How to do an Annotated
Bibliography and Works Cited,
with a little bit on MLA formatting
Overall Annotated Bibliography Format
Complete bibliographic information
Summary (of Source Material)
Rhetorical Strategies OR
Use (How you might use this source in
your essay)
Important Quotations
Complete Bibliographic Information
This is the complete publication
information for your source as it will
appear in your Works Cited. Your
bibliography lists all the sources you
consulted; your Works Cited lists the ones
that actually appear in your essay
Bibliography Examples
Obama, Barack. Dreams from my Father:
A Story of Race and Inheritance. New
York: Crown, 2007.
Obama, Barack. “Full Text of Obama’s
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance
Speech.” MSNBC. MSNBC, 10
December 2009. Web. 27 January
2010.
More Examples
John McCain for Senator. Friends of John
McCain. Web. 27 January 2010.
Basic Format for Electronic Sources
 Author and/or editor names (if available)
 Article name in quotation marks (if applicable)
 Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some
Print publications have Web publications with slightly different
names. They may, for example, include the additional information or
otherwise modified information, like domain names [e.g. .com or
.net].)
 Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates,
volumes, or issue numbers.
 Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing
date.
 Take note of any page numbers (if available).
 Date you accessed the material.
The Best Online Source for Help
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
MLA Style Guide
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2
/11/
Summary
This is a summary of the content of the
source
For rhetorical sources, this should be the
argument of the source
For informational sources, this should be a
summary of the information in the source –
NOT a description of the source
Rhetorical Strategies/Use
For a rhetorical source, this section should
be a listing of the primary strategies used
by the rhetor.
For an informational source, this section
should detail how you plan to use the
source in your essay.
Important Quotations
This section should list the important
quotations you plan to use from this
source.
Ideally, once your annotated bibliography
is done, you should not have to look at the
source again. This is very useful when
you have limited access to sources
(protected collections in a library, etc.)
Sample
 Citation: Lippman, Walter. “The Indispensable Opposition.” The
Atlantic Monthly. 1939. Print.
 Summary: Lippman argues that freedom of speech is not a noble
right or something to be tolerated; rather, it is absolutely necessary
to hear the opposition in order to improve our own opinions.
 Rhetorical Strategies: arrangement (counter argument/rebuttal first),
establishes ethos through considering other side, uses logos
through reasoning, refutes famous quotation, antithesis/parallelism,
incongruous comparisons
 Quotations: “liberty of opinion is a luxury”(include page number if
available), “we must protect the right of our opponents to speak
because we must hear what they have to say”, “freedom of
discussion improves our own opinions”, “the liberties of other men
are own vital necessity”, “we tolerate the freedom of our political
opponents as we tolerate a howling baby next door”
Preparing the Works Cited page
The Works Cited page is a complete listing
of the bibliographic citations of the sources
you actually used in your essay.
It appears at the end of your essay.
Formatting
Your page should say Works Cited
centered at the top.
Citations appear in alphabetical order by
the beginning of the citation
Double space citations
Do not indent the first line; indent the
second, third, etc.
Works Cited
Allen, R.L. The American Farm Book; or Compend of
American Agriculture; Being a Practical Treatise on Soils,
Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain,Roots,
Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Rice, and Every
Staple Product of the United States with the Best
Methods of Planting, Cultivating, and Preparation for
Market. New York: Saxton, 1849. Print.
Baker, Gladys L., Wayne D. Rasmussen, Vivian Wiser, and
Jane M. Porter. Century of Service: The First 100 Years
of the United States Department of Agriculture.[Federal
Government], 1996. Print.
Danhof, Clarence H. Change in Agriculture: The Northern
United States, 1820-1870.Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP,
1969. Print.
MLA Formatting of Your Paper
 Type your paper on a computer and print it out on
standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
 Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible
font (e.g. Times New Roman). The font size should be
12 pt.
 Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
 Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the
left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key
as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
 Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in
the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top
and flush with the right margin.
Formatting the First Page
 In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your
instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use
double-spaced text.
 Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize,
or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case
(standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
 Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in
your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
 Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
 Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your
last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all
pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half
inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
Sample First Page