The Annotation Showcase Project

The annotations and editorial apparatus you see in this anthology are the result of a semester-long sequence of work called the Annotation Showcase Project. Rather than a single, isolated assignment, this project grows out of weekly practice: for each week’s readings, students prepare Hypothesis annotations on the poems we study. These low-stakes annotations give them repeated experience with close reading, tagging, and short-form scholarly writing, as well as regular feedback from peers and from me. By the time they design their own annotated poem for the anthology, they have spent weeks developing and refining the skills this larger-stakes project requires.

The Annotation Showcase Project culminates in a small, focused digital edition of a single Victorian poem, complete with annotations, editorial introduction, works cited, and a brief reflection on the editorial process. It has five main components:

1. Poem Selection

Each student selects a poem to edit from our course readings or from the broader Victorian Poetry and Poetics anthology. They are encouraged to:

• avoid poems already heavily annotated,

• consider overlooked or underrepresented voices, and

• choose a poem that genuinely interests them.

Only one student may annotate any given poem in a given semester. Once the poem is confirmed, I list the student as editor on the anthology page so they can “claim” the poem with their editorial introduction and annotations.

2. Annotations

Students then create a carefully curated set of annotations, spread thoughtfully across the poem:

• Undergraduates: 6–8 annotations

• Graduate students: 8–10 annotations

• Each annotation is 2–4 sentences long

• Each is clearly tagged using our shared system:

  • interpretive – literary analysis (form, tone, structure, voice, symbolism)

  • contextual – historical, political, social, or biographical context

  • scholarly – connections to criticism, theory, or class readings

  • visual/editorial – visual culture, performance, or editorial/paratextual framing

  • definition – one especially important or obscure word (citing the OED via the Cornette Library; limited to one per project)

Students may also add project-specific tags that help future readers navigate their edition. A strong project shows a clear, purposeful variety of annotation types; exemplary work layers interpretive, contextual, and scholarly insight and may include multimedia (images, audio, video, or other digital resources) when appropriate.

3. Editorial Apparatus (Introduction and Works Cited)

Each student writes a 300–400-word editorial introduction that frames their annotations and explains their editorial perspective. The introduction typically addresses:

• why they chose this poem,

• what future readers might overlook or misread,

• what kinds of knowledge they prioritized (literary, historical, affective, visual, etc.),

• what their annotations aim to reveal, recover, or emphasize, and

• how they hope readers will think differently after encountering their edition.

Once the poem is assigned, I add the student’s name to the page; they attach their introduction directly under their name.

If annotations draw on outside sources, students also provide a brief Works Cited in MLA 9 format at the bottom of the poem’s page. This includes:

• any scholarly sources quoted, paraphrased, or referenced,

• the OED (for definition annotations),

• and any media they reference or embed (artwork, audio recordings, videos, etc.).

4. Reflection Essay (500–750 Words)

After completing the edition, students write a separate reflection essay (submitted in WTClass, not published in the anthology). In this essay, they:

• reflect on what they learned about the poem by working so closely with it,

• describe any surprises or shifts in their interpretation,

• consider how short-form scholarly writing challenged or sharpened their thinking, and

• explain how they decided what to annotate (and what to leave out).

This is not an evaluation of the assignment but a thoughtful, self-aware account of their editorial choices and intellectual growth.

5. Showcase Presentation (5–7 Minutes)

Finally, students share their annotated poem and editorial apparatus with the class in a Showcase Presentation. They:

• highlight 2–3 annotations,

• explain their editorial focus and how they shaped their introduction,

• share one insight that surprised them or changed their understanding, and

• participate in brief discussion and Q&A.

Students may present using slides (PowerPoint, Prezi, Canva, etc.) or by screen-sharing directly from the anthology.

Taken together, the weekly annotation practice and this culminating project train students to think and write like editors: precise, purposeful, and audience-aware—skills that serve them well in literary studies, digital humanities, and beyond.