Project 3: Annotated Bibliography

This project is designed to familiarize you with conducting research in the library and using library
resources. You will identify a topic/issue that was addressed during the interview that you
conducted in the previous assignment and conduct research on that issue using the librarys
resources. You will find a mix of scholarly and non-scholarly sources, including academic articles,
popular articles, and academic books. Using these sources, you will compile an annotated
bibliography in which you succinctly articulate the main arguments of each source and its
relationship to your other sources and larger project.

For the next couple of weeks, you are going to get very friendly with the library and its resources.
We will meet with a librarian, learn how to navigate the library and its resources, and you will find,
identify, and annotate several scholarly sources that will help you in the final research paper of this
course. The end product of this project will be an annotated bibliography of these sources, a
resource that will aid you in the final project.

So, what is an annotated bibliography? Well, think of it as a meatier works cited page. In an
annotated bibliography, you write down all of the citation information as you would in a standard
works cited page (and for this project well be using the MLA citation system), but instead of
moving on to the next citation once you write down all this information, you then include a brief
summary and evaluation of the source. An annotated bibliography is designed to help researchers
(such as yourselves) identify and remember a variety of sources without having to re-read each
source. For your purposes (and, indeed, this is how most annotated bibliographies are used), the
annotated bibliography will provide a snapshot of all the sources that youve found and include
notes of what you found useful for your research.

For each entry, start by writing the citation (using appropriate MLA formatting). Following the final
piece of punctuation, you immediately start writing the annotation. (The annotation does not begin
on a separate line keeping it part of the hanging indent format of the original citation allows
readers to see that all of the information is part of the same citation.) (In the example below, this is
labeled SECTION 1.)

In your annotation, you need to do the following:

Begin with a 2-3 sentence summary of the authors argument and how the author makes this
argument. (Be brief with this the point of this is simply to be a reminder to you when you
consult these sources again for a later project. You do not need to summarize every last
detail just the important points for your purposes.) (This is labeled SECTION 2)
Follow this brief summary with a quick evaluation of the strengths of the authors argument.
Do you find this argument well-made? Is it relevant? (You dont necessarily have to agree
with the authors argument to find it a well-made argument. Its actually a sign of good
writing to include perspectives that differ from your own.) (SECTION 3)
Conclude with a 2-3 sentences that explain how you might be able to use this source for
your own project and also any connections you see between this source and other sources
youve encountered in your research. (SECTION 4)

Heres an example (notice the formatting):

SECTION 1
Smith, Donald. Eating and Praying: How Religious Practices Shape Communal Dining Practices in

American Evangelical Communities. Journal of Religious Food Studies vol. 36, no. 3, 2013, pp.

567-85. Smith argues that contemporary American dining practices have been

substantially shaped by the history of evangelical movements and communities in the

United States. Beginning with the communal dining practices of Puritan settlers and

SECTION 2
moving through contemporary evangelical groups, Smith shows that evangelical values of

communion, patriarchal leadership, evangelism, and self-denial have constructed

contemporary American dining habits in such forms as the layout of dining

space, organization of bodies around food, liturgical rites, and division of labor in
SECTION 3

food production. Smiths argument is compelling and he develops it from an

exhaustive reading of historical and secondary sources. As it pertains to my

project, I want to use Smiths argument to help illustrate the pervasiveness of

religious family and communal practices, even outside of religious communities. I can use

SECTION 4
this to connect to my argument that American social practices are inherently religious,

regardless of an individuals belief system. This also reminds me of Johnsons (2009)

essay on the relationship between prayer and public speaking in contemporary society.

For your annotated bibliography, you will need to find at least 8 sources, of which 5 must be scholarly
sources that are relevant to your research topic. The scholarly part is important: you need to find
sources that are written by academics for an academic audience, meaning that you should look
towards scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and books published by academic presses. Note: book
reviews published in academic journals do not count as scholarly arguments. These are simply
academics summarizing another academics book. Look for argumentative scholarship (that is
typically much longer than a book review often 15-30 pages or more).

Rubric
For this assignment, you will be assessed on the following criteria:
 Does the bibliography include 8 sources, 5 of which are scholarly sources?
For each entry:
o Is the citation correctly formatted (including hanging indents, double-spaced
annotations, appropriate punctuation, all necessary information provided in the
correct order)?
o Does each annotation provide a brief summary that succinctly states the authors
central argument and any important claims that the student finds useful?
o Does each annotation provide an evaluation of the source, in which the student
assesses the strengths of the sources central argument?
o Does each annotation explain how the student may be able to make use of this
source for their own project?
Does the student include copies of peer review drafts and peer review worksheets that
demonstrate the students consideration of peer feedback in putting together a final draft?

Schedule
Week 8: October 23 27
Tuesday: Due: Turn in Interview Profile Project |
Library Orientation Day (meet in Maxwell Library)

Thursday: Class Cancelled

Week 9: October 30 November 3

Tuesday: Discuss: Go over revised course material and discuss annotation project,
Library Research Day (meet in Maxwell Library)
You will spend this class period in Maxwell Library finding, evaluating, and
annotating sources for your project. This should not be the only day that you do this.

Thursday: Due: Reading Journal (on one of your sources) Bring at least two sources that you
have read, at least one of which must be scholarly
Read: Evaluating Sources (In reading on website)

Week 10: November 6 10

Tuesday: Read: MLA documentation guide and APA guide on Purdue OWL (in readings on
website) Discuss: Documentation

Thursday: Due: Draft of annotated bibliography for peer review

Week 11: November 13 17

Tuesday: Turn in Annotated Bibliography | Begin Researched Paper Project
Bring two copies of your annotated bibliography (one to turn in, one to use in class)