Annotated

Bibliographies 101
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a summary and evaluation of research that has been completed prior
to writing a formal essay. Annotations require you to summarize, analyze, and reflect on scholarly
articles that are needed for a well-written essay.

What purpose does an annotated bibliography serve?

In order to fully and accurately comprehend the topic you are studying, an annotated bibliography
is necessary. Creating these annotations will help you organize and categorize your subtopics as
well as understand their most important aspects. Also, the last few sentences of your annotations
require you to reflect on how you intend to use the information in your paper, which is a form of
pre-writing.

Example of an MLA formatted annotation

Scaliger, Charles. "Constitutional Party Candidates." New American, vol. 32, no. 17, 6 Sept. 2016,

ELEMENT THREE

ELEMENT TWO

ELEMENT ONE

pp. 23-24. MAS Ultra - School Edition, web.a.ebscohost.com. Accessed 28 Oct. 2016.
The author of this article discusses the Constitution Party candidates for the current election.
He includes information about both candidates' previous background and experience, as well as the
party's platform. Notably, presidential nominee Darrell Castle served a tour in Vietnam and works
at his own law firm; both of these experiences have influenced his perspective on the use of our
Constitution and the balance of the branches of government. The Constitution Party describes their
platform as a 5 point program, specifically focusing on the adherence to the Constitution. It also
believes in our split from the U.N. and the repeal of the Federal Reserve Act, among other points.
This article is current, from this September. It was extremely biased towards the
Constitutional Party candidates, seeming to try to persuade the reader that these candidates have a
strong ethos (war veteran, lawyer, author). Even more significant was the diction used in the
description of both the candidates themselves, and of their stances on issues as compared to other
parties. For example, Bradley is described as a well-known patriot, and the two are described as
being able to neutralize a radicalized Supreme Court. The words have been well-chosen to sway the
reader's emotions and opinions.
This article helped me make up my mind about the Constitution Party. Going in, I was
wondering what this party stood for as an alternative to our two-party political system. It's
description of the 5 point program effectively answered my question and made me realize that most
of these beliefs are not compatible with my own. I believe that I am more on the Democratic side of
things than this party represents. From here, I decided to find out more about the Libertarian Party
to see if this party is more congruent with my own feelings.

Name: ____________________________________

Class Period: ________

Annotated Bibliography
Internet Scavenger Hunt
On your annotated bibliography graphic organizer, complete the following tasks.

Task One: Visit the OWL Purdue website and read the definition, format, and
purpose of annotated bibliographies. Then, complete Task One in your graphic
organizer.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

Task Two: Read the article on paraphrasing provided by the OWL Purdue website.
Then, complete Task Two in your graphic organizer using paraphrasing to summarize
your first article. *Paraphrasing is an essential aspect of annotated bibliographies.
All information should be your own words. No quotes, no copy and paste
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

Task Three: Visit the Cornell University Library webpage and read the formal
examples provided of annotated bibliographies. Then, complete Task Three in your
graphic organizer.
http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm

Task Four: Visit the Cornell University Library webpage on Critically Analyzing
Information Sources. Then, complete Task Four in your graphic organizer
assess your source.
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/criticallyanalyzing

Task Five: Reflect on your article. How valuable was this article? How did it move
your research forward? How does it inform your final decision about a candidate?
Complete Task Five in your graphic organizer.

Task Six: Watch the following YouTube video that illustrates how to create a
properly formatted annotated bibliography in Noodletools. Then, using the
information on your colored sheets and the elements from your graphic organizer
create an annotated bibliography for your article.
http://tinyurl.com/hocr8nc

Annotated Bibliography
Assignment Sheet
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is to help you organize and categorize
information you gather based on the given topic.

Assignment:
Print your articles and highlight the most significant information you wish to
include in your annotations.
Complete colored sheets for each of your articles
Create a MLA formatted annotated bibliography in Noodletools. Be sure to
properly format it by looking at the examples and YouTube video provided in
your internet scavenger hunt.

Requirements:
You will have a minimum of 6 annotations.
Your annotations should show your process of deciding who will make a better
President.
Each annotation should include all three elements: summary, assessment,
reflection.
Your annotations should be formatted in MLA style.
Your annotations should be grammatically correct and well thought out.
Your annotations should NOT be copied and pasted from the article. These
should be in YOUR WORDS only.

Timeline:
Graphic organizer due date:______
Annotated bibliography ROUGH draft due date: _______.
Annotated bibliography FINAL draft due date: _______.

Name: ____________________________________

Final Grade: ________

Annotated Bibliography Rubric

CATEGORY
Requirements

5/4

1/0

All requirements are

met or exceeded. Six or
more sources are
included; all sources
are summarized and
analyzed; MLA
formatting is used
throughout.

Most of the
requirements are
met. Six sources
are included and all
contain appropriate
write-ups and
formatting.

Some requirements
are met. Might
contain fewer than six
sources, and/or some
sources may be
lacking
reflections/formatting.

Few or no
requirements are
met. May contain
few or no sources,
few or no reflections,
or lack formatting.

Development/
Reflection

Responses include
accurate summaries,
thorough analysis, and
thoughtful reflection
that includes specific
reference to the source
and reveals the thought
process that moves the
research forward.

Responses include
summaries,
analysis, and
reflection that
references the
source and reveals
the thought
process.
Comments may be
somewhat general
or lacking critical
analysis.

Responses attempt
to summarize,
analyze, and reflect,
but some sections
may be missing or
lacking. Comments
are general and lack
critical analysis/
specific reference to
the source. Does not
effectively move
research forward.

Responses do not
attempt to meet all
expectations of
content. May be
redundant,
plagiarized, or
otherwise do not
move the research
forward.

Research
Process

Successfully uses
questioning strategies
to guide process;
shows a clear and
thoughtful path towards
an answer. Finds
information using
suggested databases.

Uses questioning
strategies to guide
process; thought
process appears
mostly linear. Finds
information using
suggested
databases.

Attempts to use
questioning to guide
research process, but
line of thought may
be hard to follow.
Most information is
found using
suggested
databases.

Questioning was not

used to guide the
research process;
line of thought may
be unclear or
confusing. May not
have used
databases
appropriately.

MLA
Formatting

The annotated
bibliography is
accurately formatted
using MLA style,
without errors.

The annotated
bibliography is
formatted in MLA
style with only a
few errors.

The annotated
bibliography is
attempted in MLA
style with many
errors.

The annotated
bibliography is not
accurately formatted
in MLA style.
Contains significant
errors.

Comments: