english writing

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

An annotated bibliography is a list of secondary source citations with a short overview of each essay’s main argument. The educational goal is to 1) gather information necessary for your final research paper and 2) to train yourself in finding other authors’ theses sentences so you can write your own. Before you begin this assignment you should read the Purdue OWL section on annotated bibliographies at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/ (Links to an external site.)

For this assignment you should:

1. List at least six secondary sources in alphabetical order. These should include 3 books and 3 journal articles.
2. Include all information required by the MLA style for the citation. You can find this in your handbook or online at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ (Links to an external site.)
3. Include a 75-100 word summary of each source, which should include direct quotes. The goal here is for you to find the author’s thesis sentence.
4. Proofread for grammar errors. For style guidance, go to https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ (Links to an external site.)

Your bibliography should look something like this for a book:

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books, 1995. Print.

Lamott’s book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott’s book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one’s own internal critic. In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun.

Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one’s own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.

Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students’ own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott’s style both engaging and enjoyable.

(Example from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/03/ (Links to an external site.) )

And like this for an article:

Babbitt, Kevin. “Mary Magdalene and the Drama of Saints: Theatre, Gender, and Religion in Late Medieval England.” Theatre Journal 57.2 (2005). 331-332. 10 September 2005. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ theatre_journal/v057/57.2babbitt.html (Links to an external site.)>.

The author provides an in-depth review of Theresa Coletti’s book (ISBN-13: 978-0812238006) based on the Bodleian Library manuscript Digby 133 (the Digby Mary Magdalene). He is very favorable of the book, describing the author’s analysis as knowledgeable, thorough, and cohesive. Babbitt highly recommends the text for anyone interested in looking at the performance of religion, especially in light of gender issues.

English 1102: Essay 6: Annotated Bibliography

25% Research

The student demonstrates proficiency with searching the Troy University library online catalogue and databases to identify 5-7 potential secondary sources for the final research paper. The research is a combination of books and scholarly articles. Each potential source focuses on a specific text from the syllabus and demonstrates a general focus on a single theme or issue within the work that will be the subject of the final research paper. (In other words, the student does not cite the first 5-7 items that pop up during the research process, but searches for essays on imagery in Emily Dickinson, for example).

25% Proper MLA formatting

The annotated bibliography demonstrates student awareness of proper MLA formatting procedures as outlined at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/ (Links to an external site.). Among these procedures: listing authors in alphabetical order by last name; authors’ last names listed first, followed by first name; proper citation of title using italics for full-length books and quotation marks for an article, short story, or poems; use of place, publisher, and date of publication for books and journal title, volume and issue, date of publication, and page numbers for articles; use of punctuation including periods, commas, and semi-colons; and proper acknowledgment of medium of publication, including use of “Print” for physical books (“hard copy”) and articles consulted and URL and date access documentation for sources read online (Web. Date)

25% Annotations

The student writes a coherent, 75-100 word paragraph summarizing the thesis of the secondary source using complete sentences. The paragraph includes quotes, whether a complete sentence or selected phrases from the source, along with a parenthetical reference for the page number cited.

10% Punctuation/Grammar

The student has followed punctuation and grammar rules throughout the paper. The student has also paid attention to accuracy in spelling and the overall formatting of the paper.

15% Improvement

The annotated bibliography shows signs of concerted effort on the student’s part to correct grammar errors from previous assignments and to demonstrate improvement over the course of the semester.