Annotation is very personal in that it is the reader's
transaction with the text. Each reader will come to a text with his/her own life
experiences and background knowledge, for that reason, each reader will want to
highlight a different aspect of the text. As a general rule for those beginning to use
annotation, you may want to underline/highlight interesting words/phrases. You may want
to circle unknown vocabularly. You may want to question what the text means by writing a
note in the margins, or you may use marginal notes to jot down ideas you have about
meaning, or literary elements. In the reference links, I am linking an article by Dr.
Robert Adler, about how to mark a book.
Regarding Sonia
Sanchez's poem, it is best to begin one stanza at a time. (Annotations will be
bolded)
Our vision is our
voice --Alliteration. Their goal is
their guide.
we cut through the country
where madmen
goose step in tune to Guernica. --Guernica was bombed during the Spanish
Civil War in the 1930s.
we are people made o
fire
we walk with ceremonial breaths
we have condemned talking
mouths. -Condemned talking mouths? They don't want to hear other's voices?
Mouths - Guernica -- perhaps referring to the Pablo Picasso
painting?
we run without legs
we
see without eyes
loud laughter breaks over our heads. -Must be
the Picasso painting, it fits the image. This is an ekphrastic poem,
then.
This is a sample
of how to annotate, but as stated earlier, it is best to do this with your own voice,
because only you will be able to interpret what you know; however, I hope this will help
guide you in the direction you should be looking. (Second link is to an image of
Picasso's painting of Guernica.)
No comments:
Post a Comment