Annotated Bibliography Instructions

In the real world, annotations are called “executive summaries.” Preparing effective and informative “executive summaries” is a skill that can make you an invaluable employee to your boss, so learning how to compose concise yet comprehensive annotations is an important skill to learn.

1) Each annotation should begin with the proper citation of the source.

For example:

Doar, John. “Burke Marshall’s Memorial.” TheYale Law Journal 113, 4 (January 2004): 791-95.

[an article from a journal]

Or

Bassett, Lawrence J. and Stephen E. Pelz. “The Failed Search for Victory: Vietnam and the Politics of War.” In Kennedy’s Quest for Victory: American Foreign Policy, 1961-1963, ed. Thomas G. Paterson, 223-52. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

[an article in an edited book compilation of several articles]

2) Below the source you should write a 100-150 word summary of the article.

You might think of an annotation as a “mini” book review. As you did in your book review, you should focus on:

1) the major arguments (why the author wrote the article)

2) the content (what we learn from the article)

3) the sources the author uses to support his arguments (to address this, you’ll need to look at the endnotes of the article to see the kinds of sources the author is using.)

Unlike a book review, an annotation generally does not spend much time on an assessment of the article. Still, one can provide some sense of how strong the author’s case is or the perspective from which s/he is coming in a phrase or two. (See sample annotation on the syllabus.)

3) Be concise and yet comprehensive

When trying to summarize a 5000-10,000 word article in 100-150 words, you need to make every word count. Each sentence, each phrase must tell the reader something and not just be “filler.”

For example, in your annotations, do NOT use phrases like:

“The author goes into great detail on…”

“The author goes on to say…”

“The author addresses many different ideas…”

Your goal is to distill the article down into a “bite-sized” piece that someone who doesn’t have time to read the whole thing can use to inform him/herself on the topic, the ideas, and content the article addresses. Each instance of “filler” makes the annotation or executive summary less useful to your reader.