Annotated Bibliography Assignment – Political Science 1 – West Los Angeles College
In this assignment you are going to begin the process of looking for sources for your research
paper and becoming familiarized with them. Specifically, you are going to find at least three
sources [for now] that pertain to your paper topic and then write a brief annotation addressing
each one of them. It is perfectly okay if you change sources as the term unfolds, as the more you
work on your paper, the more you will focus your argument, and the more that you might find
that your original sources may no longer be relevant.
An annotation is a brief description of a work such as an article, book, periodical, or primary
document. An annotation attempts to give enough information to make a decision as to whether
or not to read the complete work. Annotations must include descriptive and critical information
pertaining to the source. Therefore, for this assignment, please complete an annotation for at
least three sources. Include a complete and correct citation for each item (in proper APA
format), and then write the annotation addressing the questions listed below. On the cover page
of this annotative bibliography, in addition to your name and the section number of the course,
please make sure to state the 1-3 items that you will be focusing on for advancing legitimate
democracy. Each annotation should be at least five sentences long, using correct grammar and
punctuation mechanics. Your summary should be complete and well thought out, fully
addressing the question prompts listed below.
Questions you should address in your annotation:
1) What is the item about? For example: you can discuss the scope and main purpose of the
work or its intended audience and level of reading difficulty. Do not copy and paste
other’s work—it’s plagiarism.
2) Why did you choose this item? How does it relate to your selected topic?
3) Critique the item. A critique can question the accuracy of the resource, it can address the
completeness of the author’s study, or you can discuss the detection of any possible
biases.
Sample of a descriptive and critical annotation: Use as a model
London, H. (Spring 1982). Five myths of the television age. Television Quarterly,
10(1), 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of
several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly
believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as
the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have
been selected to contradict such truisms as: “seeing is believing”; “a picture is
worth a thousand words”; and “satisfaction is its own reward.” London uses
logical arguments to support his ideas that are his personal opinion. He doesn’t
refer to any previous works on the topic; however, for a different point of view,
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one should refer to Joseph Patterson’s, “Television is Truth” (The Journal of
Television 45 (6) November/December 1995: 120-135). London’s style and
vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. The article clearly
illustrates London’s points, but does not explore their implications, leaving
the reader with many unanswered questions.
