Annotated Bibliography Assignment Purpose The Annotated Bibliography is designed to help you become familiar with the secondary research and commentary relating to your problem. It requires you to identify and read your sources before you start writing your Critical Conversation paper. Description A bibliography is an alphabetized list of sources used in a document. An annotated bibliography (often produced before writing a research-oriented paper) includes annotations, or comments, on each source.

Your Annotated Bibliography should include at least eight (8) annotated sources that represent a variety of different arguments about your problem. Include an MLA citation for each source followed your commentary covering these areas:

• Summary

o Summarize the argument and major points.

• Rhetorical Information o What kind of source (scholarly article, website, etc.) is it? What is

the author’s purpose for writing and who is the intended audience? Are there any biases that need to be noted?

• Evaluation

o What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source? How useful is it for your purpose? How might you use it?

Grading Criteria

• Focus: each source is related to the research question.

• Comprehensiveness: taken together, the sources represent all of the

significant perspectives on the research question.

• Content of Annotations: o Provide enough rhetorical information to demonstrate its

appropriateness for the research question, if necessary. o Summarize content objectively, accurately, and include conclusion. o Evaluate the effectiveness of the argument and use of evidence. o Demonstrate an exploration of how the source may be used for the

multi-source persuasive paper.

• Format: demonstrates correct MLA style.

• Readability: written in clear, correct prose style appropriate for academic

writing. Due Date Sunday, October 22, end-of-day