Annotated Bibliography essay

English 1301 Essay #4a: Annotated Bibliography

Essay #4 is an information gathering exercise.

Instructions: You are required to have 5 annotated sources, and you must use at least 3 sources in partB of the written essay. After each summary, you must also include a brief commentary of how you might use that source.

This is just a start to your research, and I hope you will look for and read more than three sources. These might be the sources that you use for your essay, but they don’t have to be. Sometimes you realize that the sources you find at the beginning of your research don’t necessarily work with what information you need to provide for your argument. This is part of good research. You need to gain a breadth of knowledge about your subject.

The annotated bibliography is very similar to what you wrote for Essay 1: Summary and Response. You are summarizing an article and then responding to it. Just as you did before, you can agree or disagree with the information you read. For example, you can ask if it was convincing information. Why was it convincing? Was the evidence presented in a logical manner? How was the article organized? Did they have statistics or stories to back up their claims? Keep in mind that you are describing THIS source – NOT the topic itself. In this, you are weighing the creditability of the source and if it is pertinent to your paper. In addition, add a commentary as to how you can utilize the source in your paper.

HOWEVER, you must also go further than this kind of response, you MUST SHOW how you will use this information for your own argument. Is it useful information to you and what your researched argument will be? What parts could you paraphrase as support for your own argument? Would you use any direct quotes from here? What parts would be useful for a counterargument? In a way you are reflecting on what you read, but at the same time, you are trying to piece it together as to how the information will fit in your essay.

Steps to complete this assignment:

Research

1. Go to our class’s library page and choose which database you want to start researching with.

2. Use search terms to find articles that might be useful to you. If you aren’t finding anything with those search terms, change it up.

3. Find at least three articles to read.

4. READ the articles and take notes: main ideas and supporting details. You can’t just read the abstract and summarize from that. I can tell when that happens, the summaries are never as good.

Summary

5. Summarize each of these articles in about 5-7 sentences.

6. A summary of each article should include the following:

· the identity of the writer

· the implied or explicit audience

· what kind of article it is – a newspaper article? A scholarly research paper? Etc.

· the main point or claim

· the kinds of evidence used to support the claim

· how the author presents the information

· how the information is obtained

Response/Analysis

7. Evaluate the article: is it well-written? Does it have a thesis? Is it trying to convince you of something? Does it succeed? What kind of evidence do they use? Is this a reliable source?

8. Question the article: are you left with any unexplained questions? Is there something you wish the article explained that it didn’t?

9. Based on your research come up with what you think your basic argument will be for your research essay. Write one sentence explaining what your basic argument is.

10. Explain how this article will help your argument for your own researched argument essay: which quotes or examples do you plan to use? Does this agree with your argument? Or could pieces be used as a counterargument? (look in folder 4.6 if you don’t know what that is)

Requirements:

· Each source should be from a reputable publication found in one of El Centro College’s Library Databases

· Each annotation should be at least two paragraphs, consisting of your summary of the article and your response to it. Each annotation should be at least half a page.

· Three MLA citations.

· The OWL Purdue site and El Centro’s MLA information will be helpful:

· https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

· http://libguides.elcentrocollege.edu/c.php?g=198421&p=3814367

· With your assignment, you must also turn in:

· All three of your sources as PDFs or other text documents.

Tips:

· Most of the work here will be unseen. That work is the finding, reading, and understanding of your sources.

· While it is not hard, it is VERY time consuming, so don’t assume you can whip right through it. I will know, and I will grade harshly.

· Use the InSight Template to take notes for each of your sources. This will be SOOO valuable to you when you are starting to piece together your essay. Think of this is a pre-writing exercise. It isn’t required, but highly recommended.

· Be sure to alphabetize the articles by author.

· Be sure to use the hanging indent when you list the sources.

· Use sources within 10 years of publication.

· Please look at the samples before you begin this essay. They will give you a sense of how your own document should be formatted.