Description
You will choose one topic to explore in greater depth from a list of suggested topics. Inconsultation with me, you will then develop an annotated bibliography containing fiveacademic sources as well as a discussion of what you learned from your research.What is an annotated bibliography? A bibliography is a list of citations to sources(books, articles, films, websites, etc.) that youve used when researching a topic. Anannotated bibliography includes a summary and evaluation of each source. Theseannotations are written in paragraph form and for the purposes of this class shouldinclude the following information: 1. an explanation of the main purpose of the source 2.a short summary of key findings or arguments of the source 3. the academic/intellectualcredentials of the source. Does it appear in a peer-reviewed journal? Is the authorsomeone who has expertise in the area? 4. any shortcomings you notice 5. the value ofthis work as a contribution to the topic youre exploring.The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University (owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/) has aterrific explanation of the value of annotated bibliographies.Here it is, quoted verbatim:Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Justcollecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotationsfor each source, you’re forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to readmore critically instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotatedbibliographies allow you to see what has been done in the literature and where your ownresearch or scholarship can fit. To help you formulate a thesis: Every good researchpaper is an argument. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So a veryimportant part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, andcurrent. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective onwhat is being said about your topic. By reading a variety of sources on a topic, you’llstart to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and you’ll then be able todevelop your own point of view
