Tag Archives: Annotations

Extra Credit Opportunity – Annotation Explanation: People are People are People are People

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Last semester, I broke my biggest rule I have regarding novels, that being no writing in them, no exceptions whatsoever. For whatever reason, I was overcome with feelings for the novel, and was compelled by the novel itself to write within it. It is thanks to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey that I now feel comfortable with annotating my novels; highlighting, writing, anything I feel is needed in the moment. Typically, it comes from this overwhelming feeling deep within me to tell someone of this moment. However, with no one to turn to, my notes app glares my way! Even this did not satisfy my seemingly insatiable need to convey this information within myself to another. I think what Professor Pressman has said has forever changed how I view annotating, but also captured what it was that I was seeking in that moment. I was seeking another to share my thoughts, but who better to share these thoughts with than the other themselves? As Professor has said, we are writing back to the author through the act and art of annotating. It was in that moment that I needed to write to Wilde, and that has very much stayed with me as time moves forward. If Dorian Grey was tempting me to write within his pages, then Moby-Dick is practically begging to be written in!

On this page, I wrote about the relationship I noticed between the biblical story of Eve and her temptation by the apple. I felt as though Ishmael had begun to be tempted in a similar way to Queequeg, especially as a Christian man. The highlighted segments point to areas that made me think of something else; not in a way of “I wish I were reading x or watching y right now”, but more of a possible connection to something else, whether it be an academic idea or more of a fun idea, as we see on the following image.

In the final page of chapter 10–everyone’s favourite chapter, I’m sure–shows how far Ishmael has fallen for Queequeg. He WAS a good Christian, he let Queequeg place tobacco and fifteen dollars in silver into his pockets, to which I replied, as I’m sure everyone else did, by writing “BOTTOM!” on the top of the page. Here, I saw Ishmael allowing Queequeg to do whatever it is he wanted. It echoed similar feelings I had when I read Catcher in the Rye, in that both of these characters say one thing, but never follow through, often times becoming walking contradictions and massive hypocrites. In this case, Ishmael becomes such by speaking of his religion and lamenting sleeping with Queequeg initially to the manager at the inn where they met. He speaks of his religion and his conviction to not trusting “cannibals”, and yet here he is, putty in Queequeg’s hands. The underlined section is what the written note refers to, but it is also a note to close read the language used, as he is letting it happen, not that Queequeg forced this upon him to a rejection, but an acceptance of Queequeg’s ways, at least the very first sprouting of such a relationship that flowers throughout the novel.

Through taking this class, the use of different pen colours and highlighters seems mandatory in order to cover everything one wants to examine on reread. In doing such annotations, it becomes a conversation that then helps the reader understand the text more, allowing for deeper conversations and writings on the novel, all through conversing with Melville in the margins of our novels. What I’ve gained from this exercise is how each and every time we read, the novel becomes an adaptation. We all read and understand differently, no matter how slight, and this shows best in the annotations of the novel. I cannot imagine how others annotated, especially with sticky notes, that is seemingly impossible for me! It’s a great reminder that we are all so different but that creates the spice of life, as they say. Learning from one other through our differing ways of thinking only helps us grow, not only as students, but as people!

Extra Credit – My Annotations

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I used various methods of annotating this semester, and here are some samples of the methods I ended up settling on. Overall, they made my reading experience a whole lot easier – I kept better track of the characters, plots, and themes of the book than I would have without said annotations.

I started of by check marking each chapter in the table of contents as I finished – not as a way of tracking my reading, necessarily, but as a way of encouragement, so that I could see my progress through the story. I also marked what needed to be read for each class, so that way I could stay focused on physical paper rather than constantly checking my computer. It allowed me to focus on the book itself when I had said questions about how much I had to read.

I also wrote brief 1-2 sentence summaries at the end of each chapter. In the past, when reading large books, I noticed that parts of the plot get forgotten, or it’s hard for me to keep track of all the different characters in plot threads. Thus, the solutions – chapter summaries. Sometimes they were bare bones, like this one, or they were more expansive, and sometimes humorous – it was one of many ways I found myself expressing my boredom throughout the book.

Lastly I used multiple methods of marking up the text itself. Initially I used both brackets and underlining interchangeably, but towards around the half way point I started using underlining for words or phrases that stood out to me, and brackets for longer pieces of texts – anywhere from a couple of sentences to a paragraph or so. I also wrote notes for, as in this example, I noticed references to other works, religion, or even literary techniques such as metaphors or imagery.

Overall, I would say that annotating greatly enhanced my understanding of the book. As a typically fast reader, it forced my to slow down and look at the details. This helped a ton when close reading, both in blog posts and within in class discussions.

I plan on using the methods I developed reading Moby Dick in other classes where I read an entire novel.

Annotating the inner brow

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To preface this, I’m a librarian. I struggle a lot with annotating my novels, especially ones that I hold dear, because I worry that they will cause them to fall apart faster. Moby-Dick has somewhat proven this to be true, as I have already had to use Book Tape to secure the cover in place, but it’s also really shown how much the novel itself has affected me and the ways that it’s changed my engagement with novels. I think another thing to note is that I’ve changed this copy as much as it has changed me.

I bought a second copy for my final project and decided to use it as a direct comparison to my own copy. The left copy was purchased new at the beginning of the semester. The right copy was found second-hand but in good condition. From the way that they look, I would have assumed the opposite prior to owning them.

While not super apparent in this photo, the copy with the annotations, pictured on the bottom, actually stands a little taller than the fresh copy – as though my own interpretations have caused the very pages to swell with new meaning.

Through this class, I’ve fully grown comfortable with annotating as a means of better understanding and taking the time to slow down with a novel. My annotations started as simple personal notes – haha, oh wow, etc – and evolved into ways to track the sections we mentioned during class that I may have missed, sections that struck me as full of depth, notes on the historical context, as well as questions that I want to ask myself on later reads. My annotations have become a roadmap for close reading the novel, with the tabs marking most (I ran out of tabs twice) of the annotations throughout the book.