Instructions for Annotated Bibliography Activity
ENG 101: Annotated Bibliography Directions
Based on the THREE articles you found during your Critical Thinking Exercise, construct a brief Annotated Bibliography.
Before you begin building your document, you should have reviewed the learning resources.
Keep in mind: You will not necessarily be using these articles in any future paper in English 101. This week’s unit on research and writing an annotated bibliography serves two purposes:
- Helps you better understand the research process using the GMC Library
- Teaches you how to analyze a source and break it apart for use in a paper
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources you are considering using, and these are typically done in preparation for writing longer researched papers. Annotated bibliographies are simply a list of sources cited in MLA style, and underneath each source entry is a paragraph-length “annotation” (or, summary/evaluation) of the article’s main points. So, each source listed will have two parts: a citation and an annotation. A citation contains the publication information for the source and tells how and/or where you found it.
Sample MLA citation:
Farhi, Paul. “There Is No Significant Media Bias.” Mass Media. Ed. Margaret Haerens and Lynn
M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from “How
Biased Are the Media, Really?” Washington Post 27 Apr. 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
These citations should be the same ones you copied/pasted from the Opposing Viewpoints database while doing your Critical Thinking Exercise in week 1.
An annotation is a short summary of the source followed by a critical assessment of it. Summarize the points that are most relevant to your topic. Then assess the source’s ethos (credibility). Does this source come from a scholarly journal? Is the author an expert in his or her field? If the source seems less credible, then what has convinced you to use it? Does the source prove a specific point in your paper, or are you arguing against the article? Finally, explain how this source relates to your other sources (Is it saying the same thing? Is it arguing against your other sources?) and how you plan to use it (Are you relying on it mostly for certain information, and if so, what information is that? How will this article help you?).
How long should my annotations be?
Each annotation should be 5-8 sentences in length. Some annotations will be longer either because the source you are annotating is longer, or because that source is more important to your paper and thus requires more careful analysis.
What should my annotated bibliography look like?
Your annotated bib should be in typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, and should be in MLA format complete with a header, page numbers, etc. Where you would usually list the title of your research paper, you should write the tentative title of your paper, then “Annotated Bibliography.” A more specific title might be: “An Analysis of Media Bias: Annotated Bibliography.”
When you have finished your Annotated Bibliography, please upload it to the Turnitin link at the bottom of Week 1 by Sunday, 11:55 pm.
