PAPER #3: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ENGL 1133
Due: 11:59pm on Thursday, 4/7 through the SafeAssign application in eCourses. The late period in
eCourses extends to 11:59pm on Monday, 4/11.
Assignment Description: The annotated bibliography is the first part of your research project on a
contemporary issue involving globalization. It should begin with a brief description (100-200 words)
of the specific issue that your research project addresses followed by the working thesis statement for
your research paper. This background information on your research project should be followed by
five annotated citations of sources that you intend to use for your research paper, at least three of
them full length academic articles.
For each source, you must provide a full bibliographical citation in either MLA or APA
format (you decide which format, but use the same format throughout the assignment). Each
citation should be followed by an annotation split into two paragraphs. The first paragraph should
give an accurate account of the overall purpose and content of the source, and the second paragraph
should explain how exactly you intend to use the source in relation to your working thesis. For nonacademic sources, your discussion of how you intend to use the source must include a critical
evaluation of the source based on its context, audience, and purpose (in other words, defend your
decision to use that particular source). Each annotation should be 150-300 words.
Below, you will find a sample annotated bibliography (in APA format) that includes an issue
description, a working thesis, and two (rather than the full five) annotated citations. Notice the
differences between the annotation for the academic source and the annotation for the non-academic
source.
WARNING: Do not plagiarize your annotations from article abstracts or from the articles
themselves. You are to explain the purpose and content of each article in your own words.
Style and Tone: In discussing the source material, you should use signal phrases and in-text citation
consistently and properly (according to either MLA or APA guidelines) and maintain a scholarly tone
(objective and respectful).
Gerald Thompson
Annotated Bibliography
ENGL 1133
Dr. Roberts
11/12/2010
SAMPLE
Issue: Doctors who responded to Hurricane Katrina learned a great deal about how to
manage health issues following a disaster. It gave them a type of experience that American
doctors do not generally get in medical school or in their normal practices. It is important
that we have doctors with this kind of experience so that we can adequately respond to the
next disaster on American shores. But it has been several years since Katrina, and a new
generation of doctors is coming of age without ever having had to deal with the types of
health problems associated with disaster situations. This could leave the nation vulnerable
and unprepared when the next large-scale disaster strikes.
Working Thesis: Federal and state governments must develop programs and incentives for
young medical professionals to practice abroad in depressed or disaster-struck regions.
Annotated Citations:
Belfer, M. L. (2006). Caring for children and adolescents in the aftermath of natural
disasters. International Review of Psychiatry, 18 (6), 523-28.
Belfer’s article concerns research that he conducted in the aftermath of the Southeast
Asian tsunami of 2004. This research focuses on the treatment of psychological disorders,
particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among children. He notes that there is a
tendency to over-diagnose PTSD among children and to treat them with aggressive methods
that were developed for adults and can do lasting harm to children, even those who are
accurately diagnosed with PTSD. In place of these methods, he recommends a set of
“intervention priorities” centered around re-establishing normal routines for children so that
they will feel more secure and be as little traumatized as possible. Belfer notes, however,
much research remains to be done in order to establish the best intervention priorities and
the best methods for achieving them.
Belfer’s article is important for my research because it demonstrates that disasterrelated healthcare is a rapidly developing field of knowledge. This means that American
doctors need to be actively engaged in developing that knowledge. Some argue that it is
enough for the government to finance seminars on disaster relief, but seminars can only
teach what is already known. Belfer’s research helps me demonstrate that young doctors
need to be sent into disaster scenarios so that they can participate in the ongoing
advancement of knowledge regarding disaster-related healthcare.
Sontag, D. (2010, February 12). Foreign doctors haunted by Haitians they couldn’t help.
New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
In this New York Times article, Deborah Sontag reports on the experiences of doctors
who responded to the recent earthquake in Haiti that caused large-scale devastation. The
article focuses on doctors who had to perform severe medical procedures, like amputations,
without adequate resources. A group of doctors from New York, for instance, arrived at an
overcrowded hospital where “the anesthesia machine didn’t work, the oxygen tanks were
empty, there was no blood supply and the labs were not functioning” (para. 18). Under
these conditions, the team performed amputations, limb-saving operations, and even a
Caesarean section. Sontag’s interviews with these doctors reveals that they had difficulty
reacting the incredibly disorienting circumstances that they encountered.
This article is from a credible news source and provides firsthand accounts from
doctors who experienced the devastating aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. I will use it to
demonstrate how important it is that American doctors actually experience disaster
circumstances rather than simply learn about them secondhand. The circumstances that
doctors face in disaster situations are very unpredictable and can be extreme, but the doctors
who went to Haiti are better equipped to handle such situations if and when they arise on
American shores.