How to Annotate an Extract (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

What does it mean to annotate an extract?

Annotating means picking out the most useful parts of a text and writing short notes beside them. In the exam, your annotations are the first stage of your plan: they show you which evidence you will use and what you will say about it.

Your English Literature exams are closed-book, so the printed extract or poem is the only text in front of you. Annotating it carefully gives you evidence that is ready to use. Examiners notice the difference: where there is evidence of planning, “there is frequently a well-constructed answer that follows”.

How to annotate an extract in your exam

Here is how to annotate an extract in five steps:

• Read the question first: underline its key words, so you know what you are looking for

• Read the extract once without writing on it: pay special attention to the short introduction above it, and work out what is happening at this point in the text

• Underline the details that link to the question: choose four to six short quotations, often a single word or phrase

• Note what each detail shows: write a few words in the margin about how it links to the question and why the writer chose it

• Link to the rest of the text: note where else in the text the same idea appears, if the question asks about the whole text

Here’s how you might annotate part of a Macbeth extract. The key words in the question and the introduction to the extract are underlined, as well as the textual details selected. The details are numbered, and the table below the extract shows the margin note for each one.

Question: Starting with this speech, explore how far Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an ambitious character.

Notes 1 to 3 show what holds Macbeth back, and notes 4 and 5 show that ambition alone is not enough to make him act. Note 5 is starred because it answers “how far” most directly.

How do you turn your annotations into a plan?

Your annotations are already most of your plan. When you have finished annotating:

• Star your best idea: the detail that answers the question most directly becomes the core of your thesis statement (your overall answer to the question)

• Group your notes into three or four main ideas

• Number the ideas in the order you will write about them

Here is the plan these Macbeth annotations give you:

How long should you spend annotating?

Annotate during your planning time, not as a separate task. A few minutes is usually enough for one extract or poem. Stop once you have enough evidence for your plan: annotation is only useful if it saves you time when you write. The table at the end of this page shows how this fits each question.

What should you look for when you annotate?

Look for details that help you answer the question, such as:

• Words and images linked to the focus: for example, anything about ambition, power or kindness, depending on the question

• Changes and turning points: words such as “But” or “Besides” often signal a change of thought or mood

• Contrasts: between characters, between ideas, or between how the extract begins and ends

• The ending: the last lines of an extract or poem often show the writer’s message most clearly

• Links to the rest of the text: what happens before or after this moment

What should you avoid?

• Technique labels on their own: examiners point out that a technical term “may identify a literary device, but on its own it says nothing of its impact and effect”

• Highlighting everything: if you underline or highlight most of the extract, nothing stands out when you plan

• Writing full sentences in the margins: keep your notes to a few words. A note only needs to remind you of your idea, because you will explain it fully in your essay, and writing sentences uses up planning time

How to annotate a poem for a comparison question

Annotating a poem uses the same five steps as an extract. Poems pack a lot of meaning into a few words, so read slowly and look for who is speaking, repeated words, a shift in tone and the last line. In a comparison question, it’s a great idea to annotate with your second poem in mind. There are two kinds of comparison question, and you annotate them differently.

How do you annotate for the anthology comparison?

In the anthology question, only one poem is printed. You choose the second poem and write about it from memory. Annotate the printed poem for the question, then:

• Jot down your second poem: write two or three short quotations from it in the margin, from memory

• Link the two poems: use an arrow to show where the two poems are similar or different, and add a word or two to say how

The table below shows annotations of Blake’s ‘London’ for a comparison question, with ‘Ozymandias’ as the second poem. The third column shows the link each note makes to ‘Ozymandias’.

Question: Compare how poets present ideas about power and control in ‘London’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’.

Jotted in the margin from ‘Ozymandias’: “sneer of cold command”, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”, “lone and level sands”

The starred note gives a thesis about power and control, and the links give you the comparison: both poems show cruel power, but in ‘London’ it controls everything, while in ‘Ozymandias’ it does not last.

How do you annotate for the unseen comparison?

In the unseen comparison, both poems are printed and you won’t have studied either of them. Annotate them in this order:

• Read the questions first: they tell you what the poems are about

• Read the first poem without writing on it: work out who is speaking and what the situation is

• Read it again and underline: pick out the details that answer the question

• Annotate the second poem for methods only: underline the methods you can compare with the first poem, and note which part of the first poem each one links to

Annotating in your AQA English Literature exam

In your AQA English Literature exams, you cannot take your set texts in with you. You can only annotate what is printed on the question paper, and that is different for each question.

This table shows how to approach each part of your two exam papers: