THE ASSIGNMENT:
For this assignment, you will compose an annotated bibliography that describes and evaluates (10) sources you plan to use in your essay. For each text or source, you will write a full, correctly formatted bibliographic entry. This entry will be followed by an annotation that summarizes the thesis and argument of the text/source and discusses the relevance of that source/text to your own essay. Since you will be entering a conversation with these sources, you might also want to assess the rhetorical strategies and the persuasiveness of the argument offered by the author(s). Each annotated bibliographic entry should be at least a paragraph, but no more than two paragraphs.
Your annotated bibliography must contain ten to twelve (10-12) sources; each entry must have a correctly formatted bibliographic entry, followed by an annotation (described above). These entries must be listed alphabetically.
An academic source, for this Annotated Bibliography assignment, is any essay, book, chapter, or article, found in the Charles C. Sherrod Library, or through recognized academic databases (like JSTOR, LexisNexis, or Gale) that is at least five (5) pages long, and presents a discernable thesis (concerning your civic issue). Remember, there must be a total of ten to twelve analyzed or annotated academic sources on/in your annotated bibliography.
RESEARCH:
Your annotated bibliography must contain (10-12) appropriate, academic sources that you intend to use in your essay. An academic source, for the essay and the annotated bibliography assignment, is considered to be an essay, book, chapter, or article, that is found in the Charles C. Sherrod Library, or through one of the Charles C. Sherrod Library databases (for example, JSTOR, LexisNexis, or Gale), is at least five pages long, has an author, has page numbers, and presents a discernable thesis. Remember, there must be a total of at least ten appropriate academic sources in your Annotated Bibliography. Webpages, dictionaries, encyclopedias, or open-access websites (like Wikipedia or Schmoop, etc.) are not appropriate, or reputable, and they will not count toward the total of sources listed. If you have any questions about a source, or whether a source is acceptable or appropriate, please see me or email me.
AUDIENCE/RHETORICAL CONTEXT:
This annotated bibliography should be written for a college or administrative audience. Aim at people who are educated at levels from first-year students to professors or administrators. Your language, style, and tone should reflect your audience and purpose.
GRADING:
The annotated bibliography is worth 15% of the grade for this course.
There is a total of one hundred (100) possible points, on this assignment. You can receive a total of (10 points) for each of your ten (best) annotated bibliographic entries (thats a total of 100 points). For each academic source listed on the Annotated Bibliography, you will receive five (5) points for presenting a correctly formatted bibliographic entry:
For essays/articles: that is 1 point for the author or authorial agency/organization, 1 point for the title (in quotation marks), 1 point for the source (in italics or underlined); 1 point for the year, and, 1 point for page numbers,
For books: that is 1 point for the author, 1 point for the title (in italics or underlined), 1 point for the publishing city; 1 point for the publisher, and, 1 point for the year,
(Note here, that it is important that each of your sources presents each of these elements.)
You can also earn a total of five (5) points for each annotation:
On each of your academic sources: you can earn 1 point for identifying the author(s) claim/thesis, 2 points for summarizing the argument, and, 2 points for presenting the relevance that this work might have, to your own critical argument.
You will lose 10 points if your bibliography is not composed in alphabetical order.