English 1

Annotated Bibliography Instructions

An annotated bibliography is a list of your research sources that is annotated, meaning that it

provides a summary of each source and discusses how the source might be useful in supporting

and developing your analysis or argument.

Your annotated bibliography MUST include materials drawn from the library databases

(scholarly articles) or catalog (books or ebooks). THESE TWO SITES ARE WHAT YOU CAN WRITE YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY ON

http://sirsi.smc.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=WXkjUtyBVl/MAIN/36390024/60/62/X

http://www.smc.edu/AcademicAffairs/Library/Pages/Library-Databases.aspx*

I. The “bibliography” part of this assignment is simply the listing of a source with bibliographic

information in MLA format (this is identical to a Works Cited entry). Some of the library

databases will format the bibliographic entry for you, but you should always consult

www.owl.purdue.english.edu to ensure that you have properly cited your particular sources.

II. The “annotated” part of this assignment is written in paragraph form and includes these

components:

1.

Summarize

the source. Your summary should represent your answer to such questions

as: What is this article about? What is the main argument? What specific topics are

covered in the article? You may also consider questions such as: Who is the author and

what are their credentials/qualifications? Does the author show specific biases toward the

subject? Is the information presented backed up by credible research? [

NOTE

: You don’t

have to answer all of these questions. These are just some of the considerations that go

into assessing the utility and reliability of a research source. Summarize what is most

relevant and useful about the article for you as you are informing yourself about your

topic.]

2.

Reflect

on how this source might be useful to you in writing your paper. How does the

source help you understand aspects of your topic? How can it help you shape your

argument? Has the source changed your thinking about your topic? In your reflection on

the usefulness of the source, choose two quotes from the source that you might include in

your paper and

explain how they can be useful

. These quotes can be as short as a few

words and should be no longer than three sentences. Include the exact quote, restate the

main point of the quote in your own words, and then state how you can use it in your

essay (i.e., what point will it support and how). Use proper MLA citation methods for

citing page numbers from your source.

*

Annotated Bibliography – Sample Entry

Reminder

: An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of books, articles, or other source

documents. Each bibliographic citation is followed by the annotation, which is written in

paragraph form. The annotation describes and evaluates the source and informs the reader of the

relevance, accuracy, and quality of the source, including an explanation of how you foresee

using this source in your analysis. Refer to the previous page for a more detailed description.

Include the normal identifying information on your page, as you would for a paper written in the

MLA style.

Your Name

Professor Name

English 1

Due Date

The Working Title of Your Paper: Annotated Bibliography

Waite, Linda J., Frances Kobrin Goldscheider, and Christina Witsberger. “Nonfamily Living and

the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults.”

American

Sociological Review

51.4 (1986): 541-554.

Academic Search Premiere

. Web. 12 April

2016.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the

National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that

nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving

them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly

supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing

the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and

changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows

no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

[The next paragraph of your annotation will discuss how you will use the information presented

in the article in your own analysis. Begin with a general statement of the source’s relevance.

Then provide short quotations (these can be a couple sentences or just a couple key words) that

you find particularly useful or applicable to your own analysis. Quotation #1: “Here you give the

first quotation, which may be up to two sentences long and is followed by the appropriate in-text

citation” (Name and page #). After you provide the exact quotation, explain how you will use it

to support your argument. Include the appropriate in-text citation (author last name and page #).

Quotation #2: “Here you provide your second quotation” (Name and page #). Then you follow

the quote with an explanation of how you will use it to support your argument.

(Some of the above is adapted from

http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm.

Feel free to browse their website for more information, but follow these printed guidelines to

complete your assignment.)