire to express ourselves, and to follow the principles Fish speaks of, to "[repeat] over and over again in the same stylized motions", confines us from discovering the beauty and potential writing can bring. Rather, students are taught we must so closely follow fastidious rules and decorative wording, teaching English may as well, as Fish writes, "make students fear that they are walking through a minefield of error," and to use such a method makes students believe to write any other way will cause them to "step on something that will wound them", the odds of students learning anything are diminished (Stanley Fish, "What Should
I find it easier expressing myself through words and understanding other individual 's thoughts and actions through speech and writing. By studying a piece of text I am able to retrieve a lot of relevant information from it, I find this an easy way to learn because I reflect back by making notes so I am able to look back on notes for situations such as assignments and revision for exams. This is why I find reading techniques such as skim and scan reading difficult because I need to read a piece of text, highlight the important information and make notes to ensure that I have gained a good understanding. I could possibly improve an approach for my reading by looking at step by step guides to skim and scan reading online. This could help for large amounts of reading which I have to read quickly in seminars and lectures and to draw only the important information
It is very easy to agree with Moebius statement that ‘good’ picture books contain some form of invisible and intangible concepts that keeps the reader returning. In Voices in the Park it is very easy to see Moebius idea due to the ability of technology to create detailed and complex books. In contrast, Potter has produced a book that more subtle in showing this relying not on technology like Voices in the Park but working within severe limitations. Blending page turns, text, colour to create understandable concepts. Goodman comments that some would argue that these elements in pictures interfere with and detract from the text, and thus undermine the confidence of the reader. An extrapolation of this idea is that preconceived ideas and pictures of another spoil the reader’s entrance to literacy.
One advantage of using annotated bibliography, which aids research to formulate an awareness of many conflicting and sometimes conflicting answers. The researcher increase an understanding of the total body of inquiry on a selected topic. In other words, putting together an annotated bibliography aids the researcher to obtain a fuller sense of the effects of many different studies on the same the same subject.
When it comes to reading in general however, I annotate quite often. According to the passage, "Annotating as you read is a powerful method for making sure you have something relevant to say about a given text" Making little comments about what I read helps me to remember what has happened. I
There were many concepts that I learned during this course and there are a few of them that I have integrated into my study habits each time I read a passage. The first one is authorial intent, and according to Duvall & Hays (2012), it is when the author stresses the determination of the meaning of the text (p. 193). The reader must research for what the author is saying a remove their own interpretation. This compels me to forget what I have learned in the past and read with a fresh open mind
In Bob Mayberry’s article “Why Doesn’t This Look Like High School English?” He hits the topic that having your teacher correct and mark up your paper isn’t as beneficial as we thought. “ From the markings your teacher leaves scrawled across your paper, you will figure out how to rewrite it. Right? And from this habit of making the improvements teachers suggest to you year after year, you will learn to be a better writer. Wrong.”(2) This really was a shocker to me but made sense in the sense of they just tell you exactly what they want you to fix and you fix it and get a better grade but that in itself isn’t learning. You are just doing what's on that paper instead of thinking about what needs to be fixed to make the paper better not just for the teacher but better as a whole. By having a classmate or someone else give me advice it can help me learn where I need to grow and improve as well as teach me to learn how to ask for help in the areas I believe need improvement. And that's a skill I learned in college this
The different types of learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual learners prefer to study with the aid of visual stimulus like diagrams, images, drawings, mind-maps. Auditory learners prefer to study by listening, watching videos with sound, and reading out loud. Kinesthetic learners prefer to study by actually doing an activity, writing out notes while in a lecture, doodling while listening, or practical work. These learning styles will benefit you in developing a studying and note-taking routine. When you know your learning style, you can adapt your notes accordingly. For example, visual learners may want to use symbols or color coding while kinesthetic learners may want to use doodles to display information. Note-taking is an effective way of studying and will help students feel more confident when exam time comes around. In addition, simply reading through textbook pages is not effective, you must annotate your text to fully process the information. For example, highlighting the text is a good way to emphasize the main concepts that you will need to grasp for the exams. No one is going to take your exams for you so it is best that you adapt your note taking and reading methods to fit you
Descriptive annotations review the subject matters of each work, minus reference or assessment. They’re precisely small or sufficient to seize the essence of your work. The authors of descriptive annotations depict not their own opinions but they explain them factually and it’s recognized in MLA style not suggesting if it’s good or not. Evaluative annotations suggests viewpoints on a basis and define it and frequently supportive in considering how valuable a foundation can be for your writing. The sources in detail not only portray but it analyzes the writer’s effectiveness for his own assignment.
One of the most prominent forms of writing in children’s lives is essay writing and writing for school. These skills become important later on in life when these children grow up to become adults and the reports that are written are for something far more important than a mark. Past generations were limited to where they can go to have a piece of literature edited. The furthest their resources could expand would have been teachers, or anyone who was willing to edit. Today’s generation has the technology that allows them to seek help from someone who may have problems in their own writing. Computers are the first major improvement to editing. They catch initial and obvious mistakes that would otherwise go unnoticed because a person is so used to their own writing. There are many websites that help students learn how to cite the information. An example of this is Owl Perdue; it teaches people how to cite information for essays, reports. It teaches someone how to cite information from online sources, books, journals, etc. There are also many websites where students who want to learn what grammatical mistakes they make can point out what some of their downfalls are. This allows students (or anyone who wants some of their literary work edited) to learn from their mistakes. Future literary pieces will become easier to enjoy and
From a very young age, writing has been a passion of mine. Through writing I have developed an understanding of my personality and learning capabilities. One of the main components to my personal learning style is the necessity of writing. I have a strong need and urge to write everything down. While some students learn well in a lecture environment, extensive note taking is often required for me to retain any information. Written notes also correspond with the visualization and tactile elements of my learning abilities. Having something tangible at my disposure is the easiest way for my personality to respond to the material.
We were asked to specify our personalized outcomes in the beginning of the year, one of the most important parts of this for me was critical thinking. Critical thinking is an easy phrase to understand however is a more difficult process to actually follow through with. I wanted to find multiple senses of the text. Seminar taught me skills in which I have become more comfortable with analyzing a text. For example, through asking questions and annotating my book I have been able to understand more of the author’s intentions. In class when discussing Virginia Woolf’s “ How to read a book” I added more than twenty annotations to my book during the discussion. Along, with many of my peers I was at first dreading to read this essay because I thought this was going to be a borin...