diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/annotator_token.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/annotator_token.py
index 9d44962495..631db723c6 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/annotator_token.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/annotator_token.py
@@ -17,11 +17,16 @@ def retrieve_token(userid, secret):
     the token was issued. This will be stored with the user along with
     the id for identification purposes in the backend.
     '''
+
+    #retrieve difference between current time and Greenwich time to assure timezones are normalized
     dtnow = datetime.datetime.now()
     dtutcnow = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
     delta = dtnow - dtutcnow
+    #use the new normalized time to retreive the date the token was issued
     newhour, newmin = divmod((delta.days * 24 * 60 * 60 + delta.seconds + 30) // 60, 60)
     newtime = "%s%+02d:%02d" % (dtnow.isoformat(), newhour, newmin)
+    #uses the issued time, the consumer key and the user's email to maintain a 
+    #federated system in the annotation backend server
     custom_data = {"issuedAt": newtime, "consumerKey": secret, "userId": userid, "ttl": 86400}
     newtoken = create_token(secret, custom_data)
-    return newtoken
\ No newline at end of file
+    return newtoken
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/textannotation_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/textannotation_module.py
index 6cc0f9512f..e3ef5aa4f9 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/textannotation_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/textannotation_module.py
@@ -45,12 +45,6 @@ class AnnotatableFields(object):
     )
     annotation_storage_url = String(help="Location of Annotation backend", scope=Scope.settings, default="http://your_annotation_storage.com", display_name="Url for Annotation Storage")
     annotation_token_secret = String(help="Secret string for annotation storage", scope=Scope.settings, default="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx", display_name="Secret Token String for Annotation")
-    diacritics = String(
-         display_name="Diacritic Marks",
-         help= "Add diacritic marks to be added to a text using the comma-separated form, i.e. markname;urltomark;baseline,markname2;urltomark2;baseline2",
-         scope=Scope.settings,
-         default='',
-    )
 
 
 class TextAnnotationModule(AnnotatableFields, XModule):