English 5376
Annotated Bibliography
Audience: You
Purpose
To gather information about sources that you may use in your writing project.
Assignment
Create an annotated bibliography of at least 25 sources related to your writing
project. This is to be a working bibliography. That means it is a research tool,
not an absolute list of sources that you must then cite in your final project.
Some may be sources that you referred to and then did not use, or they may be
background information that you need for other purposes.
Keep in mind that you can use a myriad of sources. Of course journals and books are resources that you will need to include, but many online sites are excellent resources. Things such as listservs and other more interactive type sources may be acceptable as well. Do not, however, turn in a bibliography with only such sources. Make sure most of your sources have some form of scholarly credibility.
Each source listing should begin with a properly formatted bibliographic entry, followed by an annotation that briefly summarizes the source, then discusses its quality and/or potential usefulness. If you use any non-scholarly sources (such as a commercial website), it will be especially important to demonstrate the site's credibility and usefulness in relation to your project. Note from the examples that you may be very brief in your annotations - you don't necessarily even have to use complete sentences, as long as it makes sense.
Use the documentation style that you have identified as most appropriate for your field (APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, etc.)
Sample Entries (using MLA style):
Belch, Holley A., ed. Serving Students with Disabilities. New Directions for Student Services 91. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub., 2000.
A compilation of articles for Student Service departments in the university. Articles on many topics ranging from legal issues and funding, to recruitment and accommodations. Written by practitioners and program directors, the articles are based on studies and research. Valuable resource for institutions. Other editions coming.
Brueggemann, Brenda Jo, Linda Feldmeier White, Patricia A. Dunn, Barbara A. Heifferon, and Johnson Cheu. "Becoming Visible: Lessons in Disability." College Composition and Communication 52 (2001): 368-398.
Invaluable source! Five expert authors show passion with a well-organized, informative, educational article on LD and composition. Discussion of the "invisibility" of LD, social constructions of LD (with which I find some fault), rhetoric of unacceptance of LD in "normal classroom," texts and classrooms in which making visible LD changes the methods and results. The authors call for a shake-up of routine methods of teaching composition that neglects acknowledgment of LD. Challenges educators to recognize LD while at the same time offering suggestions to that end. Invoked so much passion and interest in me.