Overview
Annotated Bibliography
Assignment: An annotated bibliography is, quite simply, a bibliography with annotations. In other words, you start with your standard bibliography—one that should be in MLA format—and you add 150-200 word summaries of each source listed.
Annotated bibliographies really serve two primary purposes. First, and most importantly, it helps you begin to understand, evaluate, and organize the resources you are collecting for your research project. The annotated bibliography is a good way for you to begin collecting “notes” for yourself—notes that will help guide the way you use the resources later on in the project.
Annotated bibliographies also show me, your instructor, that you have made a sincere attempt to evaluate each source. As we’ve discussed already this semester, our research projects are not about cherry-picking select quotations from each source as a way to satisfy the “research” requirement. Instead, I’m expecting you to spend a great deal of time reading through and thinking about the various resources you end up citing in the final bibliography. Your final research essay should evidence deep and sincere engagement with the ideas found in your sources, and this can only happen if you begin reading and note-taking right now.
So, for this assignment, you must create an annotated bibliography with no fewer than six citations. At least two of these citations must come from scholarly (i.e. academic and peer-reviewed) sources. Remember, online databases will be your best bet when searching for these kinds of resources. All web-based sources that don’t come from library databases (popular articles, videos, etc.) must be approved by me before you include them.
Each citation must have a 150-200 word summary that explains what the main idea of the source is, a summary that evaluates the source in terms of credibility, and one that begins to make connections among other sources. This means, of course, that you will need to spend a good deal of time reading through your resources before you begin typing your bibliography.
Requirements: typed, MLA format
6 resources minimum, including at least 1 scholarly source