Project #3: Annotated Bibliography

25% of Final Grade

Task Description & Rationale

In an annotated bibliography, a writer compiles a list of relevant sources on a topic, providing a
summary and evaluation of each one. Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation
for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to
write annotations for each source, you're forced to read each source more carefully. You begin
to read more critically instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotated
bibliographies allow you to see what has been done in the literature and where your own
research or scholarship can fit. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good
perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of
sources on a topic, you'll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and
you'll then be able to develop your own point of view.

In this assignment, you will develop an annotated bibliography on a sub-topic of the readings
done in class. Your research task will be to select the most useful sources on your given sub-
topic. You may want to think of your sub-topic as a question related to EMI--it should be a
question that your selected readings help to answer. Your annotated bibliography must include
at least five (5) sources, which should be drawn from the course readings.

Because your goal is to summarize the source, not provide word-for-word excerpts or
paraphrases, plan on including more summary than paraphrasing and little-or-no quoting.
Follow APA guidelines for your citation and formatting.

Annotated bibliographies are quite literally bibliographies with an annotation beneath each entry.
Your summary can follow the four moves of an annotation (described in Genre Analysis of
Annotations assignment): major claim/finding, lens/method, purpose, and audience. Because
the logic of a bibliography is alphabetical, you should also develop an introductory commentary
that gives some context for your bibliography (i.e. its purpose and intended audience) and that
orients readers about connections between your sources that they might not otherwise notice.
Consider this an orientation to your annotated bibliography for your readers.

Format Requirements
● Begin with an engaging title that reflects your sub-topic
● Begin with your 250-500-word introductory commentary
● Include 4-6 sources with one-paragraph annotations, in alphabetical order
● Follow APA style throughout
● The project should be double-spaced in Times New Roman font (or similar) size 12

Requirements
● 4-6 sources
● 250-500-word introductory commentary
● First draft: {add date}

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 ● Final due date: {add date}

Relevant SLOs
● 1A: Identify the purposes of, intended audiences for, and arguments in a text, as
situated within particular cultural, economic, and political contexts.
● 1C: Read in ways that contribute to their rhetorical knowledge as writers.

● 2A: Incorporate evidence, such as through summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and

visuals.
● 3A: Follow appropriate conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling through
practice in composing and revising.
● 3B: Apply citation conventions systematically in their own work.
● 4B: Produce multiple revisions on global and local levels.
● 4C: Suggest useful global and local revisions to other writers.

Assessment criteria
Your Annotated Bibliography project will be graded on the following criteria, which describe a
paper that “Meets Expectations.” A grading rubric will also be shared.
● Reading: Annotated bibliography accurately summarizes 5-7 texts from the course
readings around a related sub-topic. (Objectives 1A, 1C, 2B) 5 pts
● Annotation: Each annotation provides a full bibliographic entry followed by detailed
annotation in paragraph form, which includes the major claim/finding of the article, the
lens or method of analysis, the purpose, and the audience. (Objectives 1C, 2A) 5 pts
● Synthesis and Critical Reading: Annotated bibliography has an introductory
commentary that gives some context for the bibliography and orients readers about
connections between sources around a specific sub-topic. (Objectives 1A, 1C, 2A) 5 pts
● Genre Conventions: Annotated bibliography follows genre conventions, including
appropriate APA references and in-text citations (for the commentary). (Objectives 3A,
3B) 3 pts
● Assignment Guidelines and Expectations: Annotated bibliography meets the
assignment guidelines including all drafts submitted and reflection. (Objectives 4B, 4C) 2
pts

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