Of Mice And Men Annotations Help

What does "annotated edition" mean? What are some examples?

A number of books are published as “annotated editions.”annotate - Dictionary DefinitionWhen you annotate, you write critical explanations to add extra insight about something. These explanations can be necessary to understanding writings in which the language might be difficult to make sense of without clarification.An example is the Annotated version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice © by David M. Shapard. The annotations include:• Explanations of historical contextRules of etiquette, class differences, the position of women, legal and economic realities, leisure activities, etc.• Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writingsParallels between the novel and Austen’s experience are revealed, along with writings that illuminate her beliefs and opinions.• Definitions and clarifications Archaic words, words still in use whose meanings have changed, and obscure passages are explained.• Literary comments and analysesThe first image is the original text; the second is Mr. Shapard’s annotations:The Annotated Pride and Prejudice: A Revised and Expanded Edition: Jane Austen, David M. Shapard

Will e-books change education? Why or why not?

Yes. I am obviously biased, however (see http://www.inkling.com/ - we make textbooks for iPad and, in the future, other devices).Physical books have real value.  You can easily mark them up.  You can flag important pages.  You don't lose physical context like you can with a Kindle and its somewhat absurd progress bar.All of these benefits can be replaced by a good enough digital product, however.  You can easily highlight and annotate text in an Inkling book.  You can bookmark pages and even linked URLs in an Inkling book.  Our table of contents and "spine" give you an easily navigable outline of what you're reading while preserving physical context (which eclipses the physical book's utility by a long shot in my opinion).And since our books are converted into semantically marked-up content rather than paper-oriented PDFs, we can add a host of additional functionality.  You can purchase a chapter at a time rather than a huge PDF of the entire book.  You can search an Inkling book and get context back rather than a line from a printed page (e.g., you'll see an excerpt from "section 4.2" or a thumbnail of an image with a matching caption).  Assessments are interactive and in-line rather than having to hunt to the back of the book or go to a website.  You can retrieve a list of all of your notes in one location and easily navigate to them.  You can interactively walk through a biochemical pathway step-by-step rather than stare at a static image.  Many of these features have research showing that they have real pedagogical value.Being connected to the Internet means that your data sync to the cloud, so if you lose your iPad you can retrieve all of your content and annotations.  You can even follow your friends' or professors' notes in the margin of your book, creating a conversation around the content that is much higher friction in dead-tree world - some professors in our pilot programs even require their students to annotate their book (those students found the most value in the social note-sharing feature).I could go on and on, of course, but this answer is already getting long.  We have a lot of exciting plans for how to extend the digital reading experience far beyond where it is right now, so at this point I can't imagine a world where e-books don't fundamentally change the fabric of our educational system.

What is the meaning / theme of Piano Man?

This 1970's classic by Billy Joel (I assume this is the song you refer to?)talks of suburban decay - people at this bar all have their personal story, and they are described in-turn.The song sets the scene: a Saturday night in a nameless city suburban bar. Each character is seeking consolation by getting drunk and requesting songs from the piano man - a moment when life's failures and the burden of personal history is relieved by singing along and having yet another drink.Each town and city has such bars, where all kinds of people congregate and seek the solace of being there, sharing a song, a drink. Such bars, and settings are not described in the media, or spoken about but this is where so many people can find themselves, talking up their dreams, their plans, their journey out of this place.But you know they will always be there, to wonder home drunk at the end of another Saturday night, this is the only place left for them, and someone has to provide the vibes, the consolation, this is what the song is describing.The theme is pretty sad, and you might say almost hopeless, the young piano man is paying his dues by entertaining ordinary, and often failed people, the implication being the piano man is gaining bitter life-experience, but that life is tough, and people are wounded by not reaching their potentials, not fulfilling their dreams - sing us a song, you're the piano man.