Double entry-notes (how-to & example) with Annotated citation (how-to & example)



Research Notes for an Annotated Bibliography
& (eventually) a Research-based argument essay

In the space at the top write your topic title and an open-ended question.
For example: Dogtown Stories
How do the stories about Dogtown reveal a sense of mystery?


On the left side write down the citation information. Use your Compass (page ___) and/or the library handout entitled “Preparing a Works Cited list in MLA style”.

For example: Olson, Charles. The Maximus Poems. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985. Print.

Below the citation information write summary, information, paraphrases, quotations from the source.
(This will help you write the summary part of the annotation.)

For example, if I’m using the source listed above (poems by Charles Olson) as part of my research into stories about Dogtown I’d summarize all the poems in the book that deal with Dogtown.


I’d also write down information and quotations that might help me develop an answer to the question I’ve posed. (This will help you with your research-based argument essay .)


On the right side write down notes that will help you write an evaluation of the quality and relevance (importance / significance) of the source.
(This will help you write the evaluation and relevance part of the annotation.)

For example:
This source is a poem and so makes imaginative fictional use of the historical facts. I should compare Olson’s account with other accounts.



Also write down ideas, opinions, reactions questions.
(This will help you with your
research-based argument essay .)


It seems important that Olson puts Dogtown at the center of a creation myth. He seems to use Merry’s story to contrast human foolishness with the greatness of the earth (represented by Dogtown’s rock formations). I wonder if other writers handle Merry’s story similarly or differently? I wonder if Olson uses Dogtown elsewhere in his poem.

Include your name in your notes.
For example:
These notes were prepared by James Cook. 



Example of a citation with annotation

Olson, Charles. The Maximus Poems. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985. Print. [This is an MLA citation.]
Maximus IV, V, VI includes a creation myth set in Dogtown. The “Proem” section of Maximus IV, V, VI deals particularly with the story of James Merry, who died fighting a bull in Dogtown. Olson describes Merry as “Drunk / to cover his shame”; after the bull kills him Olson describes him as “in the Sunday morning sun / like smoked fish.” In the end the earth takes Merry into her, which connects the creation myth with Merry’s foolish hubris & tragedy. [This is the summary part of the annotation.]
Olson’s poem is not an entirely accurate retelling of the real events, but, to be fair, historical accuracy is not the poem’s goal. The poem makes mythic and imaginative use of the historical facts in order to reveal man’s arrogance toward nature. The version of James Merry’s story told in Dogtown by Elyssa East is more thoroughly researched. [This is the evaluation* (or critique) part of the annotation.]
Although most of the poems in the book do not deal with Dogtown, the “Proem” in Maximus IV, V, VI presented a version of James Merry’s story that is very compelling. Like many other Dogtown stories, the story is interesting, dramatic, and of questionable historical accuracy. James Cook [This is the part of the annotation where you explain the relevance of the source to your topic.]
[In this case the topic is “Dogtown Stories.” The example above is 170+ words in length and is “A” quality work. The minimum requirement for your annotations is 100 words.]

[You group will hand in double-entry notes and annotated citations of 21 sources. Don’t forget: heading, topic title, alphabetical order, hanging indentation, double-spaced, twelve point font, MLA format. Also don't forget to write your name at the end of the annotation. See above.]

 

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