Annotated Bibliographies

Summarize
Evaluate
Reflect

Summary

What's it about?

Annotations

• about 150 words each
• MLA format for citation
• Descriptive and critical

Components

1) Concise summary

2) Evaluation of the authority of the author

3) Compare or contrast with another cited source

4) Explain how this illuminates your topic or adds to your learning/understanding

Summary

• What are the arguments?
• Point being made?
• What topics are covered?
• What is the brief story of the text?
• OWL Paraphrasing handout

Sample Annotation in MLA

Borrowed from Cornell University Library's Annotated Bibliography page

Evaluate

• How is it useful for your project?
• Compare/contrast w/ other source(s).
• Is it biased? Objective? How so?
• Is the source reliable? How do you know?

Evaluate

Evaluate source for: 

• Coverage: completeness, holes in coverage, amount & effectiveness of examples
• Language objective or emotional/editorializing?
• Are there broad generalizations? Oversimplifications?
• Are assertions supported w/ evidence?
• Is author credible?
• How convincing/persuasive is information?
• OWL "evaluation" handout

Evaluate

Murray's project seems to be to evaluate how positive and negative liberty might be harmful in political contexts, and this mostly helpful, but it might be increasingly effective if Murray spent more time on his own conceptions of liberty. 

Evaluate

Further, Murray's conception of liberty--in relation to All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and other Morrison titles--perhaps does not anticipate the changes of concepts of liberty in a post-9/11 world. 

Reflect

• How does it fit?
• Is source helpful? 
• How does it shape your essay's argument/claims?
• How can/will you use it? 
• How has the source changed how you think about the topic?

Annotated Bibliographies

• Must include summary, evaluation, reflection
• 6 scholarly sources, including at least one book or chapter from a book
• Refer to samples on the OWL at Purdue and Google "MLA sample annotated bibliographies" for examples

Research Question

I want to study monstrosity in relation to cataclysm through eco-feminist and queer lenses, focusing specifically on how reformulations of the idea of posthumanity can help us think about optimism and action on climate change

(indirect) because I want to investigate and propose alternative methods to addressing  or adapting to the climate crisis

(motivating) in order to rethink the ways we discuss an issue that is so far not motivating or inspiring action (giving rise to skepticism that our current mode of operation is not working).