Annotated Bibliography Introduction & Expectations Your task is to create an annotated bibliography for all of the books of literary merit that you have read already, and that you will read during the semester. All selections you read this year must come from the Pre-AP or Notable Works book lists found on my website. You will keep all your annotations for the semester on one document, which I will be checking at each monthly due date. An annotated bibliography involves creating both citations and annotations in the form of commentary for the books you read. The citations must follow the MLA rules, and the annotations must answer the following essential question: What makes this book a work of literary merit? DUE DATES: You must show evidence of reading and responding to your books in a Double Entry Chart kept in your notebook (4 excerpts per week). I will be checking Double Entry Charts once a week (usually Monday). Standard Double Entry Chart expectations apply and have been included in this packet for reference. An excerpt without a page number will not be counted at all. If you do not have the weekly Double Entry Charts of your reading, you may not use that book in your annotated bibliography. *There will be times when I assign a class novel and have you focus a particular week s Double Entry Chart on the assigned novel instead of your independent novel. This will be clearly stated when it happens. Annotated bibliography check-in dates (due dates for completing both the novel and its annotated citation) are listed below. On those dates, I will check your document in Google Docs for completion (formative grade), provide feedback, and let you know the annotation is ready for revision. Your job is to then revise each annotation as advised, as well as review feedback when completing the next annotation. At the end of the semester, you will be sure to have revised all previous entries, complete the current month s entry, and turn it in for your annotated bibliography summative assessment. This summative assessment is DUE once per semester: January 21 st and June 9 th. Independent Reading Due Dates (annotated bibliography entry should be completed in Google Docs by midnight of this date s evening) First Semester: Second Semester: October 11 th (The Devil s Arithmetic) February 16 th (formative) October 20 th (formative) March 16 th (formative) November 17 th (formative) April 13 th (formative) December 15 th (formative) May 11 th (formative) January 19 th (summative) June 8 th (summative)
Citations: All citations and references given in formal papers should follow the correct MLA format. For your bibliography to be At Standard, your citations must include the necessary information, and all punctuation, spacing, and indentations must follow the directions below. These directions are adapted from Write for College. 1. Start your document with a proper heading. 2. Center your title (Annotated Bibliography: Books of Literary Merit) one inch from the top; then double space before the first entry. 3. Begin each entry flush with the left margin. If the entry runs more than one line, indent additional lines one-half inch. I have found the easiest way to do this is to type the entire entry, then put the cursor in front of the first letter on the second line. Backspace and then hit tab. Your second line should line up with the one-half inch mark on your tool bar. Depending on the font and size, this is five to seven spaces. 4. Each book s annotation immediately follows its citation. 5. Leave an extra space between book entries. 6. List each entry alphabetically by the author s last name. If there is no author, use the first word of the title (disregard A, An, The). 7. The medium from which you read (print, electronic) should be included. 8. Double-space the entire document. Indent the annotation. At the end of your annotation in parenthesis, include the current date, word count, and sentence total). 9. A basic citation for a book would look like this (note punctuation and spacing): Last name of author, First name (and middle/maiden name if used on the title page of the book). Title. City Published (add the state if not a major city like New York, Los Angeles or London): Publisher, year. Medium. Guillermo, Kathy Snow. How to Avoid Monkey Business in Government. Washington, DC: National Press Books, 1993. Print. **All books with one author are done in exactly the same way. (If you have a book written by more than one author, be sure to consult OWL Purdue (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/) to verify how to correctly complete the citation following MLA standards.)
Sample Annotated Bibliography: Next is a sample of what your paper should look like. Leave the default font and margin settings: Ariel, 11pt, 1 inch margins. Student Name English I Honors January _, 2015 Annotated Bibliography: Books Read for Second Semester Braun, Lillian Jackson. The Cat Who Smelled a Rat in the Streets and in the Sewers. New York: Jove Books, 2002. Print. This latest installment in Braun s famous The Cat Who series exudes literary merit on every page because of the relatability of characters and allusions to the strong themes found in the classics. In this episode, columnist Jim Quilleran, with the assistance of his Siamese cat, Koko, tries to figure out who has been setting fires in remote Moose County during a severe drought. As loyal readers have come to expect, allusions to great literature such as The Tempest and Animal Farm appear throughout. For example, when the animals of Moose County begin singing, each in their own way (146) a common song, all are disturbed. As usual, Koko gets the great lines: Meow we get down to business (66). The setting in northern Moose County (400 miles from everywhere) adds to the fun and allows for Braun to create eccentric characters befitting the locale: Bossy Mossy claims she was tennin the farmin (157). What great use of dialect! (February 3, 2015: 157 words, 7 sentences) Dickens, Charles. The Tale of Two Cities. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 1988. Electronic. Dickens ability to craft a complex plot and scathingly comment on the state of society while creating memorable characters throughout two cities right in the middle of the French Revolution Annotations: Answer the essential question: What makes this book a work of literary merit? Ultimately, the purpose of the annotation is to convince another reader WHY this is a book of literary merit. This is NOT a summary, it is an evaluation. You must provide specific evidence to support your claim. You are limited to 7-10 sentences per book (200 words maximum page numbers for quotes do not count against total).
Helpful Tips: Start with a general evaluative statement about the text (a judgment), and then follow this statement with details and commentary that supports your evaluation Possibly include effective literary devices Possibly analyze the structure or style Possibly does the story revolve around a universal theme, or an archetypal story/character? Possibly is the story still relevant today? How/why? Double Entry Chart Directions (4 per week) Purpose: Allow students to interact with a text, express their thoughts, and ultimately become more involved with the material. Directions (4 per week): The Double Entry Chart REQUIRES an excerpt with page number on the Quote side (left) and your interpretation and universal connection on the right side. Interpretation explain why you pulled the quote, why it matters, unpack the layers. Universal Connection Why does it matter beyond the story? How does it to relate to similar stories/life/etc.? Clearly indicate the book title and author at the top of each page. You will also provide a 3-5 sentence summary and at least 3 questions. How do you know which lines from the text to pull? Use the following list as a guideline for what kinds of excerpts to include. Pieces you find interesting Lines that spark your agreement/disagreement Connections: to another text (movie, song, etc.), to yourself, to world Helps build character analysis (important acts/speeches, how others respond, changes, appearance when impactful) Helps understanding of themes/author s purpose Inspires thoughtful questions Interesting use of language: literary devices, rhetorical devices, figurative language, dialects, purposeful punctuation, etc. Structure of the text (How is the information presented?) *A quote without a page number will NOT count AT ALL. Final Summative Annotated Bibliography Rubric Due January 19 th and June 8 th Annotations: Assignment Criteria: Mechanics, Grammar, and Proofing: Exceed Standard At Standard Nearing Standard Annotations succinctly and comprehensively describe the source material; annotations offer great insight into the source material Each source has a proper citation; all citations are complete; all are in the Virtually free from mechanical, grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors; all of the assignment requirements were met Most annotations are succinct; most comprehensively describe the source material; some offer insight into the source material Most sources have proper citation; most citations are complete; most are in the Occasional minor errors do not distract the reader; the majority of assignment requirements were met Some annotations may be too short or too long; annotations adequately describe the source material, but lack insight Some sources have proper citation; some citations are complete; some are in the proper MLA format Some significant errors are present, but the overall meaning is clear; about half of the assignment requirements were met Below Standard Few annotations meet the length requirements, few annotations adequately describe the source material; annotations offer little insight Few sources have a proper citation; few citations are complete; few are in the Errors are distracting, but the meaning is still clear; only some of the assignment requirements were met