Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Due: in class.
 
Overview: Your annotated bibliography/critical evaluation assignment, compiled after intensive research on your topic, will present a brief evaluation of primary and secondary sources you’ll employ in the culminating research-based argument.The final paper should consist of a bibliography annotating the most important sources you have discovered, evaluated, and used in your research process. These bibliographies will be included in the ezines.

Purpose/Goals: The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice distinguishing between descriptive and evaluative annotations, to introduce you to the major citation systems in use today, to develop your ability to choose a system appropriate for your field and topic and, subsequently, to guide you through the use of that citation system correctly. In the process, you’ll accomplish the goals of learning how to discover, evaluate, and annotate the most important sources for your project.These critical evaluation abilities will help you forge your research-based argument through reliance on the strategically most appropriate sources.

Length: 4 pages and attach to the back a 1 page reflection on the writing and research process.

Subject/Procedure: Work through and develop your list of potential research sources from your proposal. Careful research notes are a crucial part of the process and they will help you avoid unintentional plagiarism (“kidnapping”) of material.

Audience: The annotated bibliography should be written with the entire class in mind as your audience.In other words, although your writing group may be quite knowledgeable about your subject area because you’ve been learning about it together, you should provide some additional explanatory information for technical terms, larger contexts, and other item-specific aspects of the sources you select for the annotated bibliography.


Preparation:
In preparation for this assignment, I would like you to complete a series of readings on your own from both Internet and text resources:

Required Reading from online:

Format and Sample Annotated Bibliography Entries: Prepare the paper according to the MLA manuscript format and the guidelines below.

(The material below has been borrowed and modified from Ohio State University, the Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, Writing Center Handouts Online: Source:http://cstw.osu.edu/writingCenter/handouts/default.cfm)

Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography provides a brief summary of the contents of each book and article included in the list of sources used for a research project. Placed just below the facts of publication, the annotation describes the essential details of the work so that future researchers referring to an entry will be able to make an informed decision about using the text.

You will need to include at least one of each of the following entries:
  • A chapter from an anthology (an edited book with chapters by different authors)
  • A newspaper article (paper or online)
  • A popular magazine article (paper or online)
  • A news magazine article (paper or online)
  • An academic journal article
  • A book
  • A book review and/or critique
  • A website
When writing a citation, be sure to use the format appropriate for the field in which you're writing (i.e., MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). When writing an annotation, use the following guidelines:
  • Explain the main purpose of the work
  • Briefly describe the contents
  • Indicate the possible audience for the work
  • Describe the author's particular viewpoint or ideological framework if possible
  • Note any special features as well as any weaknesses or problems
  • Identify the relevance of the source to your research project
  • Limit your annotation to approximately three to six sentences


Examples:

Ackerman, Robert W. "English Rimed and Prose Romances." Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages. Ed. R. S. Loomis. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1959. 480-519.

Discusses the breadth of Arthurian legends in Middle English literature and finds that many are translations or derivatives of the French romances. Covers many of the

diverse stories including the fifteenth century Scottish Lancelot of the Laik. Points to the political setting, the poet's style, and other perceived defects to show that it is an

inferior piece of work. Since the subject of this project is focused on fifteenth century Scottish romances, Lancelot of the Laik fits in with other Lancelot tales in Arthurian

studies.

Organ, Jerry. "'Smoke' on the Grassy Knoll." Kennedy Assassination Home Page. Ed. John McAdams. 2000. 20 February 2006
<http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/organ3.htm>.

Discusses the role of the "Grassy Knoll' in Kennedy assassination mythology as a "wild goose chase" (par. 38). According to the author, although there was a "rush" up the

grassy slope, that rush was less about a poof of smoke and more initated by a policeman, Clyde Haygood. The article addresses the questions raised "The Umbrella Man"

and "Black Dog Man" as well as those of witnesses who claim that they saw a "poof of smoke" coming from the direction of the Grassy Knoll.  Organ appears skeptical

about the place the Grassy Knoll has in Kennedy assassination studies. He provides an interesting counter-argument to tradional understandings of the Grassy Knoll.

Wang, Cristine. Defining Lines: Breaking Down Borders. September 2003 <http://cristine.org/borders/Cover.html>.

Defining Lines: Breaking Down Borders presents the surfing audience with a brightly colored and "comprehensive survey of the work of artists who are breaking down the

borders or boundaries that define artistic practise in the 21st" (par. 1). Rather than being a one author website, this website is a collection of essays and artwork by various

authors. The website presents several links to different websites designed by multimedia artists. The essays cover a variety of topics that range from an Electrohippies

Collective manifesto on hactivism to Edouard Kac's academic discussion of the dialogic in cyberspace. Though many of the pieces are relevant to the the new

communicative space that is cyberspace, there are a few flaws in relation to links that no longer work and pieces written by people who have not thought through both sides

of the argument. Much of this site is single minded, and  many of these essays are relevant to the exploration of the numerous web-related topics including hactivists,

cyborgs, and hacker ethics.