9 Application: Writing an Annotated Bibliography and Report
9 Application: Writing an Annotated Bibliography and Report
Assignment Description
Students will choose a topic related to the class prompt and locate six varied primary/secondary, scholarly/popular/trade sources concerned with their issue. They will write a 4-5 sentence anntotation for each source that summarizes the text’s primary claims and strategies, situates its credibility and bias, and reflects on what they can use the source to understand about their field. Their annotations should then be gathered into an annotated bibliography and formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Students will then compose a 1-2 page (400-500 words) report of their research that describes their issue, the kinds of sources/conversations they found, compares and evaluates specific texts or groups of texts, and synthesizes overall themes. Their overview should include quotations, paraphrasing, and summary. Remember, a report should offer your reader information about your topic and about sources related to it; a report might take a stance but it only does so after offering nuanced, thoughtful, respectful, and critical discussion of multiple perspectives and various sources.
Please note that sources can be of any multimedia type ranging from scholarly sources to news articles to YouTube videos to archival documents to Tweets and social media posts. The more variation, the better because the goal is for students to practice asking and answering: What kind of source is it? What are its affordances? What are its limitations? And to also practice exposition and synthesis.
Prompt Suggestion I: In Unit 1, you told us a story about why you chose your current major and lifepath. In Unit 2, please identify an issue (i.e. a problem or a topic of debate or discussion) related to your current career trajectory. For example, if you are studying nursing, you might consider researching vaccine hesitancy or healthcare deserts in Texas. If you are studying English, you might consider researching book banning or pandemic-related literacy rates.
Step 1: Understanding the Assignment
- Find and read model annotated bibliographies and reports to understand what they “look like.” Student samples are available in “Supporting Resources” section of this OER. Your model essay doesn’t have to be exactly the same topic as your essay; it just needs to be the same genre and perhaps inspiring to you in some way. Reading more than one might help you generate even more ideas.
- Fill out this Genre Features Chart to help you understand the pieces the text should have: This is available under Canvas FYC Course Materials / English 1023 Composition II / Additional Documents.
Step 2: Prewriting
Complete the Looping Brainstorming Activity below to generate research topic ideas related to your chosen field of study.
- Set a timer for five minutes. Then, write continuously in response to the class prompt without stopping, even if nothing specific comes to mind. After 5 minutes, review your freewrite, highlig