Questions to Address when Annotating Literary Criticism

1. Who is the author of the essay?  What are his/her credentials? 

2. In what source this essay originally published?

3. Which literary element(s) is analyzed in this article?  (Character, structure, narrative/voice, plot, setting/mood, etc.)

4. In your own words, explain the main idea of this article.

5. Can you identify one or two sentences that summarize the author’s thesis? 

6. To which evidence in the primary text (the novel, play, story, etc.) does the author refer?

7. Is the work relevant to your potential thesis? How?  What evidence does it provide and how will you use it to support your thesis?

8. Discuss what you found to be the most interesting point in this article.  Do you agree or disagree with the author’s assessment?  How does this author's view compare with other criticism you have read?

For the essay you chose to reject:

Describe why you chose not to use the essay.  You may use any of the criteria above or other relevant reasons.

Sample Annotation (Remember to use MLA style for your citations!):

Nelson, Benjamin. "On The Crucible as a Depiction of Corporate Hysteria." Arthur Miller: Portrait of Playwright.  

        New York: MacKay, 1970.  150-53. Rpt. in Arthur Miller's The Crucible.  Ed. Harold Bloom.   Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, 

        1996.   41-43.

Nelson, a professor of English at Farleigh Dickinson, first published this essay in his book  Arthur Miller: Portrait of a Playwright.  Unlike many other critics, Nelson asserts that the play is neither "contemporary political allegory" nor is it "historical narrative."  Instead Miller uses the moral consciousness of the people of Salem and the fact that they were "supremely aware of the nature of their struggle" to study man and temptation, the individual's and society's constant struggle against enticement as represented by the devil.  Miller examines a theocracy whose codes were strained by "disruptive pressures" no longer binding to its younger generation.    This essay helps further my thesis exploring the theme of generational discord in the play.  Few other critics examine these concepts through the lens of mid-century business culture and of theocracies. Nelson's focus on hysteria opens up new, and interesting potential for interpretation of the play, as it easily applies to Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and Inquisitional Spain.  

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