utsa, comp 1, guide, writing project 3, annotated biblliography

1. Writing Project 3 is a short proposal and
annotated bibliography that will tell me
about the argument in your field that
you are investigating for writing project
three. There are a number of steps to
completing this project.
• Find a topic
• Research the topic
• Write the proposal
• Write the annotated
bibliography
• And, of course, submit the
project on Blackboard

2. Choosing a topic
When you get to college you find out
that what you thought was a repository
of the world’s knowledge, is actually a
hot bed of debate, full of arguments
that shift over time.
You must find such an argument for
your paper. I’m talking about
academic arguments, that happen, for
the most part, quietly and politely, but
are still disputes, nonetheless. In this
case you are looking for arguments on
the role of technology in your field of
interest.

3. Here are three suggestions for finding an interesting
argument:
1. Pay attention to class lectures and textbook readings. They
often focus on the debates, or at least point you at the
debaters.
2. Ask a professor, a professional in your field, a research librarian
or an older student about what’s raging in your field.
3. Google Blogs is a search engine dedicated to blogs. Look for
professional blogs by people in your field. More than likely, they
have something to say on these issues.

4. I am requiring the following minimum
sources for this research paper.
At least two book resources authored
by credible, credentialed sources.
They can be print or electronic.
At least two peer reviewed, academic
sources obtained through the library
databases.
Two other credentialed sources.
YouTube or other videos must be
subjected to the same scrutiny as print
sources. That is also true of any web
sources. They must be qualified to
speak on this topic.

5. Researching the topic
Research often happens in phases. You
may want to splash around in the
shallow end of the web to get ideas.
There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s
an important exploratory phase.
But to get where we’re going, we need
to get in the deep end. That means
using the library resources we’ve been
looking at. I’m asking for the following
sources:

6. Writing the Proposal
The proposal needs to have these three essential parts:
• An overview of the problem.
• The question or questions you wish to investigate
• Your methodology
See the presentation on writing a 1013 proposal and
annotated bibliography.

7. Writing the Annotated
Bibliography
You will need to rate and defend your sources. So,
each annotation should do three things:
• Summarize the material you are taking from
this source.
• Show how this advances your work on your
working hypothesis.
• Evaluate the credibility of your source.

8. Submitting the Writing Project
Just as a formal paper, the proposal
and bibliography should be
formatted to MLA or APA standards.
Don’t carelessly lose points by
neglecting to check your handbook.
It should be in one document
submitted as an attachment in the
assignment dropbox. It must be in a
version of word so that I can open,
comment, and grade it right on
Blackboard. No other kind of
submission will be accepted.

9. This project will be
graded by a rubric.
Please download the
rubric which comes
with the assignment
and use it to prepare
your work.