Annotation is a note added to a text. And you’re an annotator. You read and write annotation every day, it patterns the warp and weft of daily life.
Welcome to #Annotate22—one year, 365 examples—a project that’s part syllabus, educational mixtape, and public pedagogy.
Read Remi’s introductory tweet and January thread on Twitter.
Read February: Annotation on | March: Annotation with | April: Annotation in | May: Annotation for | June: Annotation by | July: Annotation marks | August: Annotation documents
January 31: Annotation is a composition of cups added to a school fence.
January 31 tweet | January 31 Hypothesis annotation
The Black Lives Matter At School #BLMAtSchool Week of Action starts today, January 31st, and continues through February 4th. For resources–including lesson plans, a “starter kit,” and additional information–visit Black Lives Matter at School. #Annotate22 31/365.
January 30: Annotation is the Bogside People’s Gallery.
January 30 tweet | January 30 Hypothesis annotation
“Mural painting emerged in the early years of the twentieth century as a means of marking territory, commemorating history, celebrating culture and defining identity…It also retains the potential to be taken up as part of a wider process that might serve as a medium for tracing common threads, shared ideas or alternative perspectives.” Today is the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. #BloodySunday50 #Annotate22 30/365
Source: “Murals” by the Bogside Artists.
January 29: Annotation is a mask.
January 29 tweet | January 29 Hypothesis annotation
“Someone trolled the basketball legend by adding a mask to the statue of Stockton outside of where the Jazz play.” John Stockton has not complied with mask mandates indoors. #Annotate22 29/365
Source: CBS Sports.
January 28: Annotation is a note to my son.
January 28 tweet | January 28 Hypothesis annotation
“I first read Maus, this very copy, in middle school. We’ll read this book together, someday, as you carry forward the history of our people.” School board in Tennessee bans teaching of Maus. #Annotate22 28/365
Source: The New York Times.
January 27: Annotation is a label, with data, indicating bias.
January 27 tweet | January 27 Hypothesis annotation
84% of the federal judges confirmed under President Trump, or 197 judges, were White (and 76% were men), according to an analysis by the American Constitution Society. #Annotate22 27/365
Source: American Constitution Society.
January 26: Annotation is Not Recommended.
January 26 tweet | January 26 Hypothesis annotation
“Yesterday (Jan 24) I saw ‘Where Would You Fit In?’ This is it, with my ‘Not Recommended’ conclusion overlaid on it.” An Analysis, by Debbie Reese, of a Teachers Pay Teachers worksheet that teaches students “to glorify colonization and slavery.” #Annotate22 26/365
Source: Debbie Reese.
January 25: Annotation is unbought and unbossed.
January 25 tweet | January 25 Hypothesis annotation
“I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” Shirley Chisholm announced her presidential bid on this day, January 25, 1972. #Annotate22 25/365
Source: Speculative Annotation.
January 24: Annotation is a meme about annotation.
January 24 tweet | January 24 Hypothesis annotation
“In the end, the production of footnotes sometimes resembles less the skilled work of a professional carrying out a precise function to a higher end than the offhand production and disposal of waste products.” Anthony Grafton, The Footnote: A Curious History, p. 6. #Annotate22 24/365
Meme source: Matthew J.M. Coomber.
January 23: Annotation is a signed petition.
January 23 tweet | January 23 Hypothesis annotation
“Eliminate the poll tax” and “other restrictions upon the free and universal exercise of the franchise.” The 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the payment of poll taxes, was ratified on this day, January 23, 1964. #Annotate22 23/365
Source: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
January 22: Annotation is a headline, fixed.
January 22 tweet | January 22 Hypothesis annotation
“Covid-19 is likely in 2022 Due to persistent failures in public health.” On this day in 2020 the World Health Organization confirmed human-to-human spread of the novel coronavirus. A headline from The Economist (original publication date November 8, 2021) fixed with redaction and addition. #Annotate22 22/365
Source: Jorge A. Caballero, MD.
January 21: Annotation is Not Found.
January 21 tweet | January 21 Hypothesis annotation
“The requested URL…was not found on this server.”
“We couldn’t find that page.”
Two notes about the removal of “The 1776 Report.” Screenshots from the White House website taken on January 20, 2021 (during President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Inauguration), and on January 20, 2022 (yesterday). #Annotate22 21/365
Source: The White House.
January 20: Annotation is a chyron.
January 20 tweet | January 20 Hypothesis annotation
KEEP CURRENT FILIBUSTER RULES
YES 52 | NO 48
A text-based graphic displayed on the lower area of a television broadcast and that reported, yesterday, a failure to protect American democracy and people’s constitutional right to vote. #Annotate22 20/365
Source: United States Senate.
January 19: Annotation is marginalia.
January 19 tweet | January 19 Hypothesis annotation
“In the marginalia, too, we talk only to ourselves; we therefore talk freshly—boldly—originally—with abandonnement—without conceit.” Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day, January 19, 1809. #Annotate22 19/365
Source: “Marginalia,” The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.
January 18: Annotation is a rebuke and reminder.
January 18 tweet | January 18 Hypothesis annotation
“We have reached the pandemic pause, the era of the s̶t̶u̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ <exhausted> student.” A rebuke and reminder–about education and care–that’s most helpful as a new semester begins. #Annotate22 18/365
Source: Torrey Trust.
January 17: Annotation is a Marade route.
January 17 tweet | January 17 Hypothesis annotation
The annual march and parade, or “Marade,” in Denver, Colorado, has grown to be one of the largest Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations in the United States. The program begins at 9:30a MT at City Park, followed by the Marade down Colfax Ave. to Civic Center. If you’re local, please join! #Annotate22 17/365
Source: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission.
January 16: Annotation is #HashtagActivism.
January 16 tweet | January 16 Hypothesis annotation
“Throughout this text we use hashtag activism to refer to the strategic ways counterpublic groups and their allies on Twitter employ this shortcut to make political contentions about identity politics that advocate for social change, identity redefinition, and political inclusion.” #Annotate22 16/365
Source: Hashtag Activism by Sarah J. Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles (The MIT Press, 2020).
January 15: Annotation is a correction control sheet.
January 15 tweet | January 15 Hypothesis annotation
Pg. 3 / last line / strong economic withdrawal
List of 14 corrections added to the document “Birmingham Jail Treatise of Martin Luther King Jr.” #Annotate22 15/365
Source: The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, accessed via The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
January 14: Annotation is authoritative.
January 14 tweet | January 14 Hypothesis annotation
“Parts of this manuscript were not used in the final composition of the book for publisher’s reasons.” A clarifying note by Zora Neale Hurston about Dust Tracks on a Road, dated January 14, 1942 (on this day, 80 years ago). #Annotate22 14/365
Source: Beinecke Library, Yale University.
January 13: Annotation is a grade with criticism.
January 13 tweet | January 13 Hypothesis annotation
“In this essay you seem to be constantly on the verge of something interesting but, somewhat, you always fail to explain it clearly. 10/20” An instructor grading Jacques Derrida. #Annotate22 13/365
Source: Open Culture.
January 12: Annotation is happiness.
January 12 tweet | January 12 Hypothesis annotation
“There is something so aesthetically pleasing, at least for me, about an annotated book. It just sparks happiness.” #Annotate22 12/365
Source: Melania Diaz/MelReads, “✍🏻 how i ANNOTATE my books // tips on annotating for beginners.”
January 11: Annotation is a book label.
January 11 tweet | January 11 Hypothesis annotation
“The fact that this volume is included in the Bob Jones University Library does not mean that the University endorses its contents from the standpoint of morals, philosophy, theology, or scientific hypotheses.” #Annotate22 11/365
Source: Laura Gibbs.
January 10: Annotation is erasure poetry.
January 10 tweet | January 10 Hypothesis annotation
“I came of age in a culture of demons I respect more than women.” An erasure, or blackout, poem by Isobel O’Hare, from the book all this can be yours, that redacts and reimagines apology statements. #Annotate22 10/365
Source: Isobel O’Hare.
January 9: Annotation is a killer rabbit.
January 9 tweet | January 9 Hypothesis annotation
Drolleries are small decorative images–people, mermaids, monsters, killer rabbits–drawn in the margins of medieval manuscripts. Detail of the Smithfield Decretals (13th/14th century). #Annotate22 9/365
Source: The British Library.
January 8: Annotation is a memorial plaque.
January 8 tweet | January 8 Hypothesis annotation
“In dieser Zeit entstanden die Alben ‘Low’ ‘Heroes’ und ‘Lodger.’ Sie gingen als Berliner Trilogie in die Musikgeschichte ein ‘We can be heroes, just for one day.’” Happy Birthday David Bowie. #Annotate22 8/365
Location: Hauptstraße 155, Berlin.
January 7: Annotation is graffiti.
January 7 tweet | January 7 Hypothesis annotation
“Accept your child if they turn out queer, please.” A new instruction for parents added to the baby changing station of a public restroom. #Annotate22 7/365
Source: Radical Graffiti.
January 6: Annotation is a threat and criminal.
January 6 tweet | January 6 Hypothesis annotation
“It’s only a matter of time justice is coming.” Note by Jacob Chansley written at desk of Vice President Mike Pence in the U.S. Senate chamber on January 6, 2021. #Annotate22 6/365
Source: Luke Mogelson for The New Yorker.
January 5: Annotation is a Post-It note.
January 5 tweet | January 5 Hypothesis annotation
“The sheer diversity of things one uses Post-It notes to think about is a testament to their cognitive flexibility… They’re fractal.” #Annotate22 5/365
Source: Clive Thompson, “13 Ways Of Looking at a Post-It Note.“
January 4: Annotation is a comment on song lyrics.
January 4 tweet | January 4 Hypothesis annotation
“I have avoided explaining these lyrics for over 25 years. I am not going to start doing it now.” A “Verified Annotation” by singer Seal regarding his 1994 song “Kiss From a Rose.” #Annotate22 4/365
Source: Genius.
January 3: Annotation is a cat, and a heart, juxtaposed reminders.
January 3 tweet | January 3 Hypothesis annotation
“Masks Save Lives”
“Protect the Vulnerable Don’t Be a Mask Hole”
Please stay safe if returning to either school or work this week. #Annotate22 3/365
Source: Urban Art Mapping: Covid-19 Street Art.
January 2: Annotation is a highlight with a footnote.
January 2 tweet | January 2 Hypothesis annotation
“for some of the concept of ‘climate justice'”
“‘Climate justice’ is the umbrella cause…It is about ensuring that efforts to address climate change take into account human rights and social inequality.” #Annotate22 2/365
Source: The Washington Post.
January 1: Annotation is a dedication, a date, a flower.
January 1 tweet | January 1 Hypothesis annotation
“I give this June day to Ms. Gordon Bottomley the inside of this book. Michael Field June 5, 1908.” Michael Field was a pseudonym for authors Katherine Bradley and niece Edith Cooper. #Annotate22 1/365
Source: Book Traces, University of Virginia Library.
A note about images:
#Annotate22 is an educational project and an act of public pedagogy. This year-long effort is comprised of blog posts, social media, and public Hypothesis annotations intended to advance new narratives about the relationship among annotation, literacy, and learning. Images are a key component of #Annotate22. The use of images follows best practices in fair use for media literacy education. Sources for all images are cited. Furthermore: a) Featured images are used for an educational purpose different than that of the original purpose, and are interpreted in an original and creative context; and b) The extent of featured images (i.e. a screenshot) is appropriate for the purposes of teaching and learning.
