Overview and Process of Assignment
The first step toward writing a research paper is putting together an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography is a collection of sources you have found through research, that includes a summary of the sources, a comparison of the sources, a reflection on the credibility of the sources, and an MLA-formatted citation for each source. An annotated bibliography is an excellent springboard for the rough draft you will eventually have to write, because you can copy and paste your summaries directly into a rough draft and build from there.
Keep in mind that class activities will take you through this process, so you’re not on you own, but here is the general plan:
First thing’s first: Choose a topic you want to investigate. You’ll be working with this topic for the rest of the semester, so make sure you like it! 😊 The topic can be serious (women’s rights, racism, college tuition, etc.) or light-hearted (entertainment related, social media, etc.); it can be related to your specific field or professional interests; it can be something you’ve always wanted to know more about, but never had the time to investigate.
Second: Develop a research question to guide your research.
So, let’s say that you chose the topic of college tuition. A solid guiding research question might be: Why do colleges charge tuition? OR In what ways does charging college tuition privilege certain groups of people?
Another example: Let’s say your topic is the treatment of animals in zoos. Possible research questions might be: How are animals treated in city zoos? OR How does the life of animals in zoos compare to the life of animals in their natural habitats in the wild?
Third: Do some research on that topic. Research as much as you can to get a feel for this topic. You might read news articles, scholarly articles, magazine articles, people’s blogs, social media posts, books, etc., and watch TED Talks or other documentaries. Cultivate a working knowledge of this topic. You don’t have to be an expert, of course, but if someone asked you about the topic, you’d be able to have an informed discussion with them about it.
Fourth: Take notes as you read. You might already have a good note-taking strategy; if not, I linked to some ways of note-taking above. The most important things to take note of are: the topic, the argument/claim/message, and the supporting details of that argument.
🚩Required: You must have a good understanding of at least 5 sources. You must include:
Popular Sources
One newspaper article
One magazine article
One TED Talk or documentary
Academic Sources
Two scholarly articles found through the MC Library databases or Google Scholar
All of your sources must be credible, based on the credibility criteria we will discuss in class.
🚩Also required: You must use the Morton College Library for most of your research. The exception to this is the TED Talk—you can directly access the TED website to find a source.
Using the Morton College Library can be done online or in-person, whichever you prefer. Keep in mind that whether you visit the library in-person or remotely, there are librarians available to help you with your research. I will teach you how to use the library, so don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with it.
Audience
You are writing for your peers and instructor, who may have some knowledge of your topic, but do not have knowledge of your specific sources.
Purpose
To gather credible sources for a future research paper and clearly summarize those sources for your audience.
Assignment Parts
For each source, you should include:
The Citation:
The MLA-formatted citation for the source. Here’s an example for a website:
Ultimately, you should alphabetize your sources by last name of author. (You can certainly use citation generation websites, but keep in mind that these are not always correct.)
The Annotation:
Beneath the citation, you should include summary (50-100 words) of the source. Start with the main argument/claim/message of the source, and then add in other relevant details.
After the summary, you should compare/contrast your sources to each other (50-100 words). In other words, you will discuss how a source reinforces what another source says, or builds on it, or adds something new, or contradicts it. The point here is to examine how these sources interact, agree, disagree with one another. You do not need to compare/contrast all the sources to each other for each annotation; try to compare/contrast with at least one. In this paragraph, you should also discuss how this source contributes to your understanding of the topic and what you already knew about it.
After the compare/contrast paragraph, you should reflect on the credibility of the source (50-100 words). We will practice this in classroom activities leading up to this. But in a nutshell, you want to analyze how credible/believable/reliable this source is. Answer questions like: Who is the author and what are their credentials (education, profession, etc.)? What type of publication is it (book, magazine article, newspaper article, blog, TED Talk, etc.)? Is this type of publication trustworthy? What political or financial backing does this source have? How recent is the source, and does the timing of the source add or take away from its credibility? And so on.
I’ve linked to several resources throughout this assignment description. Simply hold down your keyboard’s Ctrl key and click on the link. A new tab will open.
Formatting Requirements for MLA Format
Length: 1200-1500 words (4-6 pages)
Font: Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri, 12 pt. The entire assignment should use this font and size (including the title, identifying info, and header).
Margins: 1� inch all around
Spacing: Double-spaced
Identifying information on first page: In the upper left-hand corner, you must have your name, your instructor’s name, title of the course, and date.
Header: In the upper right-hand corner of every page, you must have your last name and page number: Markussen 1. This is called a header.
Title: You must have a title for this assignment. It must be centered. No italics or underline needed. You do not need a title page.
Make sure to follow all MLA guidelines for essays. Google “Purdue OWL and MLA� for additional guidance.