ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

An annotated bibliography is a collection of sources that you summarize,

analyze, and reflect on in light of a particular question on an issue that you are
researching.
The bibliography is a paper that will present, in alphabetical order, the reference
information about your sources in a conventionally accepted style (e.g., APA,
MLA, or Chicago). English classes use MLA style. You do not include a works
cited here in this paper; instead, you provide the full citation before you begin
summarizing the source.
Purpose
Annotated bibliographies are useful research and drafting tools. Their purpose
is to help you collect and analyze material for larger research/writing projects.
They provide an outline of your research and your analysis of that research.
Your assignment is to write an annotated bibliography using at least five sources
that show a range of viewpoints, more than only pro or con, on an
issue/question that interests you. Use the information provided below to develop
and organize your source material.
Content
Introduction
Include background/context on your issue and discuss how your research will
make you more aware of the larger conversation on the topic. You might use any
of the "they say" moves and/or deploy kairos, indicating how your issue is
relevant and timely right now. You might also include a brief anecdote
explaining what brought you to your project: Did it grow from your personal
interests, come from an issue important in your intended major, or from
something in your anticipated professional field? Be sure to present a research
question, which needs to be focused and narrow so that your project remains
manageable. Your question must present a problematic issue, that is, one that
does not have an easy yes/no answer. Make sure you pick something on which
you have not already made up your mind.
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Annotations

Provide author, title, and publication information for each source in MLA
style just as you would provide it in a Works Cited entry. NOTE: the
sources should be in alphabetical order.
Summarize source material that is relevant to your focus: What
information does the source contain? Identify the main point and briefly
summarize the argument as it relates to your issue/question. Do not rely
on abstracts from databases for this, as it needs to follow our guidelines
for summarizing: author name/pronoun + signal verb.
Rhetorically Analyze/Evaluate the quality and persuasiveness of the
source. Focus on describing 1) why the author and/or publication is
credible and 2) why the source is convincing or not by assessing the
appropriateness and quality of the evidence that supports the sources
claims. Briefly paraphrase authors key points relevant to your question.
Reflect on the sources importance for your project by describing how it
answers your research question and will thus be helpful to you. Does it
help you see a different angle on your question? How can you use it in
your position synthesisthat is, how does it relate to your other sources
(does it add similar points or give more/different evidence, give an
opposing viewpoint, come from another angle that might deepen your
sense of the issues complexity, or suggest other sources to consult?) Has it
changed the way you think about the issue? (Do you
agree/disagree/both, and why?).

Give one paragraph each to your summary, rhetorical analysis, and reflection.
Conclusion
Provide a brief overview of what you have learned from your research and a
statement of your thesis (or answer to your research question). Your conclusion
could also pose questions you may still have about your issue and, as necessary,
suggest directions for further research. You can also use the so what/who cares
move here to conclude.
Example:

Last name page #

Student Name
Professor Name
English 1010
Date
Title
Introduction to the issue/question as described above. This will be a nice
full paragraph or two in which you establish kairos for your issue, tell us your
research question, etc. as detailed above.
Here is a sample annotation adapted from the Purdue Owl. Provide annotations
in alphabetical order by authors last name, or if there is no author, by title, using
MLA style. The citation should be indented and double spaced like an entry in
Works Cited (see easybib.com for help). This annotation is from a bibliography
researching the question, Should the Minimum Wage be Raised:
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York:
Henry Holt and Company, 2001. Print.
In journalist Barbara Ehrenreichs book, she uses experiential
research to examine whether it is possible for an individual to live on a
minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning
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service, and as a Walmart sales employee, she summarizes and reflects on

her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial
struggles in each situation. Ehrenreich argues that low-wage workers,
recipients of government or charitable services like welfare, food, and
health care, are not simply living off the generosity of others, but that,
instead, we live off their generosity: When someone works for less pay
than she can live on ... she has made a great sacrifice for you. The
working poor ... are in fact the major philanthropists of our society who
neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared
for. They also live in substandard housing while working to keep
others homes clean. To belong to the working poor, she claims, is to be
an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone (221).
Ehrenreich concludes that someday, the working poor will organize to
demand fair treatment, and that such a movement will make everyone
better off.
An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is very credible. She is also
aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of
her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. She
is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with
scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the
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rising cost of living in America, thereby adding to both her ethical and
logical appeals. Ehrenreichs project is timely, descriptive, and wellresearched. She uses examples and language such as that in the quote
above to appeal to readers sense of fairness and decency.
I can use her arguments to help me outline the position of those
who argue for a higher minimum wage. Before I read this book, I was
really focused on trying to answer the question of whether or not the
minimum wage would lead to more unemployment. In other words, I was
really overlooking the human and ethical dimensions of this issue and
even being quite judgmental about things like welfare and social programs
for the poor. I dont think I even understood that there was a category of
people called the working poor, who might work many more hours than
most people and still not be able to make ends meet. Reading this source,
I have learned some of my own biases and become better educated. I
could see myself leaning, now, towards the idea that a higher minimum
wage is a crucially important human rights and dignity issue.
[Second and all additional sources, repeat the above format.]
Conclude overall with a paragraph in which you address the information
suggested above on page 2.

Grading Criteria
5

You carefully follow the assignment as presented here.

You use MLA format correctly.
You work on connecting the parts (Chapter 8).
You use Chapter 2 and 3 to summarize and quote effectively. You use
Chapter 5 to distinguish what you say from what they say. You use
Chapter 4 to help you reflect.
You edit carefully to avoid fragment, comma splices, and run-ons, and to
use commas and semicolons correctly (use online sources such as
www.owl.english.purdue.edu to help you here).
You proofread carefully.