GUIDELINES FOR ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Your Annotated Bibliography should include 20 sources.  Excluded from this list should be the following:

            1.  Book Reviews

            2.  Articles from Contemporary Literary Criticism

            3.  Articles from The Explicator.

            4.  Your chosen text

 

 Your Annotated Bibliography will be a significant resource for you.  Consequently, you should make your annotations as specific as you can.  If you have a copy of the book or article, try to identify the type of criticism you think is being practiced, and summarize the argument of the essay or book.  Doing so does not mean that you say, “This article (book, author) says that Heathcliff’s changing circumstances in Wuthering Heights prove that the novel has a Marxist agenda.”  How does the author PROVE this statement?  You have not told your reader or yourself how this statement is supported.  You also should not write, “This essay talks about the relationship of mothers and their children.”  What does the author say about these relationships?

 

If you have ordered the book and/or article and it has not yet arrived, indicate why you think the book/article will be useful.  What in the description or abstract made you want to consult it?

 

Each entry should be between 2 and 6 sentences, should be both informative and evaluative, and should take the form indicated below.

 

Festa-McCormick, Diana.  “Emma Bovary’s Masculinization.”  Gender and Literary Voice.  Ed.  Janet Todd.  New York:  Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc.  1980.  223 – 235.  Festa-McCormick argues that Emma Bovary’s behavior is more masculine than feminine.  She acts, which is considered a masculine trait, rather than reflects, which more frequently characterizes feminine behavior.  Emma takes control of her situation rather than waiting for others to control her.  I’m not sure I agree with her, but she uses feminist theory—more specifically gender theory—to support her argument.

Notice that the entire entry is double-spaced and that the notation begins IMMEDIATELY after the bibliographical information.  DO NOT GO TO THE NEXT LINE TO BEGIN YOUR ANNOTATION. (see MLA Guide for Writers of Research Papers page 145—6th edition for further info). 

 

All entries are alphabetized by the authors’ or editors’ last names.  Do not number your entries.

 

Please make sure that you consult your MLA Guide for the correct format of your individual entries.  Book entries differ in format from articles in collections; journal entries differ from book entries; on-line resources differ from print journals.  Make sure that you have used the appropriate format for each entry.