Annotated Bibliography | Buy Assignments Online
Instructions for the Annotated Bibliography:
STEP 1 – COLLECT primary and secondary sources
· Using the NEIU Ronald Williams Library and its databases, gather potential sources relevant to your topic.
· These sources may be very specifically relevant to your project or much more general. For instance, if you were writing a paper that focuses on a film or show as a primary research document, include that, but also find more dynamic secondary research.
· If you are writing about a media text or contemporary issue that is relatively new or obscure, you may not find sources directly examining it—this is fine, but you do want to be sure that you find sources that are relevant to another aspect of your project.
· Read through each source you find carefully, taking notes for your own understanding if needed. You want to make sure that you fully understand the material contained in these sources and any arguments the author(s) is/are making.
· Consider the purpose each source might serve for your paper. Does a source make an argument that is similar or relevant to your own? If so, could this be valuable to either support your own argument or give you something to bounce off of/argue against? Does a source explain an aspect of your theoretical approach/argument/larger topic in a way that might be helpful? Does a source provide good background information that could support any context your paper will need to cover? Does a source simply provide useful statistics that you could cite? Your project will require a variety of source types and each of these sources may serve very different needs.
· Choose TEN SOURCES you feel have the potential to be the most useful for your project.
· Keep in mind that you are not committed to using all of these sources in your final project. As your project and argument evolve, certain sources may turn out to be more or less useful than anticipated. You will also likely need to find additional sources as you go along and further develop your analysis.
STEP 2 – ANNOTATE AND COMPILE
· Compile your sources into an annotated bibliography which includes:
· Complete bibliographic citation information for each source (you may use MLA or APA format for your citations)
· Annotations for 8 of your 10 sources
· Each annotation will be 1-2 paragraphs long.
· In your annotations, give a brief summary of the material included in the source. If a source is a scholarly essay/article, you should also explain the argument the author(s) is/are making.
· Each annotation must also include some consideration of how you might potentially use this source in your research paper.
· WHO wrote it, WHAT does it say, WHY is in included in your paper?
· Your chosen sources must include the following:
· At least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources
· At least one academic book (published by a university press)
· The remaining sources can be a mix of scholarly and popular press sources. They can also include interviews, videos, blog posts, tweets, etc—anything that can potentially be used as a relevant source for your project so long as you can make a good case for its inclusion.
· You are not allowed to cite the following as sources:
· Wikipedia (or other crowd-sourced websites like it, such as Quora, Ask, etc.)
· Encyclopedias or dictionaries
Final Paper Proposal Assignment
Due: ____________________________
Printed hard copy – stapled.
Value: 50
Instructions for the Paper Proposal:
· 1-2 pages in length
· Introduce the CMT-related topic you are planning to examine and say a bit about why you feel this topic is important.
· Introduce the research questions that have guided your project.
· Introduce the argument you are planning to make. If you have yet to decide on a final argument, explain which argumentative directions you can imagine your paper taking.
· Introduce the approach you will use for your project. Will it be guided by a particular theoretical framework? Will it involve primary research in addition to secondary research? If so, what methodologies (observation, interview, survey, or textual analysis) will you follow?
· If possible, talk a bit about how the research you have found so far may play a role in your argument/analysis.
· Compartmentalize and organize this assignment however you find to be most helpful.
· Please note that this is a preliminary proposal. It is fully expected that your questions, arguments, and examples may change as you continue in your research and your conception of your project evolves. Your final paper may end up quite different from what you lay out in this proposal.
Final Paper Outline Assignment
Due: _________________________
Printed hard copy – stapled.
Value: 50
Instructions for Outline
· Compile the ideas from your proposal into an initial outline-shaped structure based around the traditional essay structure – intro with thesis / body paragraphs / closing.
· Make sure your intro paragraph has a strong thesis claim.
· Make sure to mention a secondary source per body paragraph in your outline.
· Make sure your ideas are more developed than just “paragraph about (your topic).” Instead, develop the connections between your ideas in your outline.
· Some revisions in idea and organization should take place between your proposal; your ideas should be solidifying. As you keep working, the outline may continue to shift and change. THAT’S FINE. Multi-draft writing is about fostering productive change across drafts.
REMINDERS for DIFFERENT WRITING STYLES !
The more time you spend outlining and organizing the easier your paper becomes, this applies to all writing styles. Use this chance to organize your ideas and arguments now so you don’t have to write and organize at the same time during your drafting stage.
PLANNING WRITERS, now is your time to shine. Do your thing, organize, make lists, revise, etc. This will make drafting less cumbersome.
WORD VOMIT WRITERS, take this chance to WORD VOMIT! Gather the best sentences you generate and put them into your outline to serve as organizational signposts for more organized writing during drafting.
