Annotated Bibliography

The Annotated Bibliography is a compilation of MLA-documented scholarly sources (anonymously peer reviewed and appearing in a disciplinary publication) about your chosen topic with associated commentary. Your Annotated Bibliography will help you explore your subject and better understand the conversation around it. It is a productive way to identify and engage sources that you may (but are not obligated to) incorporate into the literature review section of your Research Paper. (Also keep in mind that you can check sources' bibliographies to find related works.) More information about annotated bibliographies is available from the UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center and The Purdue OWL.

Your annotated bibliography should contain five scholarly sources. Please indicate your topic in the title of your Annotated Bibliography (see template below). The structure for each of your entries is as follows:

1. Full MLA citation
2. One sentence that states the work's thesis (what it asserts, claims, or finds)
3. A paragraph of summary that identifies the work's main points (the work's abstract will be helpful here)
4. A paragraph that discusses how you might use this source in your own work

The Annotated Bibliography will be uploaded as a file. The document should be double spaced and sources should be in alphabetical order. The first line of each citation should be flush with the left margin; any subsequent citation lines should be indented 1/2 inch (called a hanging indent). All lines of annotations should be indented 1 inch. See the template below. This commented example from a previous student may be helpful.

[your name]

ENG 417

Spring 2023

Dr. Tirrell

MLA Annotated Bibliography: [topic]

[first source's citation first line]

     [any subsequent lines of citation]

          [annotation lines]

[second source's citation first line]

     [any subsequent lines of citation]

          [annotation lines]