Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Handout #

Annotating a Source NOTES

Part I: NotesDifferent Types of Sources

In order to understand people and events from the past, historians make inferences using
documents.
A _________________________ is any kind of written or visual source of information
(letters, artwork, films, maps, books, speeches, journal entries).
A _________________________ is a document that was created by someone who was
actually alive during the time period.
Examples: Newspapers, journal entries, photographs
A _________________________ is a document created by someone who did NOT live
during the time period.
Example: Textbooks
_________________________ is the process of writing explanatory notes in the margins
of a text to organize and remember information, as well as writing questions and comments to
connect with the text.
Part II: HOW to Annotate a Source
Step
1. Chunk

2. Mark

3. Main Idea

4. CCQs

Description
Just as you would with a large piece of food, you need to chunk a text into
manageable pieces.
Most often, you can chunk a text by paragraph, or section thats under a bolded
heading
Circle words that are important and/or you dont understand
Underline important ideas
Put numbers next to supporting ideas under the main idea
Put a question mark next to a sentence or section you do not understand
After reading through the chunk at least once, write the MAIN IDEA in the
LEFT-hand margin. Think about what the text is saying, and try to summarize
that chunk in 10-15 words.
CCQs stands for Comments, Connections, and Questions. In the RIGHThand margin, you want to dig deeper into the text to make CCQs to more
deeply understand what the author is doing with this text and/or why it is
relevant to the historical period we are studying.