Annotated Bibliography Assignment

An annotated bibliography is a working document to help students gather their research and ideas. As they list and annotate these sources, it will help them to focus and thereby sharpen their working thesis statement. This is not intended to be an overly long assignment. Use the example bibliographies linked below to guide you with respect to the number of sources, the types of annotations, etc.

Working Thesis Statement
At the head of your bibliography, put a revised working thesis statement. (For info on writing a good thesis statement, see "Better Thesis Statements"). For examples, see the thesis statements at the top of the bibliographies by Brinn and by Dana.

1. Social Graph
   Think "my" social connections. Who are some of your personal contacts with whom you could try out your ideas, or with whom you've already done so? List and briefly comment on them. Your "social graph" corresponds with the "homies" and "peers" categories of people who can provide social proof for your ideas (See detail about those four categories of people in "Ignite Your Ideas With Social Proof"). Be specific: Don't list "My facebook friends. Try something like, "Michael Goodman - My former drama teacher who brings an actors perspective to Shakespeare." See some examples in the Social Graph sections of these bibliographies by Dana and by Brinn.
   
2. New Media
   List, link to, and describe varied examples of new media and how these are developing your thinking about your topic. Do more than find topically relevant websites. Look for blogs, podcasts, presentations, images, videos, events media, organizations, educational resources, etc. Avoid traditional scholarly sources here. For examples, see the New Media sections of bibliographies by Jessica and by Mallory.
   
3. Social Networks
   List, link to, and describe the social networks (based on books, topics, or specialties) whose expertise you can tap into and how you have done so or might do so. These networks are not your personal social graph. Rather, they are where the enthusiasts and experts connect with each other and where you can obtain more sophisticated social proof for your ideas (See detail about the "enthusiast" and "expert" categories in "Ignite Your Ideas With Social Proof"). For examples, see the Social Networks sections of the bibliographies by Dana and by Janelle.
   
4. Traditional scholarly sources
   Find, list, and describe traditional scholarly resources (journal articles, scholarly books, scholarly reference works). In doing so, summarize the source in one sentence, and in a second sentence comment on its relevance to your evolving essay. For examples, see the Traditional Scholarly Sources sections of bibliographies by Dana and by Mallory.