ENG 280
Dr. Banash
Assignment: Annotated bibliographies are how serious researchers analyze and prepare their reading for use in larger writing projects. Annotated bibliographies look very much like a works cited page, for each entry starts with an MLA citation. After the citation, the researcher offers both a summary of the article and an evaluation of it. Over the next few weeks, you will build your expertise in your problem by citing, summarizing, and evaluating the sources you find in your research. You annotated bibliography must include the following:
At least four sources from the prestige press
At least three peer-reviewed sources
At least three other sources that can be either peer-reviewed or from the prestige press
Strategies: Read the following description of annotated bibliographies on the Purdue OWL: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibliographies/index.html and carefully study the example annotated bibliography posted on our course website http://faculty.wiu.edu/D-Banash/eng280/annotated_example.pdf For our assignment, note that each entry must include the following:
An MLA citation
An objective summary of the content of the article, grounded in brief quotations that create clarity and emphasis. (300-1000 words). The length of the summary depends on the length and complexity of the article. Note that the summary section should try to convey the information and argument of the article as clearly as possible, without making any judgements about it. Save your judgements for the next section of the entry.
An evaluation with CRAAP test of the reliability and usefulness of the article (100-800 words). For this, you might think about some of the categories of the CRAAP test (authority and currency are often important), but you might include your reaction to the facts, argument, and political positions of the article, or how it relates to other articles you have found in your research.
Format: Note that formatting annotated bibliographies is a bit tricky, as you have to master the use of the hanging indent. Review the sample assignment on our course website, and note how only the author’s last name is flush with the left margin. Everything below it is indented until the next entry Entries should be in alphabetical order by the last names of the authors. For whatever your preferred word processor (Word, Google Doc, etc.) there are often helpful tutorials on creating hanging indents on YouTube.
Your annotated bibliography must follow MLA style.
Each individual entry must be between 250-1800 words.
Your margins must all be one inch, and you must rigorously follow MLA style. See the Purdue OWL example MLA paper here: (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html).
