Bibliographies are essential documents for researchers studying a particular field.

Annotated Bibliography Assignment Sheet
Overview
Bibliographies are essential documents for researchers studying a particular field. Clearly written and properly documented bibliographies serve a dual purpose in collecting information about a certain topic and providing a place to further explore specific subject matter. While some bibliographies simply list sources, others offer a summary (or annotation) of each item. In this assignment, you will be asked to compose an 8-item annotated bibliography in MLA style on the topic you have chosen for your final Research Paper.
Selecting Items for the Bibliography
Some of you may have already started on this assignment, since the sources you used to write your Multi-Source essay can be used in your Annotated Bibliography, if you’re choosing to write your final Research Paper on the same subject. If this is the case, you will simply need to find more sources on that same topic to fill out the 8-item requirement on this assignment. For those of you who are choosing to write on a brand-new topic for your final Research Paper, you will need to find 8 brand-new sources for this Annotated Bibliography.
A reassuring note: while you are required to find 8 sources for this assignment, you are not obliged to use those same sources when you write your final Research Paper. If a source turns out not to be useful when you start writing your paper, throw it out; if a better source comes along between now and the end of the semester, add it in.
What you should definitely focus on, however, is incorporating a variety of source material into this bibliography. You may wish to start with traditional print sources such as the books, magazines, periodicals, and newspapers found in the library. You may also use sources from the “open” internet, as long as they are scholarly or professional in nature. I am not going to require a specific number of sources from any specific source, but you should definitely consider our library databases, such as Academic Search Complete or Opposing Viewpoints in Context, as potential goldmines for information.
Annotating Each Entry
Remember to annotate (or summarize) each source, as demonstrated by the sample entry below. Each annotation should be around 100 words and describe the source’s content to the general reader. Annotations should be written in your best academic writing style, and be free of grammatical and structural errors. As always, please proofread carefully!
Nuts and Bolts
Due Date: midnight on Monday, Nov. 22nd.
Remember to follow MLA formatting guidelines for your citations. You can find almost anything you need for this either on easybib.com (for internet citations) or by Googling “the owl at purdue mla.”
Remember also to follow the assignment and submission guidelines in your syllabus.
A Sample MLA Annotated Bibliography (adopted from the OWL at Purdue):
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1995.
Lamott’s book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott’s book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one’s own internal critic. Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one’s own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.