21 Double Entry Note-Taking

Double entry notes

Creating double-entry (DE) notes is an effective strategy that you may use while reading a text intensively. DE notes are very useful when you need to understand the content of an article very well for an exam, or for writing a summary or critique on it.

To take DE notes, you divide a blank document vertically into two columns. (You also add a narrow column on the far left margin to indicate page and paragraph numbers.) In the left-hand column, you summarize and paraphrase (not copy) ideas from the reading that seem important. In the right-hand column, you will write your opinions or reactions.

Synthesis of Ideas

Writing double-entry notes requires a synthesis of ideas located across the text’s paragraphs. Avoid writing one note for each paragraph or anything systematic like that unless it is absolutely necessary.  You should evaluate the importance of the ideas, the evidence provided, and how the idea is distributed across paragraphs.

In the right-hand column, you make notes to yourself: reactions, connections to other readings, questions you have about the ideas or the evidence, or the way the idea fits in with other things the author has said or other evidence you have seen.

The rationale behind double-entry notes

1. For a busy college student, using DE notes gives a practical advantage. Good notes mean students (almost) never need to reexamine a source when discussing texts in a course, studying for an exam, and even when writing a research paper.
2. This method is effective to engage yourself with a text (i.e., thoroughly understand). The paraphrasing of and reacting to the material deepens understanding and generates critical thinking because: 

• • • remind you that reading comprehension is created in a transaction between the text and the reader, by designating a place for each;
    • allow you to make questions, connections, and reactions to the text explicitly, giving you a voice in that transaction;
    • help you avoid accidentally plagiarizing your sources by paraphrasing too closely and;
    • create a place to review and revise your reading of the text later.