While the site is under construction, some pages may be unavailable. Those interested in adding missing info for service hours, please reach out.
What Is It: How the words of a text are organized. We find it in the different uses of punctuation, various sentence lengths, and the use of parallel structure or repetition.
How to Annotate for It: Pay attention to any structure that breaks the norm. If there are all declarative sentences and one sentence has an exclamation mark, ask why. If there are mostly long sentences and then one is short, ask why. If they repeat the same subject/verb multiple times, ask why. If one section is cut off from other parts (either indented strangely or a single line by itself), ask why.
In Night, Elie Wiesel makes a stand that atrocities of human history can never be forgotten because they have had a profound impact on who we are as a people. Reflecting on his own experience in a German concentration camp, he continuously uses the phrase “Never shall I forget” to describe his first night at camp and the impact it had on him. Wiesel starts personal, claiming that “never shall I forget that first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night” to emphasize that this is a night that he will never recover from. As he goes on, the continued use of “Never shall I forget” helps to progressively guide the reader from his experience, to the experience of humankind, and finally to a cosmic experience, and that none of these parties are allowed to forget. For instance, a few lines after claiming he shall never forget that first night, he discusses how he shall never forget “the faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke” to connect his experience of the consternation camp with something that all of humanity should be concerned about. Later, he talks about how he shall never forget “the moments that murdered my God and my soul” to claim that what happened in those moments has a cosmic dimension, rejecting the possibility of a God in a world that could allow such atrocities to happen. Each “never shall I forget” in this passage intensifies the scope of how that night marked Wiesel, from his own experience to that of humans, to the death of a God. In this intensification, Wiesel not only emphasizes that this is something he shall never forget, he also claims that this is something the world can never forget because it concerns the world. By extension, he even challenges his dead God to never forget what happened in that space. For any of those involved—himself, the world, or God—to forget is to miss the ways that this moment has defined world history and the meaning of humanity. In the process, Wiesel turns his personal statement “Never shall I forget” into a command to remember. Appropriating the language of Biblical commandments, he seems to demand “Thou shall never forget.”
What Is It: There are four main types of conflict: Man v. Man, Man v. Nature, Man v. Society, and Man v. Self. Usually an author will use a mixture of these to develop complexity in their work. You want to be able to discuss how one conflict leads into another or how the resolution of one conflict can make another.
How to Annotate for It: Pay attention to what struggles main characters are facing and what dynamic it resembles. I would also spend time thinking about the structure of the conflicts (Cause/Effect, Problem/Solution, Chronological, etc.) as this can help you explain how the conflicts interact with one another.
In NBC’s The Americas, the producers reveal how setting shapes the character traits and social structures of those living there by exploring how animals navigate competing conflicts and how their current characterization may not be suited to changes in setting. For instance, the Amazonian harpy eagles have adapted to live high in the trees so that they are able to hunt, a necessary part of survival. This high location, however, also exposes their young to the fiercest elements, such as Amazonian rainstorms or the exposed heat of the treetops, a threat the producers make evident in close up shots of the mother’s dry tongue or landscapes of rolling black clouds. These Man v. Nature level challenges create an internal conflict where mothers must stay with their young in order to protect them from the elements while also fighting their instinct to hunt for food. In response, the eagles have developed a lifelong pair relationship so that one is always available to protect the young while another is out hunting. In this instance, the unpredictability of weather becomes a constant change in their environment that introduces new conflicts to which the harpy eagles have needed to adapt over the generations. So far, they have been successful at this, illustrating how their setting has shaped the skills and relationships they have. However, there is also a new conflict from another direction. With the rise of deforestation from humans, large forestland with hunting lands available have shrunk. As a result, partner eagles may be away from the nest longer than in the past while hunting and may not return in time. The distance they must travel to find food is not currently something for which the eagles are adapted, and over time it may force them to change their character to better fit the new environment or go extinct. By pulling together moments of internal conflict around competing instincts, the external challenges of nature, and rising challenges from humanity, the producers reveal how deeply place has impacted us and that changes to place can be detrimental.
What Is It: Authors will occasionally put two or more plots happening at the same time in the story to tell how the story develops in multiple places. This can emphasize complex characterization, multiple perspectives on subjective truths, or highlight a conflict. They can also drive reader engagement as readers are left on cliffhangers, building suspense and encouraging them to return for more.
How to Annotate for It: You will notice a parallel plot if there is a shift in time/place with a different set of characters at the center of the action. The main goal while reading through Parallel Plots is to ask how one plot impacts the others. Highlight where the actions in one story end up impacts what happens elsewhere so you can connect those threads.
Coming Soon...
What Is It: Related to Parallel Plots, Denouement is the moment when all of our Parallel Plots or conflicts come together into one neat solution. This produces an emotional release, called Catharsis, among readers who enjoy how the pieces all fit together.
How to Annotate for It: As the climax of the story passes and characters start connecting the lines, think back to how the different conflicts have come together and how the solution to one maybe helped solve another. Being able to outline how they fit together to create catharsis helps emphasize the sublimity of such a moment.
Coming Soon...
What Is It: Authors can start the story one of two ways. Ab Initio is the traditional beginning ("Once upon a time") that literally starts from the beginning of the action. In Media Res by contrast starts in the middle of the action and has to use a series of flashbacks to help the reader figure out how they got there. This can build suspense as the author slowly unravels the backstory. Likewise, it can refocus the theme away from the outcome and onto the process.
How to Annotate for It: Are you missing information at the start of the story. What got the character to the point where you first notice them? Do you feel like you are missing anything crucial? This can help you decide how the story started.
Coming Soon...
What Is It: As the story develops, the author may need to make changes in the progression of the story or provide past information. Flashbacks jump back in time before the main plot. Flashforwards jump forward in time after the main plot. Foreshadowing hints at what might come later (emphasis on hints). Asides break the 4th wall so that the narrator may speak to the reader apart from the action to provide some background details.
How to Annotate for It: Mark anytime the author makes a change in the timing of the story and make an inference on why they might have made that change. Are they providing necessary background information? Do they want you to be misdirected? Is this helping you to interpret a new relationship showing up on the page?
Coming Soon...
What Is It: HERE
How to Annotate for It: HERE
Coming Soon...