ENGL 147N Week 3 Discussion: Breaking the Cherry-Picking Habit - Why Write an Annotated Bibliography? Layers of Information and Finding Your Source's "Nich

e" in Your Argument

Initial Post Directions

You need to write 2 paragraphs for the Initial Post.

Main Post Paragraph 1: Share Your Thoughts on Annotated Bibliographies

• When you started this class, did you fully understand the definition of an "annotated bibliography"?
• Based on your textbook and lesson readings for this week, what do you now understand an annotated

bibliography to be? Have you been guilty of "cherry picking" from the sources you write about? Explain.

• In what ways do you anticipate your annotated bibliography being helpful to you in writing a strong, compelling argument research essay?
• Also, after reviewing the lesson and the textbook, what remaining questions do you have about the annotated bibliography in general and/or about our assignment this week?

Main Post Paragraph 2: Perform an Initial Source Evaluation

Part of this week's assignment will ask you to richly evaluate your potential sources for your argument research essay. This post will get you started by allowing you to practice with one of those sources. In a single, rich paragraph:

• Introduce the source by author, title, and year, and summarize it briefly.
• Explain why you chose this source over others.
• Briefly run through all five elements of the CRAAP test.
• How thoroughly have you read this source and how many times?
• How have you benefited from more thorough readings of the source?

Below are examples for writing each paragraph. Keep in mind that a well-developed paragraph needs at least 5 sentences: 1 topic sentence, 3 or more support sentences, and 1 concluding sentence.

Paragraph 1:

Topic Sentence: Did you fully understand the definition/purpose of an annotated bibliography?

Prior to taking ENGL147, I had some experience with annotated bibliographies when I wrote papers in high school

Support Sentence 1: Did you take time to read the entire article(s) rather than just skim them?

I have to admit that my previous experiences with annotated bibliographies focused more on skimming articles rather than reading them completely.

Support Sentence 2: How will the annotated bibliography help you to write a strong argument research paper?

Reading each source in its entirety will help me prepare a thorough annotated bibliography that will guide me to find sources that strengthen the argument I present in my thesis.

Support Sentence 3: After reviewing the eBook and the Lesson, what questions do you have about this week’s assignment?

This week’s Lesson and eBook readings have provided a lot of information and strategies that I did not have previously.

Concluding Sentence: Final thought about the experience of writing the annotated bibliography.

I believe that if I read my sources thoroughly, provide each source’s information that ties directly to the points of my thesis, and use correct content and formatting in the bibliographic section, I will have a document that will serve me well when writing my paper.

Topic Sentence: Introduce one of the sources with the author, title, year and provide short summary. (Try to do this is one sentence.)

Support Sentence 1: Why did this source stand out from others you reviewed?

Support Sentence 2: Did the source meet the currency, relevance, author, accuracy, and purpose of the CRAAP method?

Support Sentence 3: Did you have to read the source several times to get the information you needed, and if so, did you benefit from additional readings?

Concluding Sentence: Your final analysis of the source.

Transition Words: To avoid writing short, choppy sentences, consider using transition words to smooth out your writing. Below are some common transitions.

• Equally important
• In addition to
• Additionally
• First….secondly…..thirdly
• Finally
• Consequently

· For example