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Preliminary research is essential to the development of a topic and a thesis. This could be also be titled the "Annotated Research Bibliography". While your general exploration of an author's work may raise questions you would like to explore, it is through preliminary research that you begin to refine your ideas . . . or even find a more specific topic. This document is a research tool. It helps to to assess, and then later re-locate, the research you do for your research paper.


A preliminary annotated bibliography is part of this step. You may change your sources as you develop your paper, but you need to start with a strong set of sources to work from.


The annotated bibliography itself will consist of two parts: the citation of the source followed by two descriptive paragraphs:  


For this class, all citations should be in MLA format. See you Hacker text or, for more help with citations:  http://suffolk.libguides.com/content.php?pid=131546


The first descriptive paragraph should provide a general overview of your source. The second paragraph should provide a critical analysis of this source and discuss specifically how it is relevant to your research question.  In other words, discuss how you plan to use this source.  Is it of use as general knowledge about the subject and, if so, how? Does it relate specifically to your research question? Does it offer claims that will be part of your argument?  Does it offer an argument that you plan to position yourself against?  


While working on the annotated bibliography, please keep in mind the following:


     -The assignment must include a minimum of five preliminary research sources.  


     -Do not annotate everything you come across related to the topic.  Rather skim the source for relevance and evaluate it for credibility before including it in your annotated bibliography.  


     -You are responsible for evaluating the sources for appropriateness and credibility.  The library databases of academic articles is the preferred source for research. If you plan to use a web page that is not part of the library databases, please remember that you will need to explain to me how and/or why you believe this source is legitimate.*


     -Wikipedia, or other such untrustworthy sites, is not an appropriate source for citation in this project. If you are not using reviewd articles, you must be sure your source is valid.




* The description of the annotated bibliography is taken, in large part, from an assignment sheet by Prof. Bryan Trabold, Suffolk University.


Annotated Bibliography