Meera Nair’s “Annotation Exercises for Writing Fiction From the Inside Out by Meera Nair Lyrics
NB: You must create an account.
Here is a link that will help you get started. It explains how to create a username and account, how to upload stuff and how to embed links and images. Please spend a bit of time familiarizing yourself with the site. Have fun!
Assignment: You will be asked to annotate various stories that we are reading in class.
An excellent fiction annotation will:
• Give well-researched, accurate background information about historical events, locations, people, terms etc. mentioned in the story. For example, what do think of when you see Bob Dylan? Do you think Oates chose that name deliberately (of course, she did!) See examples of good annotations here:
• Explain, in a concise manner, lines or ideas that you feel may be difficult to understand. Remember this is not an essay. Your explanations probably shouldn’t exceed a short paragraph. Spend some time looking at other annotations to see what kinds of explanations work well. Avoid explaining the meaning of lines that are relatively straightforward—ie, “the character is cruel.” This information is easily gleaned from Oates's story. Instead, the reason why Oates chose to characterize Arnold through his stuffing paper in his shoe is an interesting choice and invite more interpretation.
• Be ruthless in correcting your grammar. Proofread at least twice. You are in a classroom and we do not use texting terms (bcuz,lol) in formal writing.
• Provide visual illustrations. (What does a “log cabin” look like?) When possible use “wiki commons.” If you are taking an image from a news article, give credit where credit is due. Your use of images should be relevant and informative. Ideally, images should convey information that is not immediately obvious upon reading the poem. See my annotations here:
• Make your annotation rich and robust. Provide a link:
* to a Youtube video Is there a video of Bob Dylan singing?
* to a song on soundcloud where relevant. (Is there a song called “Baby Blue” and does it obliquely complement this story?
* To a famous painting or film
• Provide a link to another work. You may think a line is referencing another story or news article or is echoed in another poem. If so, upload that work(if it isn’t already on the site) and link to it. You can also link to a song, a clip from your favorite movie, a science article, a painting etc., a newspaper article, a FB post –anything you feel may be echoing the story or expressing a similar idea.
• Provide, if it exists, a link to an audio recording of the writer reading her work. I have one up.
Here are suggestions for some annotations:
Characterization annotation: Who speaks? What can you interpret about the speaker from the dialogue given to the speaker? How does the author convey the character of the speaker? What is she doing to make minor characters in the story "pop?"
What choices does she/he give them and are those choices consistent with their character? Is there anything that feels out of character?
Interpret gestures, movement, looks. Think like writers.
Scene annotation: What is the scene telling you? How do you read between the lines of what is happening in real time in the text? What is being left unsaid between the characters?
Thematic annotation: Are images, situations, ideas, dialogue and so on being repeated? If so, can you draw connections between them? Is there an “image system” you notice? Many images of hot things? Or cracked objects?
Language annotations:Focus on the words on the page. Is there something in the tone, sentence structure, word choice of the characters' that strikes you? Are particular words repeated and how does that affect the way you react emotionally or intellectually to the character? How does the author's of language contribute to a text's literary, aesthetic, or emotional effects? How is the author using analogy, metaphor, figurative language, comparative language? Symbols?
Here is a link that will help you get started. It explains how to create a username and account, how to upload stuff and how to embed links and images. Please spend a bit of time familiarizing yourself with the site. Have fun!
Assignment: You will be asked to annotate various stories that we are reading in class.
An excellent fiction annotation will:
• Give well-researched, accurate background information about historical events, locations, people, terms etc. mentioned in the story. For example, what do think of when you see Bob Dylan? Do you think Oates chose that name deliberately (of course, she did!) See examples of good annotations here:
• Explain, in a concise manner, lines or ideas that you feel may be difficult to understand. Remember this is not an essay. Your explanations probably shouldn’t exceed a short paragraph. Spend some time looking at other annotations to see what kinds of explanations work well. Avoid explaining the meaning of lines that are relatively straightforward—ie, “the character is cruel.” This information is easily gleaned from Oates's story. Instead, the reason why Oates chose to characterize Arnold through his stuffing paper in his shoe is an interesting choice and invite more interpretation.
• Be ruthless in correcting your grammar. Proofread at least twice. You are in a classroom and we do not use texting terms (bcuz,lol) in formal writing.
• Provide visual illustrations. (What does a “log cabin” look like?) When possible use “wiki commons.” If you are taking an image from a news article, give credit where credit is due. Your use of images should be relevant and informative. Ideally, images should convey information that is not immediately obvious upon reading the poem. See my annotations here:
• Make your annotation rich and robust. Provide a link:
* to a Youtube video Is there a video of Bob Dylan singing?
* to a song on soundcloud where relevant. (Is there a song called “Baby Blue” and does it obliquely complement this story?
* To a famous painting or film
• Provide a link to another work. You may think a line is referencing another story or news article or is echoed in another poem. If so, upload that work(if it isn’t already on the site) and link to it. You can also link to a song, a clip from your favorite movie, a science article, a painting etc., a newspaper article, a FB post –anything you feel may be echoing the story or expressing a similar idea.
• Provide, if it exists, a link to an audio recording of the writer reading her work. I have one up.
Here are suggestions for some annotations:
Characterization annotation: Who speaks? What can you interpret about the speaker from the dialogue given to the speaker? How does the author convey the character of the speaker? What is she doing to make minor characters in the story "pop?"
What choices does she/he give them and are those choices consistent with their character? Is there anything that feels out of character?
Interpret gestures, movement, looks. Think like writers.
Scene annotation: What is the scene telling you? How do you read between the lines of what is happening in real time in the text? What is being left unsaid between the characters?
Thematic annotation: Are images, situations, ideas, dialogue and so on being repeated? If so, can you draw connections between them? Is there an “image system” you notice? Many images of hot things? Or cracked objects?
Language annotations:Focus on the words on the page. Is there something in the tone, sentence structure, word choice of the characters' that strikes you? Are particular words repeated and how does that affect the way you react emotionally or intellectually to the character? How does the author's of language contribute to a text's literary, aesthetic, or emotional effects? How is the author using analogy, metaphor, figurative language, comparative language? Symbols?