research paper for english writing

English 200: Annotated Bibliography Assignment

For your fourth major paper you will be writing an annotated bibliography. I

have two goals for this assignment. First, to give you the experience and practice of

putting together an annotated bibliography, and second, it is an excellent way to begin

gathering information and making choices about the sources for your research projects.

Your annotated bibliography should have 8 sources. Of those 8 sources 5 must be

scholarly. You do not have to research the same topic as your synthesis essay if you feel

that the topic was not that interesting or you had a difficult time finding sources. We will

be spending a significant amount of time in class working on your annotated

bibliographies and your research papers, so if you have any questions please don’t

hesitate to ask myself or Amanda.

Here are some things to think about when working on your annotated

bibliographies:

 Selecting sources for your AB’s is a process; it is not a good idea to decide to include the first 8 you see. You will have to conduct research on

several occasions to find the best sources to use.

 You probably won’t use all the sources in your AB in your paper, chiefly because your research is a process, just like writing.

 If you are writing an AB for a book, you only need to focus on the chapter(s) you are including, not the entire book.

 For this assignment, I’d like you to do evaluative AB’s—they are more detailed, show that you have spent more time with the texts, and ask you

to think more in-depth about your papers.

 Your AB’s should be written in complete sentences  Your AB should be written in your own words—avoid summarizing, and

if you paraphrase you still must cite the source. By paraphrasing you at

least show me that you understand the text.

 Doing a good job on an AB will make writing your paper much easier— you will have a good bit of information for the body of your paper

completed prior to writing the essay.

 Your annotated bibliography should be in alphabetical order, as you would do a works cited page.

 Double space the citation as well as the annotation; it makes it easier for me to respond.

With each citation you must include:

1. A bibliographic reference done correctly in MLA format 2. A brief introductory statement which explains the source 3. A brief summary of the source (those parts you will be using) 4. How you expect to be utilizing the material in your paper 5. An evaluative stance on the text—your view of the quality of the material

Due Dates:

Final Draft Due: November 28

Here’s an example of an Evaluative Annotated Bibliography:

Punter, David. The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Literature from 1765

to Present Day. New York: Longman, 1980. Print.

This book is an account of Gothic fiction, not only in literature but also in film.

For my research paper there are two chapters that are of particular interest. Chapter two

details the background information prior to Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto,

which interested me because I wanted to learn more about what came before the first

Gothic novel. Punter does a good job examining such things as sentimentalism,

graveyard poetry, and the sublime before beginning his examination of the early

novelists. This chapter should serve as an important part of the background section of my

paper.

The thirteenth chapter is also important because Punter looks at Gothic

characteristics in horror films—dating back to the early German horror films such as

Nosferatu to many present (1980) day films. The chapter examines several of the works

of fiction that interest me—including versions of Frankenstein, Dracula, and several of

Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. It should be helpful for my project because I am

interested in examining how the directors of the films incorporated Gothic characteristics

into their movies.