Writing Homework Help

Annotated Bibliography

What’s the purpose of an annotated bibliography?

• To gather and summarize information about a topic you are researching into one document
• To create a quick reference sheet which will remind you of what your various sources argued and how they are useful to your paper
• To preserve a record of research about your topic which may be shared with others in your field

Who is the audience?

• Yourself, in that the document will help you in your own writing and research
• Others (including your instructor) who might be interested in reading an overview of the topic you researched. For this reason, clarity, professionalism and neatness are important in an annotated bibliography.

How to do it:

• Make an MLA or APA Reference list of 10 or more relevant sources you’ve found on your topic. Then, beneath each citation, write an annotation paragraph, which includes: 1) A summary of the of the source, 2) an explanation of how the source helps define, complicate, or clarify the topic.
• Organize your citations alphabetically, by author, using hanging indentations (traditional Reference page format). All types of sources have different types of citation, so be sure to put them in correctly.
• To make your bibliography easy to read, please bold the citation, but leave the annotation paragraph un-bolded. It will make everything easier on the eyes.

REVIEW OF SOURCE REQUIREMENTS

1. Minimum of ten sources.

2. at least one of those sources must be print-based (from a book, newspaper, or magazine) (can still get online though).

3. at least one of those sources must be a scholarly article (find from the library database or google scholar).

Two sample annotations for your reference:

(Topic- Jacques Cousteau)

Than, Ker. “Jacques Cousteau Centennial: What He Did, Why He Matters.” National Geographic Daily News. National Geographic, 11 June 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. .

This article for National Geographic News celebrates what would have been the 100th birthday of ocean exploration pioneer Jacques Cousteau. The article overviews five of Cousteau’s major achievements: pioneering scuba equipment, creating underwater film footage to bring the ocean to millions of viewers, inventing underwater base camps, restricting commercial whaling, and helping to stop the underwater dumping of nuclear waste. The main point of the article is that Cousteau started out as an explorer, not an environmentalist. As he grew to further understand the ways that humans were harming the beautiful underwater world that he devoted his life to exploring, he became more outspoken about protecting it. He was one of the first to speak out about ocean preservation; even though he also contributed to harming ocean ecosystems earlier in his career, he ended up as a true activist. This source is widely respected in the scientific community.

The Cousteau  Society. “Who We Are.” Homepage. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. .

This site describes and provides connections to two non-for profit societies founded by Cousteau which continue to operate in his memory. The Cousteau Society is a worldwide organization which sponsors exploration, education, and protection efforts surrounding water systems. Equipe Cousteau, a sister society, is headquartered in France for the same purposes, and to help establish Cousteau’s home nation as a world leader in ocean preservation. This site is a wealth of information regarding Cousteau’s legacy, as it chronicles the efforts that continue to be applied today, all over the world, to protect water ecosystems with Jacques Cousteau as a founder and inspiration. Clearly, it will be more biased than other sources in that it celebrates Cousteau’s legacy and will not be critical of his actions.

Argumentative Essay

Should the internet be regulated by the government? If so, to what extent?