Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Choose, from the sources you have compiled, at least SIX that, at this stage, you think will be important to you in building your argument.  These should include both primary and secondary material, and they may include your interview, web resources, journals, books, film, video, field research, and/or other research.    I am requesting only six at this time, though I suggest you use this method of annotation for all of your sources, so I suggest you keep expanding and revising this list and description as you proceed further along whatever line of inquiry you are following.

A.  With the understanding at the top of the page, BRIEFLY, describe the essay you are writing in the following manner:

•  Purpose Use the stasis question handout and the terms from The College Writer to describe as precisely and concisely as possible what your overall purpose will be for this paper.
• Audience Describe as precisely and concisely as possible the audience(s).
• Situation (Briefly summarize the assignment you have been given for this paper.
• Question at issue What is your basic line of inquiry, adapted from the stasis questions?  For these purposes, phrase it as a single question.
• Claim Your answer to your question at issue, the idea you want your audience to assent to.  Include any qualifications you think are necessary.
• Reasons List between and one and three central reasons you will use in support of your claim.  These will become the ideas governing the case you make for your claim.
• The other side What are some of the primary points that your skeptical audience might raise in objection to your claim and/or reasoning?
• What common ground or knowledge base do you share with your audience? What assumptions?  What background will you need to provide?

B. Use MLA style to provide full bibliographical information for each of six sources that will play a role in the making of your argument.

• Beneath each of these sources, include the following annotation:
• How you plan to use this source in your research and/or the making of your argument. (Is this a source for general information only? Does it provide evidence in support of your thesis or for an opposing perspective?  Which of your reasons for why you hold your claim to be valid is strengthened by this material and how? If you intend to quote from it, how will these quotations be useful to you? 
• An evaluation of each source's authority and limitations.    How might the probable biases of the author appear to influence its content?  Does the date of the material affect its value to your argument?  What larger institutions are the author or authors affiliated with?
• How this source relates to other sources you are using.  How does this source relate to or comment on the other sources you are planning to use?  How does it relate to other important schools of thought in the field?