Essay 5: Annotated Bibliography
You already should have a topic (approved by Mr Turner) for your research essay (#7), with the topic being chosen from the list of requested articles listed by Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requested_articles
As preparation for Essay 7, you will produce what is called an annotated bibliography which will be a list of fifteen (15) sources about your chosen topic. The list of 15 entries will include the citation information (in MLA format) and a brief (100-125 word) summary and analysis about each source. This summary and analysis should be written in a single paragraph and in complete, grammatically correct sentences
The 15 entries should be listed alphabetically and include
a citation for the source (in MLA format)
a brief summary of the book/article/website
a brief analysis of the primary thesis, argument, or focus
a brief determination on the accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, and bias of the source.
a comment about whether you will use information from the source.
You should use the library and internet to find your sources. Attempt to find some print sources (i.e. books and journal articles) rather than rely on exclusively internet sources.
Again, the requirement is 15 sources, with a 100-125 word summary/analysis for each source (total 1500+ words). We likely will do this in phases, with phase one (or draft 1) requiring seven sources and phase 2 (or draft 2) requiring the other eight.
What follows is an example of the first two entries of an annotated bibliography.
------- Top of Page ------
Benjamin Thompson
Professor Turner
English 22
20 June 2005
Technology and Culture: An Annotated Bibliography
Doe, Jane. "Technology, Culture, and Dread: An Analysis of the
Terminator Films." Technology and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Moe
Greene. New York: Columbia UP, 2001. 44-62.
This article uses Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 to examine our cultural anxiety about technology and its affect on our daily lives. Doe makes several connections between the films and other areas of human activity, in which technology has seemed to take on a power of its own, or even become more powerful than its creators. The author’s point is that we have created a "narrative of dread" about our relations to all technology, but especially to computers and electronic media. I chose this article because it is well written and supports its thesis with lots of cited research, and plan to use some information from this article in the Wikipedia article I will be writing (115 words).
London, Herbert. "Five Myths of the Television Age." Television
Quarterly 10 (1) Spring 1982: 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truths as: "seeing is believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic. I chose this article because London's style and vocabulary made the article interesting to me (109 words).