1. Annotated Bibliography

2. The Process Find a topic Compose a research question Find sources
Create citations for those sources
Create annotations for those sources
Submit a rough draft of your Annotated Bibliography
Turn in a final draft of your Annotated Bibliography

3. Keeping Your Research Organized
Keep a folder (electronic or hard) labeled “ENG 8 Research”
Within that collect copies of all the articles and books, etc. that you think may be useful to help answer your Research Question
You will find sources that are biased as well as those that are objective, filter these out even if they support your POV
You want sources that offer differing perspectives on your research question
You want to find scholarly sources rather than popular sources

4. Keeping Your Research Organized
As you read each source, take notes on the information you are looking to summarize in the annotation:
What kind of source it is (article from a journal, book, DVD, etc.)
What type of source it is (scholarly or popular)
The perspective(s) on your research question it discusses
The credibility of the author and the publication
The main idea or claim of the source (will depend on if source is biased or not)
The logic of the source:
support for the main idea, claim, or perspective(s)
Evidence used for the perspective(s)
Assumptions made about your issue
Words or phrases that indicate bias or objectivity or too much reliance on emotion
How useful this source might be for you in building an argument

5. The author’s tone is more objective More jargon/technical terms
Sources: Types of Publications * Remember you have to identify in your annotation what type of source it is: scholarly or popular
Scholarly
Peer Reviewed
The author’s tone is more objective
More jargon/technical terms
Authors are experts in that field
More research is included
Citations obvious
Usually lots of text / not many pictures
Popular
Editor publishes
May be more subjective
Laymen’s terms/everyday words used
Authors are often reporters
Often little research
Citation method often unclear
Often has pictures/graphs

6. The Credibility of the Source
Credibility or ethos: The author and publication’s credibility
How much do you trust the source?
What credentials or experience does the source have regarding this issue?
Is the figure well-known?
Is there any reason you shouldn’t trust the author or publication?

7. Emotional Appeal Does the author use emotional reasoning?
If so, what emotions does he/she rely on?
Does the author responsibly use emotional appeals or does the writer try to overly rely on them?

8. Logos
Part of evaluating logic involves analyzing the reasoning of an argument
Logos provides an overall framework of which ethos and pathos are a part
Although logos may not inspire people as much as ethos and pathos it often keeps people from acting rashly or foolishly

9. Parts of an argument Claim: Central argument
Grounds: Support for argument in the form of reasons
Evidence: examples, authorities’ statements, statistics, facts, theoretical examples
Assumptions: belief that connects the claim and grounds

10. Reasons Reasons are statements that can be factual or opinionated
Claim: You should wear a heavy coat today
Reason: Because it is snowing.
Assumption: ?

11. Assumptions Claims Reasons Assumptions
Arguments, even with clear claims and reasons, often don’t make much sense without assumptions
They are the glue that hold the reasons to the claim
They are sometimes explicitly stated but more often implied

12. Identifying Assumptions
Claim: Bill Clinton was a good president.
Reason: He was skilled at foreign policy.
Assumption: Any president who is skilled at foreign policy is a good president.

13. Identifying Assumptions
Claim: You should visit Paris.
Reason: They have the world’s best art museums.
Assumption: You should visit a place that has the best art museums.

14. Assumptions
(a.k.a. “warrants”) refer to the values and beliefs people hold
Are opinions, not facts
Are shaped by our family, culture, education, region, friends, ideas, etc.

15. Practice
Practice identifying the claim, reason, and assumption(s) behind a source