Embedded Files
I import each piece as a PDF into the app GoodNotes so I can annotate it.
When making annotations, you want to focus on all the topics mentioned and evidence used by the author as they establish their claim. While the objective of reading through the work stays the same—to understand the secondary source and see if it proves useful to add in your essay—it is important to highlight, underline, look up words, and write the key points in the margins in order to truly comprehend the author's position; then determine if the piece of work will be a beneficial addition.
When annotating, the method I prefer is on my iPad using the GoodNotes app. I can mark-up and comment anything I would like on the pages while reading the text which makes it easy to create clear and concise notes. While doing so, I also switch to the Dictionary app to help define anything I come across that I do not know.
I look up names and words from the text that I do not recognize in the app Dictionary.
Behar, Ruth. “Sex and Sin, Witchcraft and the Devil in Late-Colonial Mexico” American Ethnologist vol. 14, no. 1, 1987, pp. 44.
When I read scholarly work, the annotations I make are to help me better recall what was mentioned in each portion. I will often put a couple-word summary next to each paragraph or paragraph cluster so when going back to review the piece, I have a good gist as to the sequence of events laid out in front of me. When I read something I believe may be a good quote to integrate within my essay, I like to mark it as a "good claim to use as evidence". Doing this helps for when it comes time to writing because I typically then do not need to search intensely for quotes, but rather just look for this annotation.
Behar, Ruth. “Sex and Sin, Witchcraft and the Devil in Late-Colonial Mexico” American Ethnologist vol. 14, no. 1, 1987, pp. 39.
Color-coding helps me differentiate my annotations so I can clearly see the purpose for why I wrote each thing. I know that if I see pink highlight it means there is a word I do not know the exact definition of or a name of someone I do not know and so I look it up, when there is yellow highlight there is an important statement that adds to the author's argument and therefore is usually relating to the thesis, when I summarize a paragraph into a few words I use red pen to match the bracket I use to section off the paragraph(s). All these small details come together to really help me understand the purpose of the text and make it easier for myself in the long run when I need to refer back to the text in order to find specific evidence.
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