The THREE necessary parts of an Annotation:
· Cite: Provide relevant publication information in MLA format.
· Summarize: What are the main arguments of the source? What is the author trying to say?
· Evaluate: Once you've summarized the source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. How is this source helpful to you? How does this source fit into your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?
Example
The following is a sample of an annotated source about an article defending liberal education. Highlights are used in order for you to see the three main components: the citation, the summary and the evaluation.
Decatur, Sean. "The Winner: A Liberal Education." Room for Debate. The New York Times, 4 May 2012. www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/24/does-college-make-you-smarter/the-winner-a-liberal-education. Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.
Decatur addresses the controversy regarding the recent book Academically Adrift. Rather than highlight the negative findings about the quality of college education in America, he highlights the positive findings. Specifically, he emphasizes two points. First, he notes that students who take liberal education courses fare better than undergraduates who pursue more technical fields. Second, he indicates that rigorous courses demanding intensive reading and writing tend to increase learning. His overall conclusion is that an intensive liberal arts education is well suited to forge workers for this economy, and that we should recognize those benefits as we formulate our ideas about what kind of higher education is important. I like Decatur's approach to addressing the uproar about the book's findings. Rather than emphasize all of the negative aspects, he focuses on the strengths of the American education system and how we can accentuate those to our advantage as a nation. I have some questions about this research, though. Specifically, I am curious how the various tests gauge what is "good" education. I can see this source fitting into my key idea about the general education learning that a student in college must to be successful in higher education and in a career field.