ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

WHAT IS THIS ASSIGNMENT?

This assignment asks you to begin the research process by building a bibliography of at least
three quality sources, writing an annotation for each, and composing a short reflection
(roughly 1–2 pages) about your research process.

A bibliography is an alphabetical list of sources (such as journal articles, books, essays, etc.)
pertaining to a particular topic. An annotation is an explanatory note, in this case one that acts
to contextualize, analyze, and evaluate the source. What’s the source’s argument? How does
it make that argument? Why is it a credible and relevant source? The annotations for this
assignment follow a template called a rhetorical précis (pronounced prey–see).

The assignment focuses on improving the research process itself, emphasizing process over
product and quality over quantity. More specifically, it’s about 1) understanding what quality
sources are, 2) how to find them, 3) how to evaluate them, and 4) how to use those sources to
situate your artifact and your ongoing analysis within a larger cultural conversation. This ability
to recognize when you need a certain sort of information, locate it, and then use it in your writing
and argumentation is called information literacy, an increasingly valuable skill.

ANY TIPS?

Practice curiosity. Pursuing topics that spark your interest and that you genuinely think are
 
worth exploring will make the research process more enjoyable and engaging—and your essay, too.
Be precise with your MLA formatting. Do not trust online citation-makers. The Purdue OWL
is a helpful and up-to-date source for checking your citations.

WHAT’S THE EXACT SEQUENCE?

PART
  ONE
1. Cite all of your chosen sources in MLA format.
2. Include an annotation below each MLA citation that adheres to the template provided.
3. Articulate in a sentence or two why you decided to include this source and how it helps advance
your understanding of your artifact and/or your analysis of it.

PART TWO
Compose a 1–2 page reflection that responds to each of following questions:
1. Which topics or issues are you curious about why so?
2. What keywords and keyword combinations did you use in researching? How did they evolve?
3. What type of sources do you need to keep searching for in order to advance your analysis and
develop an argument?
4. What might you do differently next time to improve your research process?  

DUE | ____________________ POINTS | 25