Transcription of the Video 'Annotative Bibliography Assignment' by Eva Fang

The topic of this week's blog is our opinion about the video above, called 'Annotative Bibliography Assignment'. I do not know others' situation, but I am struggling getting information from this video because of all the broken sentences and strange pronunciations. It is a great video with a load of useful information, so I decided to put a transcription of it. It took me some time. I hope my action could help others who have difficulty understanding this video and almost missed the true meaning of this extraordinary work.

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Original up-loader: Joel Bloch
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cWCEyaOo50

M=Male  F=Female
M: Our first assignment is an annotative bibliography. What is an annotative bibliography? What does annotative mean?

F: We have to choose 5 articles in our major. They should be on the similar topic. Then we should have to summarize each of them in 5 sentences, and write another 5 sentences evaluating each summary. So each summary is 10 sentences time 5 is 50 sentences, more or less.

M: Why do they have to be on the same topic? Why can’t we just choose any 5 articles?

F: It makes your life and this class easier, because if you choose articles on the same topic you can use them for out of the course. In the next paper, you will have to write a critical reviewing. You can choose 2 or 3 of your summaries to compare and evaluate, then you can write a research paper using the information from all the articles. See, easy.

M: So how do I get started?

F: First, you have to read the whole article. You can use articles you have to read for other classes if you want. Don’t just read the abstract or the summary because that is written in a different way than you need to write for this course. First you need to identify the key problem in the article and focus on how the author tried to solve the problem. Life is easier here if all the articles address the same problem but you don’t have to do that.

M: How do I organize the summary?

F: The summary is organized into three parts. The first part is a descriptive summary where you write one sentence summary of the article. Then you can write 4 or 5 informative sentences where you summarize the key issues or problems and what the author wrote about them. Then you need to write 5 sentences giving your own opinion.

M: How is the sentence written?

F: Each sentence has its own form. A descriptive sentence begins with the name of the author, then a reporting verb, and then the direct object. For example, the author discusses finding a solution to the traffic problem. Notice that I choose the word ‘discusses’ as my reporting word. ‘Discuss’ is a very objective report that describe what the paper is about. Also, notice that it only takes a direct object ‘traffic problem’. If you want more information, you can look at the work sheet of the descriptive verbs on the course pallet wall.

M: And what is a reporting verb?

F: In the first part of your summary, you are summarizing what the author thinks, so you have to attributing every time the name of the author, so it is clear that the idea is from the author, not yours. So you have to start each sentence with the name of the author or a pronoun or some way acknowledging that this sentence is taken from the article. Then you have to paraphrase the idea you want to report. Finally you have to choose a reporting verb to link the author’s name and the idea.

M: I still don’t know what a reporting verb is? L

F: If you don't know the idea of the author, you still can express your idea about it. Later in the course, you are going to use the ideas of the author to either to make your own claims, support your claims or show how your work is different from the author’s. The reporting verb in the case, is what your attitude towards the claim. For example, when you used ‘discusses’ that means that this is for fact. The author really discussed it. There is no dispute. But what you think the argument is only the opinion of the author, then you might say ‘the author believes’.

M: What if I think it’s an argument?

F: Then you could say: ‘the author argues’.

M: What if I don’t agree with the author?

F: We have found that writers often use the word ‘claim’. That is the author claims that is true, but it isn’t.

M: What about the evaluation? How do I do that?

F: In evaluation, you express your own opinion. Why you think the research is important, interesting, problematic, whatever you think. Try to evaluate only the key points of the summary. Don’t summarize again. Only discuss what you have already summarized. The important thing to remember is that in the first part of the summary, all the information belongs to the author. Why you have to use the name of the author. In this evaluation, everything you write belongs to you, since there is no attribution, so you don’t have to use any names or pronouns. If there is no attribution, it is your idea.

M: Right! Now I just have to find a topic for this paper. 

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In the annotative bibliography, I have to first conclude the main idea and key points of the author. Then write some evaluation about the article. The introduction portion, we have to first write a description sentence about a overall review of the article. Then provide some highly summarized informative sentences about the opinions presented by the author. In the evaluation part, we have to express our own opinion towards either the issue or the author's point of view.