Bibliographic Essay - long paper, very hard work PDF

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long paper, very hard work ...

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Assignment #4: Annotated Bibliography/Bibliographic Essay Audience: other “experts” in the field who are interested in the topic and who intend to follow-up your research by reading some of the items you present Purpose:

to present an expert overview of the topic; to help other experts identify important issues related to the topic; to help other experts locate materials

Organization: Introduction • set context • introduce the purpose of your research • define the scope of your research • introduce the organization of the essay (the sections and subsections) Sections and sub-sections • reflect the issues which comprise your topic • are organized logically (most important or significant to least?) • are introduced with headings which define the section/issue Discussion of materials: for each item (or grouping of related items) • introduce by author’s name, article title, complete bib. info. (or reference number from your works cited pages) • summarize the key points, useful aspects • identify the significance of the item to the section and, thus, to the overall topic • evaluate the value of the item as a reference for other researchers Summary/Conclusion • pull the essay together by restating your overall purpose • pull the essay together by discussing the implications of the research may suggest direction for further research

Bibliographical Essay A bibliography is a list of books, articles, and other sources of information (typically textual). The word bibliography literally means “list of books.” We typically think of a bibliography as being a list of RELATED sources (etc.), that is, all of the sources being on the same general topic. An essay is “a short literary composition, usually on a specific subject, often reflecting the views of its author.” A bibliographical essay, then, is a composition on a specific subject summarizing (and providing complete references for) articles or other sources written on that specific topic. Bibliographical essays are written FOR experts in a field, BY an expert of that field. They are written to organize, summarize, and reflect on important written information so that others in the field can • better understand the complexities of an issue in the field • better understand the features or characteristics of the issue • access the information available on the issue more easily In some ways, a bibliographical essay is like a research paper: the writer has to research the available information thoroughly in order to summarize and categorize it. But, where a research paper has as its focus the writer’s synthesis of the information and the sources themselves become only a part of the background for that synthesis, a bibliographical essay FOCUSES ON those sources, evaluating them, summarizing them, and organizing them. As you prepare for the assignment. 1.

Read the sample bibliographical essay, paying particular attention to the way the author organized the essay and the way the author refers to the different articles (or books).

2.

Think of an issue in your professional field that you would like to examine further. (We’ll discuss several of these in class.)

As you research your topic. 3.

Using the computerized indexes (we’ll use the specialized indexes like MEDLINE and the SOCIAL SCIENCES index for most of our research), do a general topic search first to identify the subtopics, or features, of the topic which the index uses to organize the articles. You may decide to use some of these same subtopics when you organize your essay.

4.

Once you’ve identified the “limits” of your issue, start focusing your search on the various features or subtopics. Your job now is to define the issue AS IT HAS BEEN RESEARCHED by others in the field.

5.

Try to collect listings for 50-100 sources. As you’re collecting your source material, also collect any abstracts that are available. These will save you a tremendous amount of reading time later.

As you organize your information 6.

Determine a logical plan for organizing your source material NOW, BEFORE you spend a lot of time reading the individual sources.

As you read for content.. 7.

Once you have a preliminary outline prepared, begin reading—one section at a time—the abstracts you’ve collected. Use this reading to further refine your outline and your definition of the characteristics of the issue.

8.

Read several (6 or so) sources from each of your outline sections, reading critically to determine • the most “important” or useful of the sources • the significance of that aspect of the topic (is it a key feature or a related, “side” issue?)

As you bean writing... 9.

Your essay should have an introduction which states the purpose of your bibliographical essay and give the reader an overview to the essay (a roadmap).

10. Each of the sections should have an introduction to the subtopic which synthesizes and summarizes the materials available (the articles, books, etc.) on that particular subtopic. 11. From there, the section should introduce and discuss the important or key articles and authors on the subtopic, always showing the relationship of each individual piece to the whole. 12. The essay should also have a conclusion that pulls the main points together again, discussing their significance, the implications of work (research, etc.) done to date, and the potential directions for further research in the future....