The Annotated Bibliography
Quickchat with colleague:
What do you already know about writing a
research paper?
What do you already know about
bibliographies/works cited?
What is a Bibliography?
A works cited list that gives credit to
sources used to justify your
arguments.
Also, a way to prevent the horrors of
plagiarism.
What is an Annotation?
An Annotation is a commentary a reader
makes after critically reading an informative
source. It can include a summary of the
reading, the reader’s response to the reading,
and/or questions/comments addressing the
article’s clarity, purpose, or effectiveness.
What is an Annotated
Bibliography?
An Annotated Bibliography is a list of
bibliographic citations that includes a
descriptive and evaluative paragraph of each
citation.
Its overall purpose is to support your study of a
particular subject by providing a collection of
succinct article summaries that will negate
the need for rereading of an article.
It is the “researching” process for collegiate
writing. Often, papers will require one.
College Classes/Majors that Require
Annotated Bibliographies:
•All of them
Where do I start?
•Determine your subject/topic
• Our assignment requires you to select and consider
a particular novel/play that has been cited on the
AP Literature open-ended prompt list
•Consider an aspect of the book that you’re
interested in
•Develop a good research question to which your
thesis statement would serve as the “answer”
Looking for scholarly articles
•Consider the different directions and dimensions
of your research topic. Find relevant articles that
provide information that could lead you to
developing a thesis statement.
•Begin by critically reading the article. View the
reading as an interactive process in which your
interpretation of author’s words is influenced by
your own knowledge and experiences.
•Critical readers attempt to dialogue with the text
by asking tough questions on the article’s
purpose, audience, language and content.
Questions to ask about an article
•Who is the author? Her/his credentials?, biases?
•Where is the article published? What type of
journal is it? What is the audience?
•What do I know about the topic? Am I open to
new ideas?
•Why was the article written? What is its
purpose?
•What is the author’s thesis? The major
supporting points or assertions?
Questions to ask about an article
•Did the author support his/her
thesis/assertions?
•Did the article achieve its purpose?
•Were the supporting sources credible?
•Did the article change my viewpoint on the
topic?
•Was the article convincing? What new
information or ideas do I accept or reject?
•What evidence was provided in support of
the thesis?
Sample Articles:
http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/
Writing the Annotation
A strong annotation contains:
•A summary of the article and
connections with your intended topic
of study (thesis statement)
•Your response to the article
•Inclusion of relevant and significant
quotations
•Questions connecting the article and
your knowledge and experience.
The Summary Section/Paragraph
•Begin by succinctly stating the article’s
thesis and major points.
•Describe/define key points and how
they are connected or substantiated.
•Describe the usefulness and the
limitations of the article
•Limit in length to 3-4 grammatically
correct sentences
The Response and Connections
Section/Paragraph
•Describe the relevance, accuracy, and
quality of the citation and its
conclusions.
•Document your response to the author’s
ideas, argument, writing style or any
other notable aspect of the article.
•Consider how the article supports,
refutes, or questions your thesis
statement.
Quotation
•Directly cite or paraphrase interesting or
meaningful quotations from the article
you wish to remember.
•These would be quotations that could be
particularly helpful in an essay.
•The usefulness of the quotation should
be evident from its content.
•Be sure to note the page number of the
quotation or paraphrase for later
referencing.
Useful Directions to Pursue
•The purpose of the work
•A summary of its content
•For what type of audience the work is
written
•Its relevance to your topic
•Any special or unique features about the
material
•The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the
material
Creating the Annotated Bib
•Start with the citation written in
MLA style
•Pay attention to the details of a bib
citation:
•Capitalization
•Punctuation
•Use of italics
The Annotation
•Summarize each article’s central thesis and
respond critically to the major points
supporting the thesis.
•Quotations – generally 2-3 quotes/article.
Include page numbers (or paragraphs) with
the quotation.
•Your analysis should select the relevant
arguments presented in the article to your
thesis statement.
Use the Annotation/suggestions
•Attach a copy of your annotation to the
article you are annotating. Add comments as
you reflect on its content. Start an
alphabetical file of your annotated articles.
•Use notes to track and save the information
you find in your articles
•This would be the last step before planning
your paper (which we won’t write for this
project)
Sample Annotation from Literature
Lackey, Michael. "Moral Conditions for Genocide in Joseph
Conrad's Heart of Darkness1." Gale Student Resources in Context.
Detroit: Gale, 2007. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
This source discusses, as the title infers, the moral conditions for
genocide in Heart of Darkness. Lackey suggests that there is a
“conceptual gap” (para. 5) in Kurtz’s seventeen-page report to the
Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Lackey references an
idea from Peter Edgerly Firchow’s book on heart of darkness that
suggests that “there exist two Kurtzes” (para. 7). One, expressed in the
beginning of the report, represents the initial state European
imperialism, while the other, seen in the postscript, represents the
“moral degeneration” of imperialism, similar to that apparent in
Kurtz’s madness. This contradiction, Lackey argues, criticizes the
deteriorating and unstable condition of European colonies in Africa
compared to the ideal. Ultimately, Lackey argues, it is this instability in
the character of Kurtz that serves to represent the true hypocrisy of
European colonization.
Sample Annotation from Literature
Lackey, Michael. "Moral Conditions for Genocide in Joseph Conrad's Heart of
Darkness1." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 6 Jan. 2015. This source discusses, as the title
infers, the moral conditions for genocide in Heart of Darkness. Lackey
suggests that there is a “conceptual gap” (para. 5) in Kurtz’s seventeen-page
report to the Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Lackey
references an idea from Peter Edgerly Firchow’s book on heart of darkness
that suggests that “there exist two Kurtzes” (para. 7). One, expressed in the
beginning of the report, represents the initial state European imperialism,
while the other, seen in the postscript, represents the “moral degeneration”
of imperialism, similar to that apparent in Kurtz’s madness. This
contradiction, Lackey argues, criticizes the deteriorating and unstable
condition of European colonies in Africa compared to the ideal. Ultimately,
Lackey argues, it is this instability in the character of Kurtz that serves to
represent the true hypocrisy of European colonization.
CITATION
SUMMARY
ANALYSIS/CONNECTION
The Thesis Statement
• A thesis statement is NOT a statement of accepted fact; it is the
position that needs the proof you will provide in your
annotations. Think of it as a claim—it indicates what you claim
to be interesting or valuable about your subject. It is an
interpretation of your subject, rather than the subject itself.
• Just as important as what you’re arguing is the question: How
are you arguing? In other words, how are all the pieces of
information that you have gathered related? Choose the most
effective approach.
• You can’t just pluck a thesis out of thin air. Return to your
research to make sure that your argument has “legs” on which
to stand.
• Consider starting by searching for the work as well as a literary
critical theory. ie: Marxism in Brave New World; Feminist Theory
and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; Historical Science and
Frankenstein
The Thesis Statement
•This assignment is not designed for a
poetry or prose analysis
•(you’ll have few of those in college)
•So, don’t include literary devices in
your thesis statement.
•Focus on the overall meaning and
how different elements of the
novel/play reinforce a theme,
critique, or problem posed by the text
The Thesis Statement
• Avoid vague qualifiers such as interesting, important, and
unusual. Instead, seek sharp, meaningful words that
increase clarity.
• Do not use me, my, mine, I, you, thesis, paper, or essay in
your thesis statement (or annotations!). Let your important
conclusion about your research speak for itself!
• A strong thesis not only grabs the interest of your reader,
who now wants to see you support your unique
interpretation, it also provides a focus or “road map” for
your argument.
• You may revise your thesis statement as you write your
bibliography. The important thing is for your thesis to
identify the purpose of your research and for each
annotation to relate back to your thesis.
Thesis Statement Checklist – SOIDS! (I tried…)
•Specific – Addresses particular aspects of the
text. Makes a clear claim. Not general or vague.
•Organized – Should have clear organizational
structure that addresses parts of the text
•Inferential – Addresses some greater meaning or
argument about a non-obvious or non-literal
meaning of the whole text; uses inference
•Debatable – Should be able to disagree with your
claim
•So what? – Addresses a meaningful meaning and
sets up the thesis to have an actual impact on
how we read and interpret the text
Some Interesting Angles to Take
• Posing a problem for interpretation
• The lack of independence and depth to The Great Gatsby’s
female characters signals a significant issue to the text,
namely that…
• Disagreeing with another scholar’s opinion
• Although critic Robert Stallworth has argued against
biographical criticism in Fitzgerald’s work, the parallels
between the novelist’s life and work suggests…
• Viewing the work through a certain critical lens
• When considered from a Marxist approach, The Great
Gatsby exposes underlying arguments about…
• Outlining a debate and taking a side
• Scholars seem to disagree on the extent of racism present
in The Great Gatsby, but consideration of XYZ leads
readers to believe that the work fails to advocate for…
Sample Thesis Statements from Previous Years
• Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables provides a realistic depiction of social
and economic life in the lower classes and the injustices they
endured because of the corrupt French monarchy. By favoring the
poverty-ridden French citizens with protagonists and sympathetic
characters instead of the antagonist French aristocracy, Hugo
belies the hypocritical and oppressive Napoleonic government.
• That The Great Gatsby critiques the possibility of the American
ideal is undeniable; however, the root of this is found in the flaws
of the characters’ class structures, as opposed to in Fitzgerald’s
treatment of race, as many recent critics assert.
• Although F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the idealistic Gatsby as an
allegory to the sacrifice and esteem of The Passion of Christ, and
the American Dream is a phenomenon of insatiable desire, the
actual role that Jay Gatsby assumes is one as a false prophet of
this enticing Utopia.
Super Thesis!
•Although A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
establishes antihero Stephen Dedalus as his own
independent character, similarities between the life
and beliefs of Joyce and his protagonist,
supplemented by Joyce’s use of free indirect speech
and the meandering construction of his
Bildungsroman, hold Dedalus and his author to be
metaphysically conjoined, divorced by fictional
disjoint yet perennially married in spirit.
Interpretation of Dedalus’ character, therefore,
cannot be properly accomplished without an
appreciation for the political, social, and religious
environment in which Joyce cultivated his own
beliefs.
What does this have to do with us?
•You will be preparing an annotated bibliography
to fulfill your research requirement for English IV.
•You must use 5 sources from literary critical
articles found in academic sources.
•DO NOT use articles that simply summarize. They
must have an argument about how to interpret
the text.
•These articles will form the evidence for your own
thesis about one of the major works we have
encountered so far.
Steps to Writing a Researched Literary
Analysis and Annotated Bibliography
1. Read, consider, and discuss primary text.
2. Inventory your own ideas about the text. Begin thinking about
what you have to argue about it.
3. Perform a cursory review of what scholars have to say about the
text. Consider your various critical theories to develop an argument.
4. Formulate a research question about the text. Let this guide you to
your thesis. Do more research to answer the research question (RQ)
5. Formulate a thesis statement that is specific, debatable, and
provable. This thesis statement should be the answer to your RQ.
6. Find sources that are relevant to your thesis statement. They
should in some way address your topic.
7. Critically skim the article and find sections that may be useful in
either supporting or refuting your thesis.
8. Catalogue and inventory scholars’ opinions in paraphrased notes
or direct quotations.
9. Write the citation in proper format.
10.Justify how the source addresses your thesis statement. Be
specific as to how it supports, refutes, or questions your thesis.
Let’s run through an example of how to
complete this process effectively.
•We’ve already read and carefully
considered Heart of Darkness.
•We’ve already skimmed some critical
articles and we’re interested in a
historicist connection with imperialism.
•We’ve already drafted a strong thesis
statement that goes something like this:
•Conrad’s Heart of Darkness prevents not a
racist configuration of the African
continent, but rather a xenophobic fear of
“the Other” that stands in conflict with
European economic and political interests.
Hmm… This looks like a good source. Let’s
first skim the article carefully.
An Example – The Source – Pick out important
details to support thesis statement.
“Conrad shows the impasse that English liberal nationalism
has reached as it confronts the results of imperialism and
social Darwinism. Marlow's perplexity suggests that English
liberalism cannot offer an adequate account of the role of
cultural differences in shaping political beliefs. Marlow senses
the threat posed to his Victorian English liberal values, his
ethos, by both the Company's vulgar materialism and Kurtz's
unworldly idealism. He rejects the Doctor's biological theory
of national character, but he cannot hold out for long against
Kurtz's appeals to "moral ideas" (p. 33),laden as they are with
claims on Marlow's English sympathies. In the Congo Marlow
faces a "choice of nightmares," and he chooses Kurtz,
although he cannot say why.”
The difficulty is that even the best-willed imperialists seem condemned
to apply their own ethnocentric standards to the societies they
encounter, and Conrad seems to find little reason to trust that even the
most noble sounding of these standards-"humanity, decency and
justice”-can really be applied impartially except, perhaps, within the
context of a nation-state as fortunate as Conrad seems to believe
England has been in the history of its constitutional arrangements and
the development of its civil society. Even among this happy breed of
men it may be that the ideals of neutral justice, rule of law, and
universal standards of right conduct are little more than the totems of a
particularly successful cult whose time is running out. At any rate,
Conrad would like to believe that he, a stateless Pole, has successfully
become an Englishman, but in Heart of Darkness he expresses a
profound skepticism about whether Africans or even Belgians and
Frenchmen-can do the same. For this reason, if for no other, Conrad's
"national idea" has no future.
These seem like good passages that add to my thesis. I can
either quote them directly or paraphrase. Both require a
parenthetical citation, though.
Lewis, Pericles. "His Sympathies Were in the Right Place": Heart of
Darkness and the Discourse of National Character. NineteenthCentury Literature, Vol. 53, No. 2. (Sep., 1998), pp. 211-244. This
scholarly article found in the journal Nineteenth Century Literature
offers critical insight into the psychological and political beliefs of
the novel’s narrator, Marlow. Lewis argues that although Marlow is
English, his attitudes seem to reflect the historically-based
collective identity of Europe during imperial periods. While
Marlow does consider human rights to exist, he does so “only
within the context of a nation-state as fortunate [as England]”
(para. 6). In presenting the problem of man’s inhumanity to man,
Lewis’s article provides an important argument about the
justification for imperialism. While race certainly complicates the
power imbalance in Conrad’s novel, the spread of empire,
nationalism, and the idea of manifest destiny in Africa serve as the
rationale for the cruelty Marlow witnesses. This xenophobia, Lewis
asserts with aid from plentiful historical sources, controls more of
the narrative than racist beliefs.
CITATION
SUMMARY INTEGRATED QUOTE
CONNECTION/ EVALUATION
Annotated Bibliography Powerpoint Bibliography
Engle, M., Blumenthal, A., & Cosgrave, T. (2002, November 20). How to
prepare an annotated bibliography. Retrieved February 7, 2003, from
Cornell University Library, Reference Department Web site:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm
Meleis, A. L. (1991). Theoretical nursing (2nd ed.). Philadelphia :
Lippincott.
Wilhoit, S. (2001). A brief guide to writing from readings. Needham
Heights. MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Williams, O. Writing an annotated bibliography. Retrieved February 7,
2003 from University of Minnesota, Crookston Library Web site:
http://www.crk.umn.edu/library/links/annotate.htm
Another Example from Economics
Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from
http://www.economist.com.
This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video
games and the effect they have on people who use them. The article points out
that most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of age not of
the games themselves. While the author briefly mentions studies done around
the issue of violence and gaming, he does not go into enough depth for the
reader to truly know the range of studies that have actually been done in this
area, other than to take his word that the research is unsatisfactory. The author
of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real reason for
opposition to video games and stresses the good gaming has done in most
areas of human life. This article is a useful resource for those wanting to begin
to explore the controversy surrounding video games, however for anyone
doing serious research, one should actually examine some of the research
studies that have been done in this area rather than simply take the author's
word that opposition to video games is simply due to an issue of generational
divide.
Sample Annotation
Said, Edward W. “The World, the Text, and the Critic.” The World,
The Text and the Critic. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1983. 31-53. Said
argues that texts are “enmeshed in circumstance, time, place, and
society” (35) and that language, or a text, has a specific
situation.(35) This conclusion means that texts do not have
limitless interpretations (39). One other interesting point Said
makes is that discourse is not a democratic exchange as some
describe it. Rather, “texts are fundamentally facts of power, not of
democratic exchange”; discourse is “usually like the unequal
relation between colonizer and colonized, oppressor and
oppressed” (45,48). Words are a part of the world and so are
associated with power, authority and force. As an example, Said
uses the exchange between Stephen Dedalus and the dean of
students. Their worldliness means texts are representative of the
reigning institutions; critics’ jobs should be to expos[e] things that
otherwise lie hidden beneath piety, heedlessness, or routine” (53).