English 203
Spring 2010
Annotated Bibliography for Researched Argument
Due Date: April 16th, 2010

A bibliography (literally, “description of books”) is a list of works.  An annotated bibliography is a list of works followed by notes which describe and / or evaluate the works in the entries.  Your annotated bibliography will be a list of 5 secondary works for your text for the semester followed by 5-sentence notes that describe AND evaluate the works. 

Format of Document

Use MLA guidelines for all formatting questions.  The entire document should be double-spaced.  The title of your document should be Annotated Bibliography, centered on the page, no caps, no boldface, and no italics.  The entire document should be 12-pt Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins.  Alphabetize entries by author’s last name—no numbering is used to organize entries in bibliographies or works cited pages. For each entry, the first line is flush with left margin, subsequent lines are indented by one tab.  Follow each entry by the note, beginning the note indented by one tab (just like the subsequent lines of the citation).

Notes

Notes will be at least 5 complete and sophisticated sentences and should both describe and evaluate your source.  First, describe your source—Is it an introduction to an edition of your work? A journal article? Is it recent?  Secondly, evaluate your source—How clear is the thesis? How cogent is the development of the argument? How accessible is the language of the source? Secondary questions might include the following: Is the index useful? How complete is the source’s own bibliography? Your goal in each note is purposeful communication.  Your audience should glean useful information from each note.  Avoid brief sentences by combining short descriptive statements into one sentence.