The Art of Annotation: Why the sudden popularization?

Verse of the Day: Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

When I was introduced to annotation I was in the fifth grade and it was by far one of the most dreadful words I could ever hear an English teacher say. When asked to annotate a paragraph, even I could not help but groan in disdain. I did not completely understand what the point of it was at the time and would have felt much better completing a responsive essay. My teachers argued that it was mostly to meet deadlines and show that we could properly dissect and understand what we read.

Years later, while scrolling through Instagram, I began to take note of how many

reels I saw that showed off people’s note ridden books with sticky notes galore in a variety of different ways…it peaked my curiosity so I followed the tag linked to a post and discovered an entire community dedicated to my childhood woe: Annotating! What caught me by surprise was the age group of most of its participants, it seemed to be a collective of teens and young adults who were fascinated, dare I say obsessed with annotating their books! I felt aged and completely deprived of something, as I watched hundreds of people choose their sticky note colors and patterns to match their books. I decided that I would give it a chance and yes this IS one of those times where I chose to do something because it was being popularized. Admittedly it was short lived, and although I still highlight memorable/inspiring quotes, I have come to terms that not every book I have has to be drowned in sticky notes, however it doesn’t hurt to be able to connect and understand what I read. :) What do you guys think of annotation? Share your experiences with me in the comments below, and as always..

“For the love of life and literature, stay prayerful, stay positive, and write on!”