Researching a Social Issue: Reading Widely, Taking Notes, Creating an Annotated Bibliography

AP English Language and Composition
Engaging Actively in a Social Issue
From Interest to Research to Argument to Participation to Social Change (?)

Earlier we brainstormed and prioritized possible topics. Based on the feedback I got from you and others here is the social issue you will research:


apathy and engagement: young people and social issues (JW, BG, CD)
the influence of technological advances on our culture (JK, YS, AM)
the prevalence and implications of prejudices in our culture (CS, AG)
the prevalence and implications of violence in our culture (HE, DD, IG)
the role, methods, and implications of education in our culture (KQ, KS, KF)

the role, practice, and implications of religious belief in our culture (EM, OP, LM)
the science and implications of genetic engineering in our culture (CO, JD, MJ)
the role, methods, and implications of education in our culture (AD, NB, HW)
the role and implications of prescription and recreational mood altering drugs in our culture (CJ, ZS, SI)
the role and implications of body image and sexuality in our culture (KR, SO, KM) 


First, you and your fellow group members are responsible for finding 21 different sources of information and/or informed opinion about the social issue above. Of that total you are responsible for seven (7) sources.
Of that total at least one source must come from each of the following categories:

• a text accessed through a database subscribed to by the GHS library
• a text accessed through Google books or Google scholar
• a text found on a university, nonprofit, or government website
• a text found in the popular press (magazine or newspaper). This text could be accessed in print form, in electronic form, or (at Sawyer Free Library) in microfilm form
• a text found at the Sawyer Free Library
• a section of a text found using a book’s index
• a recorded lecture (such as a TED talk), recorded interview, or documentary film/video

By Monday, March 25 you will have completed double-entry notes for all of your sources (21 as a group, 7 as an individual).

By Monday, March 25  each group member will have completed a draft of at least one annotated citation, which will be ready for viewing in your group's Google document. Use the links in the right column of this blog for directions and samples of annotated citations.


On Wednesday, March 27 you will submit the final draft of your annotated bibliography*. (You will submit the work as a group, both in print form and using a Google Document. Your individual work will bear your name; you will be assessed on your own work.)

*Use MLA format for heading, citations, format, etc. Remember alphabetical order. Pay attention to spacing. Make sure citations are not only formatted properly but also thorough. Annotations should be 150-200 words in length (not longer); they should provide a summary of the source, an assessment (analysis and evaluation) of the source, and (if not immediately obvious) a discussion of the relevance of the source. Make sure you include your name after the annotations you wrote.

There are many links here on the blog to additional information about taking double-entry notes, writing annotations, and formatting the annotated bibliography. Use the resources that are available to you.