Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you 're forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information. In addition to helping you learn about your topic, creating an annotated bibliography can help you with your thesis. One purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So an important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you 'll start to see what the issues are and what people are arguing about. As a result, you’ll be able to develop your own point of view.
The Assignment: An annotated bibliography is a list of references that includes a summary and evaluation in addition to the bibliographic information. This annotated bibliography needs to be in MLA format. Underneath each bibliographical entry, write a brief description of the source—one to two paragraphs. Annotate only the sources, and all of sources, you will be citing in your documented essay. Your annotated bibliography should be double-spaced and should include a summary, assessment, and reflection of the source. Use the following information from Purdue University’s OWL website as a guide:
Definition: A bibliography (works cited) is a list of all of the sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals…) one has used for researching a topic. An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Your annotations should do the following:
Summarize: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered?
Bibliography: Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you 're forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information. In addition to helping you learn about your topic, creating an annotated bibliography can help you with your thesis. One purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So an important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you 'll start to see what the issues are and what people are arguing about. As a result, you’ll be able to develop your own point of view. The Assignment: An annotated bibliography is a list of references that includes a summary and evaluation in addition to the bibliographic information. This annotated bibliography needs to be in MLA format. Underneath each bibliographical entry, write a brief description of the source—one to two paragraphs. Annotate only the sources, and all of sources, you will be citing in your documented essay. Your annotated bibliography should be double-spaced and should include a summary, assessment, and reflection of the source. Use the following information from Purdue University’s OWL website as a guide: Definition: A bibliography (works cited) is a list of all of the sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals…) one has used for researching a topic. An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Your annotations should do the following: Summarize: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? Assess: After summarizing the source, evaluate it in terms of its credibility. Consider both bibliographic information and content. Use the criteria from the Evaluating Sources handout and the Argumentation Overview handout (both located on Blackboard). Reflect: Once you have summarized/assessed a source, you need to reflect on how it fits into your research project. How was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? Compare the information in this source to the information in your other sources.