I think I speak for most students in saying that one of the most daunting and painstaking parts of writing a research paper is not just writing the paper itself, but also citing the sources used in an annotated bibliography. This is especially true when the paper is particularly long and refers to over 10 different sources. Each source must not only use correct MLA format, but must also accurately summarize the content of the source, set its rhetorical context, name its intended audience and purpose, connect to other sources in the bibliography, AND justify why or how it will be used in your research.
Knowing how time consuming this project would be, I wanted to see specifically why such a list is necessary in the first place. Why do researchers need it? What does it do for the readers? What is its purpose?
After a quick search up I found some fairly satisfying answers. One article in particular seemed to justify the need for bibliographies quite thoroughly. One such point that stood out to me was that it “helps the researcher know the context of the subject in detail and fine tune the research topic.” This reminded me of our discussion in class during which we mentioned how writing such detailed summaries would force us to thoroughly read our sources to gain perspective, which would ultimately help us pin point what exactly we want to say or get across in our papers. Going along with this point is one that says “the researcher can preserve valuable knowledge in the form of a summary which has taken time to acquire”, which makes the summaries seem even more worthwhile because by reading the sources I’d also be doing the actual research by taking note of the information I could later use in my paper.
In terms of usefulness to the readers, I noted the points that mentioned how other researchers can use the same sources for their research papers (if they write about the same subject that is) and thus can save time when trying to find information.
With these points in mind, I feel better about this project and the benefits that it can bring both me and my readers. As time consuming as it will be, it’ll be worth it in the end.
Images Cited
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