TOPICIDEADISCUSSION

NOTE: Choose a related topic to make the articles search easier.

Lesson 12: Overview and To Do List

Overview

Lesson 12 explores academic research and includes the submission of the annotated bibliography.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to

· Locate reliable, academic sources using the library databases.

· Analyze, interpret, and evaluate secondary source material.

· Write evaluative annotations about academic source materials.

· Apply MLA style rules.

To Do List

In order to successfully complete Lesson 12, please do the following:

Lesson Check List

Readings

· "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald DahlLinks to an external site.  (link)

· "Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell (textbook)

· "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge " by Ambrose BierceLinks to an external site.  (link)

Activities

· Complete discussion: Topic Ideas

· Complete assignment: Annotated Bibliography

Presentation: What is an Annotated Bibliography

What is an Annotated Bibliography? 

 A bibliography is a list of sources on a topic. An ANNOTATED Bibliography is a list of sources with annotations. Basically an annotation focuses on a source; it's a paragraph where you will discuss the source and evaluate its potential usefulness for your research (in this case, the research for the final essay).

See  an external site. .

The purpose of the annotated bibliography assigned in this module is to help you explore your essay topic idea and gather sources for your literature research essay assigned in Module 15. 

What is the difference between an Annotated Bibliography and a Works Cited list? 

One thing a bibliography and a Works Cited page have in common is both have source citations listed in MLA style.  The difference, however, is that a bibliography exists on its own, it is every source used, while a Works Cited list is part of a research essay, it is every source cited. All sources on a Works Cited are there because they are used somewhere in an essay (directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized information must be cited).

Source citations from your Annotated Bibliography can certainly be copied to your research essay Works Cited page later if you use those sources in your essay—just don't copy the annotations too.  

What types of sources are needed for this Annotated Bibliography?

With college writing, it's important to use valid source material. Searching for articles in the library databases is the best way to find reliable source material.

The information below from the assignment instructions, explains the specific types of sources you need to find.

To help focus your topic idea, this assignment requires sources that could work for various critical approaches. Find at least one source for each of the categories below :

· Biographical Information about the Author A source with information about the author’s life, such as an encyclopedia article.

· Historical Relevance This can be a source relevant to the time period the story is set or when it was written.

· A Social Issue relevant to the story or poem This source needs to focus on any social issue (such as class, race, gender, ageism, or cultural identity).

· A work of literary criticism This is a source written by a literary scholar that evaluates or interprets a literary work. The library databases are the best place to find literary criticism.

Feel free to include more than one source that fits any of the above categories, especially if you already decided on a topic idea for your literature research essay.

This resource shows steps to search for articles in multiple databases at once: 

You can also select specific databases to search. One of my favorite databases for searching literature topics is Literary Reference Center. In this database you can narrow the results by source types like "Biography" and "Literary Criticism," which are types of sources you must locate for this assignment! 

Searching the databases may feel challenging at times. Brainstorming a list of search terms can be helpful. For example, if I plan to write about Edwidge Danticat's short story "A Wall of Fire Rising," I would certainly use the author's name and the title as search terms. But I would also search relevant topics such as Dutty Boukman, the 1791 Haitian Revolution, and Haiti.

Resources to help with the annotated bibliography (previously given in Modules 8 and 11):

· Annotated bibliography pdf.

· Example formatting for annotated bibliography pdf.

Discussion Board: Topic Ideas

Prompt

Now that you have spent some time researching sources you may use for your final essay, what is your topic idea for the Literary Research Paper? Sometimes sharing ideas with others can be a helpful pre-writing strategy to help find focus.

Because we are also working on the annotated bibliography in this module, there is not a required minimum word count this time. 

Share your topic idea for the final paper in this discussion. Be sure to state the author(s) and title(s) of the work(s) you plan to focus on in the final essay. What critical approach(es) do you intend to take in your paper? 

It's okay if your idea is still a bit "rough," or if you change your topic a bit later. Ideas often evolve through the research and writing process!

Guidelines

Your original multi-paragraph post should be written using academic language (though some use of first person may be appropriate) and be written clearly in complete sentences. Be sure to proofread carefully. 

No outside sources should be consulted for this assignment. You are welcome, though, to attach images or links to related items to help your classmates visualize or understand the story. (For example, if you were writing about Harry Potter, you could include an image of Hogwarts.)

Be sure you write in complete sentences.  Remember to stay school appropriate.

 

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