Create an Annotated Bibliography from 2 secondary sources:
250-300 words each
Researching what others have said about texts enables you to mark your own interventions into a field. When researching a research question, topic or text, you will quickly find that you amass many different secondary sources that are oftentimes difficult to keep straight in your head. The Annotated Bibliography is one tool that will help keep your critics and their ideas straight.
At first this project will feel similar to our annotations of primary texts; but the outcome is slightly different. As you have done for all our texts, you will take paginated notes on the articles that you read. Instead of annotating those pagination as we do in the weekly writing assignments, this time we want to produce a brief paragraph that describes the argument and important moves made by your particular articles. Brevity is key, but so too is density and deep understanding of both the article and the primary text.
Questions your annotated bibliography must answer:
1-2 Sentences: What is the central argument to this article?
1-2 Sentences: What overarching topics does this paper engage?
1-2 Sentences: What problems in the existing scholarship does the author claim to address?
1-2 Sentences: Does the author make any important assumptions about the text?
1-2 Sentences: What evidence does the author turn to in presenting her or his argument? (Other than the primary material?)
2-3 Sentences: Why might you find this useful in your examination of your text? Where might you intervene?.
