Find two academic articles and create a mini annotated bibliography.

Two Examples of Annotated Bibliography

Below are two examples from an annotated bibliography.  (Note that Titanium has messed up the formatting, particularly indentations.  Make sure your assignment is properly formatted).

Graff, Gerald. Birkenstein, Cathy. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing.  New York: Norton & Company, 2006.

Summary: Graff and Birkenstein seek to make academic writing more accessible by providing templates that allow writers to think critically about texts.  [P] While the authors acknowledge that the templates seem formulaic, perhaps something like the cousin of the five paragraph essay, they argue that their approach is actually an antidote to formulaic writing because it helps writers think critically and creatively about topics. Moreover, they believe their method is inherently democratic and argue, [Q] “This approach to writing therefore has an ethical dimension, since it asks writers not simply to keep proving and reasserting what they already believe but to stretch what they believe by putting it up against beliefs that differ, sometimes radically, from their own” (xxvi).

 Comparison:  Written for a general audience, this book is not marred by jargon and is easily accessible.  Like LaMott’s book, this book functions as a how-to for writing.  However, unlike LaMott’s book, the authors present a philosophical discussion of academic writing that helps them assert that this type of writing is highly significant. 

 

LaMott, Anne. Bird by Bird. New York: Random House, 1994.

Summary: Using a funny and down-to-earth voice, Lamott offers advice on how to be a writer.  She organizes her book into five sections: writing, the writing frame of mind, help along the way, publication and other reasons to write, and the last class.   Each section consists of short chapters that deal with various aspects or issues surrounding writing such as getting started, drafting, and revising.  [P] LaMott’s work provides a discussion of the internal struggle that often occurs when writing and describes the struggle as something akin to having “voices” in your mind that try to distract you (7).  Her book is by no means a “research” report on writing, and her claims are not factual.  However, she does present some very real issues surrounding writing in an eloquent and engaging way; her book is aimed at the general reader and indeed was a NYTimes best seller).  [Q] She states, “Writing can give you what having a baby can give you; it can get you to start paying attention, can help you soften, can wake you up” (7).

Comparison:  Unlike Graff and Birkenstein, LaMott does not discuss secondary sources.  Her more general aim is a personal appreciation of writing, not a philosophical consideration of the topic.