Assignment Task:
Annotated Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of sources used for researching a topic (this is our Works Cited page, under MLA formatting). An annotated bibliography takes the listing of sources quite a bit further.
The annotated bibliography summarizes and evaluates sources for the purpose of establishing a deeper understanding of the material and its usefulness to the project at hand. Instead of merely collecting information, researchers begin to understand what has been/is going on in the literature regarding their topics-to see what has been established and, perhaps, where their own research might fit into this growing body of knowledge. An annotated bibliography is an excellent tool for understanding and evaluating research and applying it to your writing.
Your annotated bibliography should do three things...
- Correctly Cite--provide precise bibliographic citation following MLA standards as it will appear in Works Cited. See MLA Handbook 5.3.3 through 5.8.
- Summarize--explain the point of the source? What is it about? Is it argumentative, informational, or both?
- Assess--describe how this source will be useful to your work?
Develop your responses to each section in block paragraph format (see example below). Each paragraph should range in word count between 50-100 words. Need Assignment Help?
Sample Annotated Bibliography Page Entry
Botton, Alain. The Art of Travel. New York: Pantheon Books, 2002.
A professional traveler and guide, Botton offers insight into unexplored frontiers still in existence on the American landscape. This work is both informational and argumentative in that it shares points of travel with flawless descriptive prose while encouraging a different type of travel experience for the new millennia. The author encourages a return to fundamental principles of appreciation and reflection-the simple things in life-as they relate to appreciating the American landscape. He utilizes his own travel across the country to illustrate his points.
This source is useful to my research in that it provides a unique perspective that I find refreshing in an age of technology-based instant gratification. The author is a well traveled, experienced writer who seeks to share a message of simplicity and appreciation for the land in its natural state. He takes the good with the bad and ultimately lets readers decide for themselves if his viewpoints hold water. This source will help shape the way I will approach my own reflective work regarding travel. Botton helps me make concrete what previously was abstract by breaking down the elements of travel so that nothing is missed or glossed over. My thinking is not changed so much as it is solidified by his views.
Note: each section has its own paragraph and that they are indented. The source citation begins each entry and only the first line is left-justified. Use double-spacing with a return separating the source and each of the paragraphs.
Your annotated bibliography must contain fourteen entries, distributed in the following ranges:
a. Internet- 1 - 4 sources
b. Academic Journals, Articles, and/or Periodicals- 4 - 7 sources
c. Academic Books- 1 -7 sources
d. Biblical- 1 source
e. Original Research- 1 source