INFORMATION LITERACY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND COMMUNICATION
An annotated bibliography consists of a list of Works Cited entries, each followed by a paragraph of summary and a few sentences explaining how you plan to use that information in your speech. This is the best way to prepare to write a research-based speech because locating, reading, and annotating your sources early will help you to better understand the debate at hand, begin forming mini- summaries that you might be able to use in your essay, and select passages that you will quote in your final speech. An additional bonus of putting together an annotated bibliography is that when you are done, you will have a rough outline of your speech and a head start on your reference page for your preparation script.
1. Find, read, and annotate your sources. You should annotate 3 sources. One source should come from professional, academic, or scholarly articles written for peer-reviewed publications located using one of the approved MDC library databases.
2. Create a reference page that includes all 3 sources. The references for each article should be typed, double-spaced, with a hanging indent, and arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names, according to APA style guidelines.
3. The OWL Purdue APA website is an excellent source to consult on correct APA formatting.
4. For each source, write a one sentence description of that work.
5. In the following paragraph(s) write the actual words you will be using from the source you just cited when you deliver your oral speech in class . Include an in-text citation. An in-text citation includes the first words of the APA citation (usually the author’s last name) followed by the date of publication. If there are more than two authors, write the first one, followed by et al. (Smith, et al., 2022). If you are quoting something directly from the article, use a signal phrase (According to….) and a parenthetical citation (Glassner, 2004, p. 822)
6. Next, write a short paragraph (a couple sentences) describing how you intend to use that author’s ideas and connecting them to ideas from the other articles you have found, if possible. How will the source function in your paper? What role will it play? Decide which details or passages from the article will be most helpful for putting together your paper.
7. Double-space the reference page and single-space the annotations (the summary paragraphs that follow each entry) .
A successful Annotated Bibliography Assignment:
· Follows the instructions on this assignment sheet exactly.
· Cites and annotates the required number and type of sources for the specified assignment.
· Includes a double-spaced APA-formatted reference page that includes an entry for each source.
· Alphabetizes entries by authors’ last names or if no author is given, the first letter of the APA style reference.
· Includes one single-spaced sentence that describes the article.
· Includes at least one paragraph that summarizes the article and includes the actual words that you will use from the source. It is introduced with a short signal phrase and followed by an in-text citation. If using a direct quote, the page number is in-text citation.
· Includes one single-spaced short paragraph explaining how the source’s information will be used in the final project and how it relates to the information in the other sources (three total)
· Uses formal academic English.
Below is an example of one annotation.
Glassner, B. (2004). Narrative techniques of fear mongering. Social Research, 71(4), winter, 819-826.
The article by Glassner (2004) is a peer-reviewed article that I found in the MDC database.
In “Narrative Techniques of Fear Mongering,” Barry Glassner notes that the news media and politicians sell fear to the public to reap financial and political benefits. Fear mongers employ three main techniques for narrating and promoting fear. The first is repetition; by sheer volume, those who sell fear can bombard the public with scare stories that will make them consume products and vote in certain ways (Glassner, p. 820). The second technique is what Glassner calls “christening isolated incidents as trends” (p. 822). By claiming that a freak occurrence is a “trend,” the politicians and media can peddle their product of fear. The third technique that Glassner points out is “misdirection,” or highlighting a lesser danger to conceal more ominous ones (p. 823). Glassner’s main point is that our fears are being manipulated in the interests of those in positions of power.
For my purposes, Glassner’s ideas will work very well with my discussion of the narrative nature of the education system, as noted by Paulo Freire. Also, it seems that Glassner would agree with Freire that if our education system was based more on a communicative approach to learning, then we might not be as susceptible to these “narrative techniques.”