ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH MLA CITATIONS Annotated bibliographies provide brief accounts of available research materials on a given topic. A professor may request an annotated bibliography in order to establish a basis on which to start your research project, to give you guidance for your research, and to ensure that you understand your research materials. If your professor requests a particular format for an annotated bibliography, follow it; otherwise, the standard format of an annotated bibliography is as follows: 1) a citation for the source that you reviewed in your research 2) three or four sentences summarizing the work Sample Annotated Bibliography in MLA Format (adapted from a bibliography by Jamie Kolodziej and Gretchen Vollmer)
Annotated Bibliography Clanton, Bonnie. A Comparative Study of Three American Witchcraft Plays. San Marcos: Texas State University, 1976. Print. Clanton describes how innocent people suffer in the community because of the greed, selfishness, and power of a certain few. She also analyzes the historical accuracy of The Crucible’s depiction of the Salem Witch Trials, noting the difficulty of criticizing the play’s representation of history because it was created in modern times. While this article is not among the most currently published, current articles do often refer to it because the information is still relevant to today’s research. Dr. Clanton is a wellpublished professor of English.
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Fhaner, Beth A. “The Crucible.” Magill’s Cinema Annual. 16 (1997): 116-18. Print. Fhaner makes two main points regarding Arthur Miller’s The Crucible: 1) it is Miller’s most produced and arguably most powerful play; 2) the play was intended to comment on the outrageous and shameful way many people responded to the pressures of McCarthyism by turning over their friends, colleagues, and neighbors to authorities and by telling outright lies. Fhaner’s article is not only current but also discusses current issues. She is aware of and discusses the ability of The Crucible to simultaneously comment on history and modern times. Fhaner has published several articles on works by Arthur Miller.
How to Make Your MLA Annotated Bibliography Locate sources to be used in your research and prepare an annotated bibliography for these sources according to the instructions below. For each entry, 1. prepare a Works Cited entry following MLA format. 2. compose a short summary of the source. 3. evaluate the text, discussing reasons it is or is not a good source. Consider issues of when the source was published, whether or not the author is reliable (i.e., what makes him or her credible?), any bias that may be apparent, and how the article is documented. 4. arrange them on the page in alphabetical order.
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How to Write Summaries Read the source carefully. Determine its structure. Identify the author’s purpose in writing the document. This will help you find the most important information in the source and help you to know what to summarize. Re-read, label, and underline. Divide the passage into section or stages of thought. The author’s use of paragraphs will often be a useful guide. Label, or leave notes, on each section or stage of thought. Underline key terms and ideas. Write one-sentence summaries on a separate sheet of paper for different sections of the article. Write a thesis. This should be a one-sentence summary of the entire passage that expresses the main ideas. (Do not copy the author’s thesis because this would be plagiarizing!) Look through the underlined sections to help you determine the main idea. Write a first-draft summary by combining the thesis with your list of one sentence summaries coupled with significant details from your source. Eliminate repetition. Disregard minor details or generalize them (for example, Reagan, Bush, and Obama might be generalized as “recent presidents”). Check your summary against the original passage and make adjustments necessary for accuracy. Make sure the summary conveys the overall sense of the information from the source. Revise your summary. Insert transitional words or phrases so that the sentences flow together. Check for style and avoid series of short, choppy sentences; combine sentences if they logically work well together. Check for correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
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