English Question

Learning Goal: I’m working on a english writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

In Writing Assignment #4, you wrote about an issue, or issues, that affect you personally in some way. Your next writing task is to choose one of those issues and compile an annotated bibliography. You will then use the information you find while compiling this annotated bibliography to write Writing Assignment #6, so I highly recommend saving and/or printing out the articles you use because you will need them again for WA #6.

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Make sure each item is written by a credible source. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using MLA format.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Examples of Annotated Entries in MLA Format

Waite, Linda J., et al. “Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations

Among Young Adults.” American Sociological Review, vol. 51, no. 4, 1986, pp. 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.