Can Someone Please Help Me With Annotating A Passage

[TheSnakeman]

Hello, folks

I am currently reading Succubi by Edward Lee but I am struggling with annotation such as what to write and also how would you guys annotate the passage?

Here is the passage along with my annotations (The annotations are in brackets):


"They cooked heads,” (does this imply cannibalism?)

      Professor Fredrick quailed. (The meaning of the word 'quailed' indicates a state of extreme fear and terror)

His mind seemed adrift in the presiding pause. They cooked heads. He stared at the odd, gracile woman, (Odd? What makes the woman seem so strange?)

Then stared back down into the pit of cooked heads

Despite the sun’s fierce blaze -(makes us think of a fire or perhaps it is symbolism for the cooking of human flesh), he shivered in the clean, highland air. -(highlands: reveals location of the characters)

The site made him think of violations, of rape.
A line of enthusiastic students tore at the face of the ridge with 20 pound pickaxes. (This passage makes us think of the slaughter of humans that Frederic is imagining)
Others turned shovels around amorphous shapes of things that the last six days of excavation had raised from the oblivion of ages
 Dust rose in billows. The hectic sound of metal striking rock rang as a familiar song. Fredrick had spent his life doing this: disgorging smothered civilizations from the thick skin of the earth. Yet he’d never felt this way before. He felt like a trespasser.

      Ms. Eberle stood beside him, gazing down into the dig like a god on a precipice-(simile: does this suggests that she is a figure of authority also it could symbolize arrogance). She was skinny and rather tall, pallid–a female version of Fredrick. Straight gray black hair had been cut around her gaunt face like a helmet. She had inordinately large breasts for her frame, which stretched the front of her khaki field blouse. Big pale blue eyes watched intently over the dig’s activity. When she smiled, the slit of her mouth showed a row of sharp, even white teeth-(possible foreshadowing? The kind of teeth used for cannibalism?)

[Tilly2]

Can I just ask why you are annotating this? I'm sure it's not on your school book-list, is it?
I could help but I want to know the reason why you're doing it.

[TheSnakeman]

My reasons for annotating books is to get a critical/deeper understanding of the novel. Also I have not been to school for years but I am still interested in literary analysis.

[TheSnakeman]

BTW, if the passage is too big for some of you guys then please just concentrate on paragraph 5, 6 and 7.

[TheSnakeman]

Bump

[4candles]

Unlike most forums, threads will stay in the same order in which they were posted, so a "Bump" will have no effect.

I wish it was different, but it's always been that way.

[TheSnakeman]

Yeah but posting 'bump' or any reply advertises the question and I really need help with annotating this passage. Is it too long? Because I could always shorten it.

[Mamyalynne]

Bumping is fine, it does bring it back into latest posts - may be better during the day though , many will have retired for the night by now.

Hope you get some help with it.

[TheSnakeman]

Yeah hopefully someone will help me with the passage. I also wonder what would other people in the margins.

[TheSnakeman]

???

[TheSnakeman]

So is this a bad or good annotation and how should I change it?

[TheSnakeman]

Another bump