The Great Gatsby Research Project
Directions: Research the topics to create 5 evaluative questions and answers to be used in class
discussion. Keep track of sources to create an annotated bibliography of at least three credible
sources: your annotations should evaluate the credibility of the source as well as describe how
you used the source to formulate specific questions and answers.
Question-writing Guide:
Write questions that compel you to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the content of your research.
These are not questions that can be answered simply, but instead force you to think about causes
and effects, compare and contrast, critique, examine and apply ideas.
Requirements:
1. 6 evaluative questions with complex answers. Each answer should be about a paragraph in
length.
2. Questions and answers should cover all three topics and address multiple bulleted
subtopics.
3. Annotated bibliography with at least three credible sources at least one source must be a
book.
4. Participation in class discussion: both posing and answering questions
Topics:
Prohibition
• Contribution to the development of organized crime in America
• Causes and effects
• Regards to concepts of morality
F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Life
• Major people/events that influenced him
• Major works
• Coining of the phrase/meaning of “The Jazz Age”
American Society in 1920’s
• Gender roles and stereotypes
• Social class
• “Roaring Twenties”
• Effects of WWI on American ideals, etc.
• Changes in technology and lifestyle
Informative/Descriptive Annotated Bibliography
Purpose of an annotated bibliography
• As a student, you are normally writing an annotated bibliography as an indication of the
sources you intend to use for an assignment, paper or thesis. In this case, your purpose is to
write an informative or descriptive annotation.
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As opposed to a works cited page, an annotated bibliography includes annotation for each
source as well as bibliographic information. The annotation describes the essential details of
the work and its relevance to the topic.
Creating an annotated bibliography
Annotations should include complete bibliographic information in MLA format as well as:
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Information to explain the authority and/or qualifications of the author. For example: Dr.
William Smith, a history professor at XYZ University, based his book on twenty years of
research.
Scope and main purpose of the work.
Any biases that you detect.
Intended audience and level of reading difficulty.
Evaluation or why you feel this work is suitable for your topic
How you specifically used the source in your presentation.
Sample Informative/Descriptive Annotation
London, Herbert. "Five Myths of the Television Age." Television Quarterly 10 (1) Spring
1982: 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books
and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific
examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his
points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is believing"; "a
picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical
arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous
works on the topic. London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any
reader.
Some of the content of this handout is from Memorial University of Newfoundland:
http://www.library.mun.ca/guides/howto/annotated_bibl.php