The Web Project: Annotations
For their Final Project, students of the Digital Narratives course were asked to compose three short critical essays (approximately 300 words each). With each one they were asked to enact a different critical function; specifically, they were asked to compose annotations, arguments, and reflections.
For the first short essay, called "Annotation," the students were given the following instructions:
Select a short passage from any of the secondary readings and annotate it; that is, explain its basic meaning and significance, and situate it in the broader context of digital culture. You may want to choose a passage that raises a compelling and debatable issue.You do not need to state your own position in relation to the passage. You do not have to suggest any answers either. Just articulate the question(s).
The practice of annotation is a familiar one, especially for English students. But it is a practice that is facilitated — literally, made easier — by digital writing technologies. Our cut-and-paste culture has expedited the way we access and select other bits of text and in turn make it part of our own (con)textual fabric. In addition, the exercise of annotation was meant to establish that this critical practice is different from other critical practices, such as expressing an argument, which was the frame of the students' second short essay.