Annotated Bibliography Assignment Sheet
Due:
Length: No fewer than 500 words and no more than 800.
Value: 10% of final grade
The annotated bibliography is an academic genre used by scholars and researchers to document and share useful sources. Essentially,
it is a list of sources, and each source is accompanied by a brief description. Annotated bibliographies often also come with an
introduction or critical preface, which explains the focus or main topic of the sources found in the bibliography.
GOAL:
The goals of this assignment are fairly simple. First, you will gain experience with the annotated bibliography genre. It’s likely that
you’ll be asked to write annotated bibliographies for later classes, so it’s a good thing to get some practice now.
Second, you will reflect on the rhetoric and content of sources you discovered in your research so far. You can use these sources for
your final researched proposal essay, so writing this annotated bibliography should help you to consider which sources were most
useful. If someone could only read three sources to learn about your topic, which sources would you recommend?
ASSIGNMENT:
Using three sources from your research so far, prepare an annotated bibliography with a critical preface. Each annotation must include
rhetorical information about the source (such as purpose, audience and genre), a summary of the source's contents, and your own
evaluation of that source for your research purposes. Each annotation should resemble the “Three-Sentence Evaluative Annotation”
form found on page 263 of A & B, but you aren't required to limit yourself to three sentences.
Your critical preface must provide enough information for the reader to see the goal of your research, as well as an overview of the
material found in the bibliography. See A & B page 264-265 for the requirements of the critical preface.
Finally, please note that this assignment has a maximum as well as a minimum length; your bibliography must express all necessary
information concisely, in such a way that it does not exceed the maximum length.
A sample annotated bibliography just like the one you will be writing can be found on
A & B pages 272-274.
GRADING CRITERIA:
In grading this assignment, I’ll be asking the following questions:
-Does the critical preface explain the significance and purpose of the bibliography? Does it provide the reader with sufficient context
to understand what these sources have in common? Does it explain and justify the types of sources included?
-Does each annotation include rhetorical information about its source? Does it summarize the source’s content? Have you evaluated
the source for its relevance and usefulness to your research?
-Are your preface and annotations clearly and concisely written? Have you avoided confusing wordiness while still adopting an
appropriately formal tone for an annotated bibliography?
-Have you cited sources according to MLA conventions? Are your sources in alphabetical order?
FORMAT:
The critical preface and each annotation should be double-spaced, but single-space the bibliographic entries themselves. Each
bibliographic entry should be formatted according to MLA standards, and should be followed by your annotation of it. It will be a
good idea to model your annotated bibliography on the sample bibliography found on A & B pages 272-274.