This assignment will prepare your to write your final research paper for this class , and will document your research into secondary sources related to one or more of the texts we've explored in class. Your research should include only academic sources, and should be centered on an idea you have about the work(s) you are interested in. This should be an arguable idea-your goal here is not to simply gather and present information. Your goal should be to gather and think about various perspectives relevant to your thesis, perspectives that can inform, help you to develop, and help you argue that thesis. These should be substantial and reliable sources (e.g., books, journal articles, etc.) These should be primarily peer-reviewed or edited articles found through Galileo. Avoid blogs and popular websites where publication entails no process of editing or review. Also avoid websites designed for students who do not read assigned texts.

It is important that you begin with a working thesis that you can explore through research. Your thesis should be arguable and focused, but you should not necessarily consider it final. Anticipate that as you become more familiar with your research sources, your thesis will likely develop into something more refined and sophisticated. You will encounter complexity, and should embrace it.

Be sure to include your thesis statement above the bibliography. Again, this should not be a generic statement of topic that seems to "cover" all of the sources you are writing about. It should be a statement of a specific and arguable statement that has evolved from your research

For each item, write a note (250 words or so -though you may want to write at somewhat greater length) Your notes should be substantive and give a clear idea of the exact content of each item in your bibliography, and the purpose each item helps to illuminate and support your thesis. You should also acknowledge how it informs or provides contrast with other sources that appear in your bibliography. Successful annotated bibliographies indicate how sources relate to and may interact with one another. It should be easy for the reader to relate each of your sources to this thesis statement.

Note that you should not simply provide an account of the conclusions your sources argue, but how they argue to arrive at those conclusions. Convince me that your sources are good by focusing on the arguments that the authors make. Avoid discussions of your personal experience of reading the source material (e.g. "this article took me a long time to read because of the complicated language, etc.).; such discussions aren't pertinent to how you will use the source to make your argument.

In addition to describing your articles (or the parts of them that you wish to use), you will need to provide additional information relevant to your purpose. Here are some questions to think about as you write the annotation for each item in your bibliography Remember that not all questions may be applicable, and that simply listing answers for these questions is, well, lame: