WR150 Poets in the City
Annotated Bibliography
Purpose:
An annotated bibliography gives you the opportunity to share your reading comprehension abilities, critical thinking skills, and research plans before you begin to compose your research paper.
Annotated bibliographies constitute a particular genre of research writing, and many projects in a variety of fields require them. As the name implies, the annotated bibliography asks you to compile a list of bibliographic citations followed by an “annotation” that summarizes the source, evaluates it, and reflects on its potential relevance to the project.[unique_solution]
Assignment:
Though your final research paper requires you to use at least five secondary sources, this assignment only requires you to annotate three sources (a book, an article, and third source of your choice). Just like your research paper, qualifying sources must be scholarly sources.
The poem you are studying as your primary/exhibit source does not qualify as a source for this assignment. The annotation itself should include a brief description of the source and the author(s) main arguments or ideas. You should cite at least 2 quotes from each text. Then, you will offer a brief response to the source, addressing whether or not you agree with the author’s arguments and ideas. Finally, you will reflect on how you plan to use this source in your own project.
Think of your annotation in 3 parts:
Summarize: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, how would you summarize the content, including the author’s interpretation/perspective on the subject being discussed. What larger conversation is the author engaging?
Assess: After summarizing a source, dialogue with and evaluate it. React to the author’s viewpoint. Is the text useful for your project? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source? What shortcomings might it have?
Reflect: Once you’ve summarized and assessed the source, explain how it fits into your research. How does the source help your research process? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use it for your own essay?
*Format your bibliography with an MLA citation as the heading for each entry with the annotation below.