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DEVELOPING A TOPIC

ENGLISH 115

Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Learning Commons

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources for a research topic that gives a brief evaluation of what each source would provide for your research. Your project is to find the best sources for a topic in a variety of different formats. Each source must be properly cited then described in 3-7 sentences. Citations include author, title, dates and publishing information. MLA and APA formats have different specifications. Each annotation of 3-7 sentences defines the content, scope, currency and relevancy of the source. You are not writing a full research paper!

Final Project for English 115:

Selecting a topic:

Select a topic that interests you: You will be asked to do some brainstorming to come up with an original topic of interest to you. You may find that your topic changes as you learn more about it. Often narrowing or broadening a topic is part of the process.

Do not start the annotated bibliography until your topic has been approved!

Start with something that you’d like to know more about. After brainstorming, you will chose a topic and fill out a concept map for this possible topic.

Sample topics might include:• After hearing what happened in Toledo, Ohio, what is algae’s

effect is on our drinking water and what we can do about it? • Measles have had a resurgence in our world. Why is this

happening and what can we do about it?• Student debt in the United States is rising as tuitions rise

and financial aid is cut. Why is this happening and what can be done about it?

Research question:

Part of the process in creating this annotated bibliography will be the development of a thesis statement.

A thesis statement is a one or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow.

This will be addressed at the end of the class and it will be used to tie all your sources to the topic you’ve chosen to explore

Thesis statement:

3 Books -- these can be print or e-books (full text access is required.) Try different formats if possible. Library skills include being able to find a book in the stacks as well as being able to open an e-book.

6 Database Articles – 6 articles from a mix of journals, magazines and newspapers from both the general and subject databases. Do not use book reviews for this project!

3 sources from the web – not from personal web pages. Must be from reliable sources. Can include video or podcasts from reputable sources.

Sources for your Annotated Bibliography:

Choose either APA or MLA citation style, but be consistent. Do not switch back and forth!In APA,the bibliography is called a References page. APA stands for American Psychological Association and is used as the standard for many education, psychology, social science papers.

In MLA,the bibliography is called the Works Cited page. MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is often used required for research papers.

Cite Your Sources is linked to the library web page.

APA or MLA?

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Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Web Page

To access the library website, go to the HVCC web page http://www.hvcc.edu and find Library on the top menu bar.

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Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Web Page

Select Dwight Marvin Library.

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Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Web Page

This is the Dwight Marvin Library web site. More Library Services or Cite Your Sources will help you answer citation questions.

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Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Web Page

Select the citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, ASA, Vancouver) to get started with your bibliography.

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Hudson Valley Community College Marvin Library Web Page

The HVCC Writing and Research Center, Hacker Handbook and Purdue University web sites provide sample citations and papers. The YouTube tutorial can help you get your paper set up correctly.

Look for topics in the news!

Thesis Statements and Concept Maps:

This is in Blackboard for your review.

Issue? Historical? Geographic? Sociologic?

Media

Violence Employment

Housing

Education

Politics

Environment

Health

Marriage

Other

Prehistoric

A Different Century

This Century

A Past Decade

Year

Month

Day

Hour

Other

Planet

Continent

Country

State

Region

City

Neighborhood

Street

Other

Race

Gender

Ethnicity

Sexual Orientation

Economic Level

Class

Age

Disability

Religion

Other

Narrow or broaden your topic:

Explore possible topics by browsing the news or the web.• Note how the Concept Map breaks down a topic of

interest. • Start with a blank concept map. Take your general

topic and do a bit of research to fill out your map. • Can you narrow down your topic? Use the Narrow or

broaden your topic table for this. Consider historical (what time period?), geographical (where?), sociological? (what gender, age group, race?)

• Is your topic too narrow? If you can’t find sources you may need to rethink.

For this session: