Annotating

Something we've done often in our english classes has been to annotate written works. As the classes got harder and it became more strenuous, people became annoyed of the process. I, for one, enjoy annotating. I'm crazy, I know. Yet, it's solely for the reason that we as students are capable of finding a deeper meaning to a book, phrase, or even a name.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester's daughter, Pearl, provides one of the biggest symbols in the novel. Her name gives much insight into her as a person and it feels great to put together the pieces of how to two are alike. A pearl is derived from an oyster, the oyster lives a painful life upon delivering the pearl, the black pearls, that mimic Pearl's appearance, are the most beautiful and unique, etc. As we found all of these correlations from Hester's daughter's name to her life situation, we obtain knowledge of a deeper meaning as to why the author chose that name, it fits her to a T.
Authors will often find ways of incorporating meanings or correlations into details in their works. Though, you have to find them and make the connection. Again, a process I enjoy.