Lit Genius
HarvardX Student User Guide
Getting Started

• Creating an Account
• Reading Annotations
• Creating Annotations
• Leaving Suggestions
• Moderation

What to Annotate

• What is the significance of the historical context of the political power of the Roman Empire?
• What is the significance of the socio-economic context of the first century CE?
• What do the various arguments within the Pauline correspondence reveal about the debates in which the earliest Christians were engaged?
• How does your experience help you to bring new interpretive contexts and to ask better questions?

Use of Multimedia

• External Links
• Internal Links
• Pictures
• Videos

Using Formatting

• Italics
• Bold
• Italics and Bold
• Block Quotes
• Headers
Your Account

• Nickname
• Photo
• Profile
• IQ Points

Types of Contributors

• Students
• Student-Editors
• Teacher-Moderators
• Verified Scholars

Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Left/Right arrows
• Shift + Enter
• Ctrl + F
• Ctrl + T
• pg up/pg dn

Additional Annotation Tips:

• Carefully select text for explanation, ideally selecting smaller, discrete sections.
• Avoid selecting individual words to explain unless they're particularly rich and need a lot of unpacking. Otherwise, fold word definitions into a larger explanation of a phrase, line, etc.
• Be concise. This should be a space where multiple contributors can add to each note.
• Use third person only.
• Don't just rephrase the line. Instead, add context, interpretation, and/or multimedia (see below).
• Add pictures and videos to help illustrate a line, or to support your argument about the text.
• If you quote a source, use quotation marks and cite it. If you paraphrase an argument from another source, cite it. Not only will you avoid plagiarism, you’ll create a much more helpful annotation.