Annotated biography with 10 sources on superstorm sandy, hurricane Katrina and 9/11

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entry & Instructions
An Annotated Bibliography has two main parts:
1. the citation of your literature whether it be a book, journal article, document, etc. (in
APA style)
2. your annotation
You should have two paragraphs under each source:
a. The first paragraph is a short summary of the article in your own words. The key here is
IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you plagiarize the abstract of the article and I find this not to
be original, it is plagiarism and I will report it as such.
b. The second paragraph is a short discussion of how this source supports your research
topic. What does this source provide that reinforces the argument or claim you are
making? This support may be statistics, expert testimony, or specific examples that
relate to your focused topic.
Belcher, D. D. (2004). Trends in teaching English for specific purposes. Annual Review of Applied
Linguistics, 24(3), 165-186. doi: 10.1017/S026719050400008X.
This article reviews differing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) trends in practice and in
theory. Belcher categorizes the trends into three non-exclusive sects: sociodiscoursal,
sociocultural, and sociopolitical. Sociodiscoursal, she postulates, is difficult to distinguish
from genre analysis because many of the major players (e.g., Ann Johns) tend to
research and write in favor of both disciplines. Belcher acknowledges the preconceived
shortcomings of ESP in general, including its emphasis on “narrowly-defined venues” (p.
165), its tendency to “help learners fit into, rather than contest, existing…structures” (p.
166), and its supposed “cookie-cutter” approach. In response to these common
apprehensions about ESP, Belcher cites the New Rhetoric Movement and the Sydney
School as two institutions that have influenced progressive changes and given more
depth to “genre” (p. 167). She concludes these two schools of thought address the issue
of ESP pandering to “monologic” communities. Corpus linguistics is also a discipline that
is expanding the knowledge base of ESP practitioners in order to improve instruction in
content-specific areas. Ultimately, she agrees with Swales (1996) that most genres that
could help ESL learners are “hidden…or poorly taught” (p. 167) and the field of genre is
only beginning to grasp the multitude of complexities within this potentially valuable
approach to the instruction of language—and in turn, writing.
Then in this second paragraph you explain how the source supports your research topic.
Such as: This article provides examples as well as expert opinion that I can use in my
project. This will provide me with evidence to support my claims about the current
disciplines in ESL studies. Blah, blah, blah…XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. You are making your
case why it is of value to use.
Guidelines for Formatting Your Annotated Bibliography
• Citations should be cited according to APA format.
• Annotations should be indented a half an inch (.5”) so that the author’s last name is the
only text that is completely flush left.
• You should have the sources listed in alphabetical order by author as you would
normally in an APA sources cited list and do not have to have a separate list. The
annotated bibliography serves this same purpose.

To assist you with the completion of the Research Paper, you will also complete an annotated
bibliography. The annotated bibliography should contain a minimum of ten (10) scholarly references
that you intend to use as part of your Research Paper. This will allow me to determine if the sources you
have selected meet the criteria for use in the paper and will allow you to make any corrections
necessary before you actual begin to write the paper. The annotated bibliography should be in correct
APA format – each citation should be limited to approximately 150 words in which you summarize the
the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the source and how it fits in your paper.