For this assignment, you must complete the following:

1. Create a focused research question. This should be in relation to the larger course theme and hopefully a topic of individual authentic interest. 
   1. This can build on or complicate the work you completed during the first half of the semester or something you learned from someone else’s narrative and/or course readings. It can also look at a completely different topic, like writing and disposition/emotion, self-efficacy, writing centers, identity, race, linguistic justice/ diversity, high school to college writing, WID, WAC, ungrading/ grade contracts, literacy education policy/ law, cultural rhetorics, changes in literacy standards/ expectations, or a literacy practice within your major/ desired profession.
   2. Your research question should answer four questions: 1) who, 2) what, 3) when, and 4) where. What are you studying?; Who is the focus of your study?; When and Where will you concentrate the focus of your research?

DUE 3/13

1. Locate EIGHT diverse sources that provide different perspectives on your question. You must include:
   1. at least TWO sources that are freely available;
   2. at least TWO sources that are academic in nature (i.e., peer reviewed);
      1. Consider using the Writing Studies research database, CompPile, or ERIC, the education research database on the Lafayette College Library database page, or Academic Search Premier, a database dedicated to interdisciplinary academic research. 
   3. at least TWO sources of general interest/ from a popular press (e.g., The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mayo Clinic Health Letter, government website, etc.);
   4. at least TWO multimodal sources (e.g., images, videos, infographics, slide decks, social media, etc.);
   5. If you double dip (e.g., one of your sources is both multimodal and freely available or some other combination) your other source types can be of your choosing; be sure to consider what else you need to provide inclusive and useful perspectives on your question. 

*A note on recency: Most, if not all, of your sources should be from within the last 10 years; if you include a source that is more than 10 years old, you must justify its inclusion in your annotated bibliography (e.g. explain why this source is more relevant to the topic than more recent sources) and contextualize it for the present day within its annotation. 

1. Organize your sources chronologically or by topic— whatever helps you see patterns or relationships in the conversation. Then, write an annotated bibliography using correct MLA citation. Each annotation should be about 300-350 words and include the following:
   1. a brief summary (What’s the purpose of the source? What questions does it ask? How was the research conducted? What conclusions are drawn?);
   2. a brief description of the source’s rhetorical situation (the text/ genre, the author, the (intended) audience, the purpose, and the time, place, and environment surrounding the source) through the lens of power (consider who, what, and how the source places rhetors in positions of authority and expertise; that is, who is telling the story, who benefits from the story, who is missing from the story?)
   3. a brief description of how this source connects to and/or is in conversation with your other sources (compare and/or contrast); and
   4. a statement about how the source is useful for responding to your question.
      1. REFLECT on how you might use the source: based on what you have found so far, how does this source relate to your research? What questions do you have? What do you think about its argument?

4 ENTRIES DUE 3/25 & 4 ENTRIES DUE 3/27

1. Compose an introductory essay sketching the primary exigencies around, moves within, and contributions to conversations about your research question (i.e. dilemmas, quandaries, or urgencies). The introductory essay should be 2-3 double-spaced pages and should provide readers a basic guide to your conversation (i.e. it should equip them to make effective use of the bibliography). Please work with our course WA on your Introductory Essay! She will offer consultations for this essay during Week 10; sign up early!Consider the following questions: 
   1. What is the conversation? What are the main claims?
   2. Who are the main contributors shaping this conversation? What is their claim to expertise/authority? Does it seem as if anyone is left out of the conversation?
   3. What do people agree on? What do they disagree about?
   4. What might be left out/missing from the conversation, or how does your research do something different?
      1. This is hard, and you may not be able to answer it yet. That’s okay!

DUE 4/1

 

Sample MLA Annotated Bibliography & Introductory Essay