Annotating a scholarly article

While reading Leon G. Campbell's chapter titled "Ideology and Factionalism during the Great Rebellion, 1780-1782," from Peasant World: 18th to 20th Centuries, edited by Steve J. Stern, I took note of a series of tools that I use to understand the chapter's information on a deeper level. My annotating strategy includes underlining & highlighting important information, defining unknown words, and writing my own thoughts and summaries of the material in the margins. I also find it useful to do further research on specific topics I don't know much about, and subsequently re-reading what the author wrote about that topic with a new understanding of it.

Before reading: gathering context

Prior to beginning my journey into Campbell's chapter, let's review some background information for clarity and understanding. The time period is the early 1780s, at the height of the Spanish conquest of the Andes. An elite Incan curaca named Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui grew tired of seeing his fellow indigenous people suffering from forced labor under Spanish rule. He renamed himself Tupac Amarú II, after an Inca leader who had been executed by Spanish soldiers, and led a rebellion against the Spanish. This is just a brief explanation of historical context, but it should help with understanding Campbell's chapter.

The basics: highlighting & underlining

While I read an article, I often highlight key words & phrases, and underline sentences that seem of great importance. Key words & phrases are often indicated by the author using italics or quotation marks. Names, dates, and places also fall into this category. I also underline sentences that are important to the author's claim or thesis.

Encountering Unknown Words

Whenever I get to an unknown word while reading, I immediately stop and look up the definition online. Then I highlight the word and write its definition in the margin. For example, I came across the word "cacique" on page 112. I found the definition on Merriam-Webster's Dictionary online, wrote it in the margins, and carried out the same process for the word "corregidores."

Margins are everyone's best friend

Writing notes in the margins allows me to summarize the paragraphs as I read, and take note of certain things I'd like to know more about. By paraphrasing the text in my own words, I force myself to comprehend exactly what the author is saying. If I don't understand what the text means, I'll write a question in the margins instead.

In this example, I boxed the phrase "purpose of this chapter" because here is where the author clearly explains their goal for the text. Then I concisely re-worded this in the margins for the next time I review the text. Then, I noted a few events the author mentioned that I will research later.

A 20th-century drawing of Tupac Amaru II in the Andean mountains of Perú. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_T%C3%BApac_Amaru_II)

After reading: further research

In the example above, I took a note in the margin that I wanted to know more about what the author was referencing when he wrote about "movements centered in Cuzco, Sorata, Puno, and La Paz." After a bit of searching, I've learned that this is referring to a series of events in which indigenous Andeans rebelled against Spanish forces, including the rebellion led by Tupac Amaru II (pictured).

These annotation tools allow me to fully grasp the concept of a text while reading it. Creating notes in the margins to summarize paragraphs keeps me thinking about the author's message. Defining unknown terms and highlighting/underlining key words can provide clarity, and point out the most important parts pf the text for when I go back to re-read it in the future. Lastly, writing questions in the margins and taking note of topics to research allows me to keep thinking about the text, even after I've read it. The combination of these annotation techniques help me establish a deeper understanding of the text and the author's claim.

Text used:

Campbell, Leon. “Ideology and Factionalism during the Great Rebellion, 1780-1782,” Resistance, Rebellion, and Consciousness in the Andean Peasant World: 18th to 20th Centuries, edited by Steve J. Stern, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987, pp. 110 – 139.

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