English

Your Annotated Bibliography MUST include:

1) Your working thesis (what you’re writing about)

2) At least 3 sources with annotations following this format

3) Citations in MLA format (or an approved format)

The Rhetorical Précis Format

(adapted from Jon Dorbolo, Oregon State University e-campus, 2005)

a) In a single coherent sentence, give the following:

-name of the author;

-a rhetorically accurate verb (such as "assert," "argue," "deny," "refute," "prove,"

“disprove," "explain," etc.);

-a that clause containing the major claim (thesis statement) of the work.

b) In a single coherent sentence give an explanation of how the author develops and

supports the major claim (thesis statement).

c) In a single coherent sentence give a statement of the author's purpose, followed by an

"in order" phrase.

d) In a single coherent sentence give a description of the intended audience and/or the

relationship the author establishes with the audience.

Sample Rhetorical Précis paragraph: Charles S. Peirce's article asserts that humans have

psychological and social mechanisms designed to protect and cement (or "fix") our beliefs.

Peirce backs this claim up with descriptions of four methods of fixing belief, pointing out the

effectiveness and potential weaknesses of each method. Peirce's purpose is to point out the ways

that people commonly establish their belief systems in order to jolt the awareness of the reader

into considering how their own belief system may the product of such methods and to consider

what Peirce calls "the method of science" as a progressive alternative to the other three. Given

the technical language used in the article, Peirce is writing to a well-educated audience with

some knowledge of philosophy and history and a willingness to other ways of thinking.

So your final document should look something like this:

a. Your Name

b. Statement of Working Thesis (what you’re writing about)

c. Your first resource: Fukuyama, Francis. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences

of the Biotechnology Revolution. New York: Farrar, 2002. Print

d. Your first paragraph: Fukuyama’s book argues that....

e. Your second resource

f. Your second paragraph

g. Your third resource

h. Your third paragraph