MLA Annotated Bibliography
For an annotated bibliography, use standard MLA format for entries and citations. After each
entry, add an abstract (annotation), briefly summarizing the main ideas of the source and then
relating the article to your research and providing a critical description. In other words, you are
explaining how the source proves your thesis statement (all or a part, depending on the assignment).
It is important to note that the summary should be brief—only include what is absolutely necessary.
The majority of the annotation should display explanation, synthesis, and analysis (using the source
to prove the thesis statement). The thesis statement will be included at the top, as shown below.
Basic MLA Format for an annotated bibliography
1. Hanging indents are required for each source in the bibliography, as shown below. That is, it will
look the same as a works cited page. You can set your word processor to do this automatically. It
is in the Paragraph menu when you right-click the page. It is under the “Special” dropdown
menu.
2. The annotation is a continuation of the works cited entry. Do not drop down to the next line to
start the annotation.
3. As with every other part of an MLA formatted paper, the bibliography is double-spaced, both
within the works cited entry and between them. Do not add an extra line between the sources.
1984 Annotated Bibliography - Format and Argumentation Overview.
1. Final draft is due on November 7 (turnitin.com November 6).
2. As a reminder, your paper must be in correct 7th edition MLA format and use black, doublespaced 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
3. Your thesis statement should be an aspect of the novel that you desire to explore and argue. The
thesis statement should include two or three arguments. See Writing Resources handbook and
sample annotated bibliography for examples.
4. You are required to have ample direct quotations to support your arguments. They must be
correctly integrated into your sentences. It is a requirement to have a balanced mixture of direct
quotations, paraphrased material, and summarized material from your sources.
5. As a reminder, your three sources are the novel, 1984, “George Orwell: Voice of a Long
Generation,” and “Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics.” Please note that more than one
source can be used to prove more than one argument.
6. You MUST use the page numbers from the edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four issued to you in
class, NOT the pdf of the novel.
Nineteen Eighty-Four Rubric
Student Name:
Content, documentation, argumentation
The paper adheres to source guidelines.
The paper demonstrates proper use of citations.
The paper includes an insightful and focused thesis statement that adheres to
assignment guidelines.
Arguments in the annotations reflect the thesis statement.
An adequate number of direct quotations are correctly incorporated within the
paper.
Information flows in a logical progression, and transitions are present and
effective.
The paper leaves the reader more knowledgeable about the topic.
The paper exhibits sensitivity to the audience and context (e.g., demonstrates
formal language and is free of first-person pronouns and contractions).
The paper demonstrates higher-order thinking.
The paper demonstrates analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex
ideas.
The paper proves the thesis statement.
Period:
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Spelling, punctuation, mechanics, grammar, usage, clarity, syntax, style
Spelling
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Usage (use of correct words) and word choice (e.g., use of proper words, avoid
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complete structures, pronoun reference)
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Style, voice, and originality (e.g., avoid passive voice and clichés)
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Format
The paper is double-spaced throughout (with no extra spaces between lines).
The paper uses black, twelve-point Times New Roman font.
The paper includes a correct MLA heading on the first page (double-spaced with
no extra spaces), and thesis statement at the top is correctly formatted.
The paper has the correct page number headers on each page.
The paper has correct margins and alignment throughout.
Titles and words are correctly formatted.
Spacing between words, sentences, and punctuation marks is correct.
Works cited entries are correct and in alphabetical order.
Hanging indents are used properly, and annotations begin immediately after
works cited entries.
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forbidden words)
Final grade
Paper will not be accepted if not in MLA format or in the correct font. Paper will not be accepted if it does not
include citations in the text or if it does not include direct quotations in each annotation. Eight points a day will be
taken for each day both turnitin.com and hard copy are not submitted.
!
Jackson 1
Rebecca Jackson
Mr. Harris
English IV H
26 September 2010
Thesis: With significant emphasis on the imagination, a descriptive forest setting, and an
undeniable moral lesson, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” has all the makings
of a fairy tale, despite the gothic influence, which leaves readers with an unsavory view of
America’s Puritan past and little hope for a positive American future.
Benoit, Raymond. “‘Young Goodman Brown’: The Second Time Around.” The Nathaniel
Hawthorne Review. 19 (Spring 1993): 18-21. Print. Benoit provides a psychoanalytic
reading of “Young Goodman Brown” by focusing on “Jung’s Psychology and Religion”
to clarify the psychological dimension of Hawthorne’s artistic achievement (19). Young
Goodman Brown’s dream in the tale represents the struggle of his conscious and
unconscious ideals of marriage. In Brown’s unconscious dream he uncovers sexual
feelings, which he refers to as having gotten him “into trouble” (20). Brown’s submission
during the forest scene erases his marriage, which is “annulled at least psychologically in
the revelation of his deep feelings” because he is “repelled by sexuality” (14).
Coldiron, A.E.B. “Laughter as Thematic Marker in ‘Young Goodman Brown.’” The Nathaniel
Hawthorne Review 17 (Spring 1991): 19. Print. In “Young Goodman Brown,” laughter
“not only marks the narrative movement of the protagonist’s awareness and its
underlying thematic conflict, but also heralds the protagonist’s initiation into a new
vision, and even his assumption of an antagonistic leadership position” (19). Brown
perceived the Puritan townspeople as strongly godly people; however, in his
Jackson 2
enlightenment or new vision he recognizes that these people do have evil tendencies and
are hypocrites. In the end, laughter marks Young Goodman Brown’s acknowledgment of
his new vision and his conversion into an opposing school of thought.
Franklin, Benjamin V. “Goodman Brown and the Puritan Catechism.” ESQ. 40 (First Quarter
1994): 64-88. Print. The role of catechism is the focus in this article. Catechism is a book
that explains principals of Christian religion. Franklin examines the significance of
“Young Goodman Brown” referring to Goody Cloyse teaching Brown his catechism.
Franklin also identifies the use of John Cotton’s Milk for Babes catechism. This article
suggests that Young Goodman Brown did not learn or comprehend the catechism; he
only memorized the words and, therefore, he had no true understanding or ability to apply
these tenets to his life. Franklin notes, “I then examine the entire catechism and apply it
to Brown, demonstrating that he never masters its meaning” (64). With Brown not
comprehending his religious principles, he does not realize the innate corruptness in
mankind until his experience in the forest.
Keil, James C. “Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’: Early Nineteenth-Century and Puritan
Constructions of Gender.” The New England Quarterly 69. (March 1996): 33-35. Print.
This article examines how Puritan ideology helped to develop in the 19th century distinct
gender roles that separate males into the public sphere and females into the private
sphere. “Young Goodman Brown” reveals Hawthorne’s frustrations imposed by the
tension between Puritan ideology and the natural behavior of man. Keil notes, “‘Young
Goodman Brown,’ probably written no earlier than the initial years of the decade and
published anonymously in 1835, chronicles Hawthorne’s observations about the anxieties
caused by such discrepancies between ideology and behavior” (34). Young Goodman
Jackson 3
Brown, who has come to believe with religious fervor what he has been taught prior to
marriage about the separation of spheres, is “disoriented by the behavior expectations he
confronts once he has entered that institution” (34). At its conclusion, it is implied that
Hawthorne wants the reader to integrate historical and psychosexual concepts when
comprehending Puritan values.
Morris, Christopher D. “Deconstructing ‘Young Goodman Brown.’” American Transcendental
Quarterly 2 (March 1988). 22-33. Print. Morris uses reader response theory in order to
describe how the reader is taken into Young Goodman Brown’s life. Morris then
demonstrates, through deconstruction, how the reader is misled through Brown: “By
following Young Goodman Brown, the fellow-traveler, and the narrator, the reader
repeats the necessary misinterpretations they commit” (27). The reader interprets
Brown’s experiences and is led to the same false interpretations. Brown concludes that
life is meaningless, “acceding to a Nietzschean ‘transvaluation of all values’” (22). By
misinterpreting “Young Goodman Brown,” the reader may possibly respond with doubt
and dislike of mankind from the loss of faith in our ideological values.