Some timely tips on annotating fiction in your texts

First, be sure your text is clearly identified with your name and contact details�and ideally a promise of reward for its return, if someone finds it. You do not want to lose the text once it contains all your thoughtful, painstaking notes.

I recommend eight types of annotation based on Aristotle�s six elements of (tragic) literature as detailed in the Poetics, plus two we must add to his list since we're dealing with a different literary mode--fiction instead of tragedy.  These would be narrator and imagery. Here�s what you might consider:

1. Note dramatic conflicts, reversals, resolutions of the plot, major shifts in episode, flashbacks. When does the plot take ironic twists? As the plot moves from place to place, consider summarizing events in the margin so you can re-enter the story quickly.

2. Annotate key dialogue that reveals character, actions and choices that indicate what motivates the characters, reactions to events that help you understand them. List character traits these reveal to you. When does the narrator show us these traits, and when does he tell us about them? Are there ironic traits in the character? Who is the protagonist? Antagonist? What is the nature of their conflict? Round? Flat? Are any of the minor characters more significant than they seem at first?  It might help to keep a table of characters in the text.

3. Circle and define words or references unfamiliar to you (diction). What does the diction tell us about the intended audience or the narrator himself? What literary antecedents are there for the diction? Allusions? Are there terms that the author wants us especially to contemplate?

4. Note the main philosophical ideas (thought) at issue. What concepts are being tested? Are there dichotomies of main ideas? Is there any inescapable symbolism? Why? What does the story try to teach us?

5. Are there any particularly stunning turns of phrase, beautiful passages of dialogue, memorable lines? Do either the narrator or any of the characters have an spell of writing charming melody?

6. What are the most impressive visual scenes, spectacle? Where are they located?  What is the role of nature in this fiction?  Interiors vs. exteriors. 

7. Related to the preceding, what types of imagery dominate the story and why? Are there any emblems or significant details?

8. Finally, note the main passages that help us understand the narrator: narrative intrusions, explicit narrative judgments, moments of narrative uncertainty, mood swings.

Remember that I give one bonus point on your quizzes for each textual typo you find in our editions that I haven't already discovered.  Only the first person to make the discovery gets the bonus point.  Check against the online facsimile before submitting your discovery.