Annotated Bibliography
Annotated bibliographies (AB) serve a variety of functions. While this assignment only requires 4-5 sources for support, researchers will often read and use many sources to inform their research. An annotated bibliography is a way to track the main ideas of a source and initial impressions about how the source might inform research. Here, you will also be expected to identify why the source is credible and possible counterarguments.
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In class or online, you will compose a sample AB for one of your major writing assignments. Once you have finished composing 1 AB for your discussion post, weigh the feedback from your peers. Consider peer feedback as you compose or revise 2 more entries for 2 additional resources. Upload your polished, APA-style formatted document here. Follow formatting guidelines carefully in the instructions.
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Depending on your skill with summary and how quickly you write, this assignment may take approximately 1 hour to 1.5 hours to complete. If you have not read your sources using critical reading strategies, add 1-1.5 hours per article.
Instructions
For this assignment, compose 3 annotated bibliography entries. A minimum of 2 entries must be for peer-reviewed sources; 1 entry must present an opposing view to your stance. (If 2 popular sources are given and only 1 peer-reviewed source is given, this will only count for 2 entries.) If you have not completed the "How to Write a Summary" assignment or struggle with summarizing sources, I suggest you do that first to help you with the summary paragraph from one of your articles.
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After conducting and evaluating your research, identify five (5) articles on your topic that you think will inform your research. At this point, you should have read these articles critically and identified the main points of the articles. Annotate 3 of articles you plan to use for your project. (Two (2) of the articles in your annotations must be scholarly, peer-reviewed sources; one article must represent views different or opposing from the other two.)
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Use the structure modeled in "Parts of an Annotated Bibliography to guide/model your entries. Note that these are not complete! They are starters, and using them is not plagiarism. You must fill in the blanks with details about your research information. A sample APA style annotation can also be viewed on the OWL at Purdue website. Upload this assignment in a Word document. PDFs will be considered unsubmitted.
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Parts of an Annotated Bibliography
There are several formats for an annotated bibliography. We will be using APA format, following the structure illustrated by the OWL at Purdue (click here to link to the website).
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You do not need a cover page or abstract for this assignment. Instead, use the following header:
Firstname Lastname
Instructor Graber
ENGL 101
Day Month Yeardate
Citations should use a hanging indent. All elements of the annotated bibliography should also use a hanging indent, as shown in the resource example above.
Citations
APA or MLA format
Include a complete, correctly formatted citation. Reminder, using a citation builder or the source provided in the database does not guarantee correctness. Check your work to ensure style correctness.
Article Summary
5-7 sentences
Write a summary paragraph identifying the main points of the work or points that will be relevant to your work. Here are some starters:
The main argument of ("Title of source" by author) is ____________.
According to _________.... One point _________ makes is... or __________ claims ....
Another point by _________ explains...
Quotes should not be used except for short phrases you cannot replicate in your own words. This is summary practice.
One source should represent opposing views.
Credibility/Authority
3-5 sentences
Explain how the source establishes credibility or authority on the topic under research. Here are some starters:
The purpose of the argument is to __________________.
This source agrees/disagrees with other sources by _________________________.
The author(s) are qualified to talk about this issue because ________________.
One of the reasons this article is (effective/useful) is______________________.
On the other hand, a bias or audience from this source suggests ____________.
Relevance to Research Project
3-5 Setnences
Describe how the resource will be relevant to supporting a point you want to make to support your claim. Be specific by identifying the supporting point and explaining how your source relates to the point. Here are some starters:
Supporting View:
This article is relevant to my argument that _____________________ because ____________.
One way this article supports my research is by showing....
This source offers an example of ____________ which supports my point ____________ (explain how source supports or connects to point)
Opposing View:
The opposition to this view might argue _______________. OR
Another view to consider on this topic is_____________________.