Annotated Bibliography – Practice

This activity is practice for the large research paper that you will be creating at the end of the school year.

Definitions

A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, websites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "references" or "works cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation.

Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following:

  • Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. 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, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.
  • Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
  • Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Format

The format of an annotated bibliography can vary so if you're doing one for a class, it's important to ask for specific guidelines.

The bibliographic information: Generally, though, the bibliographic information of the source (the title, author, publisher, date, etc.) is written in either MLA or APA format.

The annotations: The annotations for each source are written in paragraph form. The lengths of the annotations can vary significantly from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages. The length will depend on the purpose. If you're just writing summaries of your sources, the annotations may not be very long. However, if you are writing an extensive analysis of each source, you'll need more space.

You can focus your annotations for your own needs. A few sentences of general summary followed by several sentences of how you can fit the work into your larger paper or project can serve you well when you go to draft.

Steps

  1. Collect your notes from the News Article and the Author Interview.
  2. Register to
  3. Input information from the News Article onto Bibme.org and include your annotation
  4. Input information from the NPR Interview onto Bibme.org and include annotation
  5. Give your bibliography a title and save it to bibme.org
  6. Download and save your Annotated Bibliography to your H:Drive English Folder
  7. Hand in paper copy to Mrs. Williams or upload to Turnitin.com
  8. Due Dates: + 10% - 11:59 pm on Friday, December 21 OR regular points at BEGINNING of class on Wednesday, January 2nd.

Anita Vacation

Mrs. Williams

English IV; Period Z

December 21, 2012

Practice for the Annotated Bibliography

Girl, Freshman. "Why I will never date Eddie B." Dating Advice for the Lovelorn.National Public Radio. WEHHS, East Hartford: 20 Dec. 2012. Radio.

In this interview, Eddie B., a lovelorn senior from East Hartford High School, tries to convince a freshman girl to go to the Senior Prom with him. Despite his flowery words and slick style, the freshman girl decided that she would rather eat dirt than accept his invitation. I felt that this interview would be useful for any young man as a "What Not to Do" when asking girls to the Senior Prom.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. Print.

This novel is about the relationship between two young Afghani boys. The betrayal by one will affect their lives for many years and it is only through redemption that forgiveness can be found for the sins of the past. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is curious to know if there is a way to be good again.

Williams News. “That English Teacher - Culture and Identity in The Kite Runner." That English Teacher .Version 2. Mrs. Williams, 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. <

This website discussed how to begin to write like a college freshman while reading a novel. This website is very useful to those students who explore all of its resources. I would certainly think that students who use this site thoroughly will always be on top of the assignments and will definitely get their English credit for graduation.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

NOTE: the margins are not MLA format in this sample annotated bibliography. Please be sure to follow MLA guidelines when making yours.