Natasha Bowen's ‘Skin of the Sea’: understanding the extract

'Skin of the Sea' centres around a protagonist called Simidele who is a Mami Wata, in this instance a mermaid. As a Mami Wata, Simidele must collect souls of enslaved people who die as they are transported across the Atlantic. Natasha Bowen makes use of flashback in the opening chapter to hint at Simidele's life before she became a Mami Wata. When annotating a text, you can use a range of symbols and notes to help develop an understanding of the text’s ideas.