Annotations are Agonizing; How Do I Get Through It?

By: Colby Walzer

My Painful, Personal, First Experience

It was the summer before junior year, I was ready to have a blast and hang out with my friend, go watch a movie, or just do anything exciting I couldn’t achieve in the regular school year, but alas, things in the summer cannot be so simple. The summer work for AP Language and Composition required the class to read and annotate the entirety of Stephen King’s The Shining.

Thus, the terror began. Hours upon hours of filling every page in the book up with notes; 600 pages of life draining energy. That was my first true horror experience with annotations. Annotations are absolutely disgusting, I can’t lie, but they also play a vital part in the process of analyzation. Now, I think it can be easily agreed upon that finding syntax/themes in the text of a book is a challenging task, especially when coupled together with the large length of pages needing annotations. I do believe, however, there are three steps to not only get better with annotations, but also to actually get through it without losing your mind.

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Step 1: Separate Sections of Annotating Teachers tell students to separate sections of annotating all the time and not do it the night before, but nobody listens (including me). Honestly, however, I wish I would’ve taken that advice, as it would of made my time annotating so much easier. Cramming in a ton of annotations the day before it’s due is legitimately draining to a person’s time and mental state. Separating the annotations into sections helps out a ton; it doesn’t get rid of the time needed to complete it, but you’ll feel a whole lot better than if you did it all at once.

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Step 2: Take Breaks In annotating these sections, your mind will definitely feel destroyed by the amount of thought being put into it. Take a break and refuel that mind energy. When annotating a person needs all the energy they can get to complete the task at hand.

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Step 3: Don’t Lose Your Mind Staying strong throughout annotations is the key to completing them. There’s too much going on, and it’s necessary that one stays persistent throughout. The world of annotations is challenging, you could be mentally destroyed, but by staying strong throughout, you can finish the assignment.

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For the Greater Good By following these steps, anyone can be better at annotations. These are simple things to follow, but challenging to stay committed to. The procrastinating mind takes hold of everyone; just remember, these steps will only help improve your experience with annotations, and I hope you use them to your will.

Annotations are challenging, they are time consuming, and there’s no doubt they‘re despised among students, but with the right strategies, one can walk away feeling fulfilled with the work put into the task.

Good luck and stay strong.