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What is an annotated bibliography?
A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).
An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. For our purposes, your annotations should do all of the following:
Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is. For more help, see information about paraphrasing sources.
Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
For more help, see information about evaluating resources.
Reflect: Once you’ve summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?
What should I research?
An annotated bibliography is a common step towards writing a research paper, because it allows you to compile and evaluate sources, while reflecting on how they may shape or change your argument. Doing this “pre-work” usually makes a final research paper much more focused, polished, and valuable because you will not be merely rewriting arguments that have already been made.
In order to begin your research, you do need to have an idea of what you are looking for. For our purposes, you should focus your research on the literary analysis of a text (short or long) that we have read this year. Most good research starts from a point of confusion or interest.
For example, if I was captivated by Fitzgerald’s presentation of gender and identity in The Great Gatsby, I might begin my research there. Perhaps I know that I really enjoyed the book and think there is a lot of value in it, but I’m not sure how to reconcile Fitzgerald’s criticism of many aspects of society with his apparent belief that women are generally careless and worthless. If those are my thoughts, I may begin by looking for feminist interpretations of The Great Gatsby to see what research and analysis has already been done in this field. From this, my interpretation should develop through my critical consideration of various sources.
If I was particularly captivated by Gertrude’s character in Hamlet but don’t really know why she is thematically significant, I may start with “Hamlet Gertrude significance” and see what comes up to guide my research from there.
For another example, maybe you recall that in my class last trimester, we were not able to spend very much time discussing the significance of music in Beloved. You may start your research by simply looking up “Beloved Toni Morrison music” to see where that leads.
The goal is NOT to find a single essay that gives an answer to what you are thinking about. The goal is to engage with multiple pieces of scholarly writing in order to further develop and complicate your own thinking so that you are ultimately able to present a unique and nuanced interpretation of a text. Think of this as an ongoing conversation between you and other literary scholars. I recommend utilizing Proquest (accessed through the SLOHS library page) and/or Google Scholar for your research.
How should I compile my sources?
First, you need to put into words your research focus. In one paragraph, explain what you are researching and why. To conduct good research, you need to be able to explain what you are researching with specific language AND why that research focus is important (which is to say, what is the question that you are trying to answer for which there is no answer yet). This paragraph, called an “abstract” in formal research writing, is essentially an argument for why your research matters.
Once you have established your research focus, you should read many different papers that may be relevant to your topic. As you read through different articles, you will likely realize that some are not helpful for your purposes, some have a few details that might help you, and some are perfect for your research focus. Throughout your research process, you should identify at least six sources that are in some way relevant/helpful to your research focus.
Among the sources that are at least in some way relevant/helpful, you should make sure to meet the following criteria:
At least one source is from the last five years
All sources have a works cited/bibliography, a listed author and publisher, and are at least three pages in length
For any sources published before 2000, you will need to address why that article is still relevant (or why any work on the topic hasn’t been done since then) in your annotation
Finally, how do I turn these sources into an annotated bibliography?
Entries should be written in proper MLA format, listed alphabetically, with the annotation written directly below each entry. You should have at least six entries, and each annotation should be approximately 150-300 words. See example of formatting here.
Graded for the following:
10 pts for research focus (abstract) – clear, interesting, establishes importance
30 pts (5 for each entry) – source is appropriate and the annotation summarizes, assesses, and reflects on the sources
10 pts for MLA formatting – includes entries, header, heading, spacing, and font
50 pts total
SOURCES HAVE TO BE FROM GOOGLE SCHOLAR
The topic is the great gatsby, and how the american dream pertains to society today.