do you think highlighting/annotating helps comprehension?

[hypatia_]

As I've gotten older, I've started to highlight and annotate my reading a lot more. But I've noticed that it's also a lot harder to comprehend that way, since I have to keep breaking my concentration to pick up the pen. I've found I understand a book a lot better when I don't highlight or write in the margins, but then I have nothing to look back at.

What about you?

[bookowskee]

I got used to highlighting books the first time I picked up Camus in my teens (lyrical and critical essays). I've been doing that since then. Whether the book/s I read is riddled with highlights or not has little to do with whether I comprehend them or not. I usually end the paragraph before going back to the line/s to highlight them. For me it's always a treat to comeback to a book and see the marks/notes I made and gauge how my state of mind was then or how much I understood what the author was saying then. And so on.

If I don't understand the book, I usually leave it for a period of time (weeks, months and so on) and come back to it hopefully with a better approach.

[Gladys]

Reading on a Nook Simple Touch eReader, I highlight any passage that seems difficult or surprising. If the ending of the book is obscure (as Dostoevsky's The Possessed, which I finished yesterday, is) I find rereading my highlights useful.

[Lokasenna]

I used to scribble in all my books, but I have fallen out of the habit in recent years. I tend to keep a notebook to hand when I'm reading, so that I can make a note of any interesting or enjoyable quotations that appeal. I don't find it breaks my concentration, but rather focuses it.

[Phocion]

I usually just tag as i go. Anything i feel i might want to refer to, or take another look at, i tag and then note it down when i've finished the book. I find that works pretty well, and if you already have the tags in the book, it doesn't break the flow of reading at all.

[Charles Darnay]

If I'm using the book for essay purposes - I will stick post-it notes in pages to help me locate them when I need them. Some people find highlighting or note taking useful - personally I do not. I am very much against writing in books in any way (hence the post-it notes): it's a very strange quirk I developed. I actually cringe if I see someone writing in one of my books.

[Mathor]

I am one of those that would rather use post-it notes. They are easy to see when you flip through, and you do not have to ruin the book. I think keeping a notebook to jot down ideas is a lot better. However, I am very hypocritical, as I enjoy finding old books in used bookstores that are filled with mark-up. It allows me to get inside of the head of someone else.

[Charles Darnay]

I am one of those that would rather use post-it notes. They are easy to see when you flip through, and you do not have to ruin the book. I think keeping a notebook to jot down ideas is a lot better. However, I am very hypocritical, as I enjoy finding old books in used bookstores that are filled with mark-up. It allows me to get inside of the head of someone else.

Indeed, this can be very fun. Some people have violent reactions to what they read, and express it through markings. I was reading a book on Hamlet a while back, and this particular mid-20th century scholar suggested that Ophelia was nothing more than a common whore. He used very flimsy evidence to support his point. The previous reader of this book drew a large X down the page and in the margin wrote "NO!" I really like picturing someone having a heated argument with the book.

[hypatia_]

Indeed, this can be very fun. Some people have violent reactions to what they read, and express it through markings. I was reading a book on Hamlet a while back, and this particular mid-20th century scholar suggested that Ophelia was nothing more than a common whore. He used very flimsy evidence to support his point. The previous reader of this book drew a large X down the page and in the margin wrote "NO!" I really like picturing someone having a heated argument with the book.

Haha that is awesome!

[Lokasenna]

Indeed, this can be very fun. Some people have violent reactions to what they read, and express it through markings. I was reading a book on Hamlet a while back, and this particular mid-20th century scholar suggested that Ophelia was nothing more than a common whore. He used very flimsy evidence to support his point. The previous reader of this book drew a large X down the page and in the margin wrote "NO!" I really like picturing someone having a heated argument with the book.

One of the joys of leafing through books in an academic library is finding deeply involved and ongoing arguments jotted in the margins - sometimes comprising multiple voices, and sometimes getting rather too heated.

[OrphanPip]

I almost never write in books. I write on photocopies/print-outs of essays sometimes. Instead, I keep notebooks where I usually include summaries, initial reactions, and important quotes from sections.

[JuniperWoolf]

I buy a lot of used books and use the library, so I wish people wouldn't highlight or underline if they intend to sell or if the book doesn't belong to them (seriously, who are these jerks?). I too kind of like reading words that previous readers have written, in one of my bio textbook someone has written "I <3 FUNGI" in the margin.

I tend to keep a notebook to hand when I'm reading, so that I can make a note of any interesting or enjoyable quotations that appeal.

I do the same, the books that I actually own are mark-free.

[hypatia_]

I almost never write in books. I write on photocopies/print-outs of essays sometimes. Instead, I keep notebooks where I usually include summaries, initial reactions, and important quotes from sections.

That sounds like a cool idea. It's like a reading diary. Plus if someone ever makes a thread about a book you've read before, you can consult it and see exactly what you thought rather than relying on fuzzy memory

[OrphanPip]

That sounds like a cool idea. It's like a reading diary. Plus if someone ever makes a thread about a book you've read before, you can consult it and see exactly what you thought rather than relying on fuzzy memory

I usually only keep notes if I'm reading it for a class or if I intend to write on it. I'm not diligent enough to keep a record of thoughts for every text I read.

@Junniper, I'm currently reading a copy of Eugene Onegin out of the library and someone has extensively annotated every single stanza in the book in garish pink. Not sure if I admire or hate the person for going through the effort.

[hawthorns]

I used to scribble in all my books, but I have fallen out of the habit in recent years. I tend to keep a notebook to hand when I'm reading, so that I can make a note of any interesting or enjoyable quotations that appeal. I don't find it breaks my concentration, but rather focuses it.

Same here. Used to highlight, underline, margin write to no end when first started college. By my senior year I was using brackets and the occasional note and comprehending/remember twice as much. Go figure.