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CAL 103: Writing and Communications Colloquium

This guide will help CAL 103 students get started with their research.

Annotated Bibliographies

An annotated bibliography is like a works cited list but expanded to include explanations of each source and why you used them.

MLA Handbook Plus (5.132) includes more information about how to create your annotated bibliography in MLA style.

Document

  • Page title: Annotated Bibliography or Annotated List of Works Cited
  • Can be organized in the following ways, given the objective of the assignment:
    • Alphabetical by author or title
    • Chronological by date of publication
    • Thematic by subject

 

Cited Work

FORMAT

When annotating a citation, structure the citation in MLA style, including hanging indent for second and subsequent lines of citation. Indent the text of the annotation by a half-inch (so it should line up with the hanging indent).
 

CONTENT

The annotation should include the following aspects succinctly phrased (typically 1-2 sentences, no more than 1 paragraph in length):

  • Summary of document - key arguments, data, etc.
  • Assessment of document - evaluate, compare to other documents.
  • Reflect on the document - how does this document fit your research? What does it offer? Does it change how you see the issue?

Example

From MLA Handbook Plus:

Moore, Nicole. The Censor’s Library: Uncovering the Lost History of Australia’s Banned Books. U of Queensland P, 2012.

The book provides a comprehensive history of Australian print censorship and discusses its implications for questions of transnationalism and the construction of the reader.

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Abstracts

Abstracts are short (100-150 word) summaries of an article that allow researchers to decide without reading the full article whether it is relevant to their research.

Abstracts appear before the article's introduction and contain the following components (when applicable):

  • purpose
  • methods
  • scope
  • results
  • conclusions
  • recommendations

Abstracts cannot be written until the work has been written, because you can't summarize something that doesn't exist.

Ask yourself: What did you do? How did you do it? What did you discover?

Example

From Purdue OWL:

Environmental policy makers and marketers are attracted by the notion of green consumerism. Yet, green consumerism is a contested concept, allowing for a wide range of translations in everyday discursive practices. This paper examines how young consumers construct their images of green consumerism. It makes a close reading of three narratives reflecting available subject positions for young green consumers: the Antihero, the Environmental Hero and the Anarchist. It reveals problems in the prevailing fragmented, gendered and individualistic notions of green consumerism, and discusses implications for policy and marketing practitioners.
 

Minna, Autio. “Narratives of ‘Green’ Consumers – the Antihero, the Environmental Hero and the Anarchist.” Journal of Consumer Behavior 8.1 (Jan/Feb 2009): 40-53.

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Writing & Communications Center

When in doubt, writing experts are here to help!

If you're working on an abstract or annotated bibliography and feeling stuck, remember that the WCC is available to answer questions.