1. Literary Research

2. The Research Question
The key to a good paper, will start with your research question. This question needs to be specific. You should have already honed in on a question with your research proposal.
How is the role of the governess and Victorian ideals of femininity challenged by Jane in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre?
What is a woman in the Victorian period?
Which question is more specific, therefore, easier to research????

3. One section of your paper is your original critique of the text(s) you have selected by your assigned author.
The second section of your paper is devoted to presenting critical materials and analyzing them.
BOTH SECTIONS SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SAME RESEARCH QUESTION (topic).
EX: First part of your paper analyzes Jane as a subversive governess. Then, you provide research materials and continue this discussion in the second half of your paper.
REMINDERS

4. Research Requirements
four critical, academic articles
one biographical piece
one historical information piece (background on the issues of the era)
only one Literary Reference Center summary/evaluation
Wikipedia is not an academically recognized research site
= 7 sources in total, plus your selected text
TOTAL: 8 sources should be featured in your annotated bibliography.

5. The Annotated Bibliography
...is actually quite simple. It’s finding the sources and reading them, that takes time.
You literally arrange all source citations JUST like you would do for a works cited page. DO THAT FIRST.
Then, underneath each citation, you provide 1-3 paragraph(s) explaining how the selected text will aide in the discussion of your research question. Use quotes and do not exceed one page per citation. The paragraphs are fully left justified .5” in from the margin (that means 1.5” for the very edge of your paper).

6. So. you want to see an example. Yes, I copied this from the internet
So... you want to see an example? Yes, I copied this from the internet. The only difference is that you will use quotes when necessary.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1995.
Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one's own internal critic. In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun.
Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.
Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students' own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott's style both engaging and enjoyable.

7. MLA Reminders
All other aspects of the annotated bibliography are EXACTLY the same as if you were writing a paper:
12 pt., Times New Roman Font
1” margins
Header (Last Name pg#). example: (Winter 5)
Heading:
Your Name
My Name
Class Title
Date
Double spaced

8. Links
MLA Style Guide
Annotated Bibliography Samples. Make sure you look at MLA.
Your most useful tools for locating literary criticism are:
Gale Literary Sources
Literature Resource Center
Password: cougar
*allow these to interface with your Google Drive and save citations in MLA format, so you don’t even have to do it.