The purpose of this final paper is to help you demonstrate the ability to write a unified, well-organized essay with a clear thesis and persuasive support which implements university-level sources–and that uses accurate MLA documentation formatting, and reveals no serious grammar errors. These tasks, which are listed as English 101 Student Learning Outcomes, should be easy to accomplish by the end of the semester. Many resources will be provided on the Weekly Outline, and our college librarian, Julie Cornett, will help with research and documentation strategies. Your Reference/Research Paper will be assessed by a rubric, with a focus on how well you successfully demonstrate the above tasks, and satisfy the paper requirements listed below.

This 150-point, 2250- to 2500-word assignment is called a Reference/Research Paper because you are being given a list of different sources, and are required to use 2 of those sources. (In other words, you will “reference” 2 of the listed sources.) Additionally, you will then conduct additional research on your topic of choice (see short list of 4 topics below), and will end up using 5 – 7 sources altogether in your paper. Do not count your Works Cited entries as part of the word requirement.

In addition to providing you with resources, I will also provide guidelines for developing Works Cited entries for those sources: Our college librarian will be helping you with researching and documenting strategies. Throughout the development of your paper, you should consult a librarian for appropriate ways to cite material in the body of your text, as well as how to develop Works Cited entries. Additionally, I’ll provide quite a few lecture and source material links on the Weekly Outline, plus Sample Reference/Research Papers & Annotated Bibliographies. We’ll also have several weeks to discuss this assignment, as well as the Annotated Bibliography assignment.

In addition to working with outside sources, you will also be discussing Walden itself in your paper, and will provide some quotations (and paraphrases) from the novel. You also will integrate some information on Thoreau’s life (some biographical information)–as well as some other useful information related to the time in which he wrote Walden. ALL students will cite information from the following article, but students also can integrate information from other biographical sources:***Harding, Walter. “Henry David Thoreau.” The American Renaissance in New England. Ed. Joel Myerson. Detroit: Gale, 1978. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 1. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Choose one topic:
Environmental/Ecological Concerns: If you decide to work with this topic, you must choose one of the below articles as a source for your information. (You can use all of them if you want.) In addition to working with one of these sources, as well as the biographical article listed above, you can integrate any other useful sources on the topic—including ones that do not mention Thoreau or Walden. In the body of your paper, you also will integrate some choice quotations and paraphrases from Walden. DO NOT count Walden as one of your 5 – 7 sources, but do include it on your Works Cited when you submit your final paper in Week Fifteen.

Saunders, Judith P. “Biophilia in Thoreau’s Walden.” South Atlantic Review 79.1-2 (2014): 1+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Brooker, Ira. “Giving the game away: Thoreau’s intellectual imperialism and the marketing of Walden pond.” The Midwest Quarterly 45.2 (2004): 137+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Foster, David R.. “Thoreau’s Country: A Historical–ecological Perspective on Conservation in the New England Landscape”. Journal of Biogeography 29.10/11 (2002): 1537–1555. JSTOR. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

“Citizen Science Takes Root.” Kayri Havens and Sandra Henderson. Source: American Scientist. Sep/Oct 2013

Dietary and General Health Advice/Arguments: If you decide to work with this topic, you must choose one of the below articles as a source for your information. (You can use all of them if you want.) In addition to working with one of these sources, as well as the biographical article listed above, you can integrate any other useful sources on the topic—including ones that do not mention Thoreau or Walden. In the body of your paper, you also will integrate some choice quotations and paraphrases from Walden. DO NOT count Walden as one of your 5 – 7 sources, but do include it on your Works Cited when you submit your final paper in Week Fifteen.

Talley, Sharon. “Thoreau’s taste for the wild in Cape Cod.” Nineteenth-Century Prose 31.1 (2004): 82+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Neely, Michelle C. “Embodied Politics: Antebellum Vegetarianism And The Dietary Economy Of Walden.” American Literature 85.1 (2013): 33-60. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Altherr, Thomas L.. “”Chaplain to the Hunters”: Henry David Thoreau’s Ambivalence Toward Hunting”. American Literature 56.3 (1984): 345–361. JSTOR. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

“Embodied Politics: Antebellum Vegetarianism and the Dietary Economy of Walden.” Michelle C. Neely.

Sustainability Movements: If you decide to work with this topic, you must choose one of the below articles as a source for your information. (You can use all of them if you want.) In addition to working with one of these sources, as well as the biographical article listed above, you can integrate any other useful sources on the topic—including ones that do not mention Thoreau or Walden. In the body of your paper, you also will integrate some choice quotations and paraphrases from Walden. DO NOT count Walden as one of your 5 – 7 sources, but do include it on your Works Cited when you submit your final paper in Week Fifteen.

Cummings, Robert. “Thoreau’s divide: rediscovering the environmentalist/agriculturalist debate in Walden’s ‘Baker Farm’.” Nineteenth-Century Prose 31.2 (2004): 206+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Gardner, Marilyn. “Did Thoreau have it right as a model non-consumer?” Christian Science Monitor 23 Feb. 2000: 18. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Kolleeny, Jane F. “Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Evokes Thoreau’s Simple Cabin In The Woods With Rolling Huts In Rural Montana.” Architectural Record 196.4 (2008): 51. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Philosophical Questions: If you decide to work with this topic, you must choose one of the below articles as a source for your information. (You can use all of them if you want.) In addition to working with one of these sources, as well as the biographical article listed above, you can integrate any other useful sources on the topic—including ones that do not mention Thoreau or Walden. In the body of your paper, you also will integrate some choice quotations and paraphrases from Walden. DO NOT count Walden as one of your 5 – 7 sources, but do include it on your Works Cited when you submit your final paper in Week Fifteen.

Madison, Charles A.. “Henry David Thoreau: Transcendental Individualist”. Ethics 54.2 (1944): 110–123. JSTOR. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Box, Ian. “A Taste For The Wild: Some Nietzschean Themes In Thoreau.” Canadian Review Of American Studies 32.2 (2002): 165. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Winner, Lauren F. “The sage of Walden Pond: ‘I should not talk so much about myself if there were any body else whom I knew as well.’.” Books & Culture July-Aug. 2004: 14+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

“Inspired By Monks, A Writer Embraces His Life Of Solitude.” Fresh Air 12 Mar. 2015. Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. An NPR interview with Fenton Johnson, author of “Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey.”
Dietary and General Health Advice/Arguments: You should not have any trouble finding Thoreau’s comments on this topic, and then would be able to develop an excellent paper on this topic—with reference to some of Thoreau’s comments.

Sustainability Movements: With a rise in sustainability movements, Thoreau’s ideas have been “revisited” because of his emphasis on sustainability and living simply. As with the first 2 topic choices, you should be able to find some choice quotations and comments in the novel to tie in with your own paper.

Philosophical Questions regarding living a life of action versus one of contemplation. Ideas regarding the spiritual benefits of living close to nature is a related topic: While Thoreau has much to say on these questions, I am not certain these topic will be as easy to pursue as the other 3 topics.

Annotated Bibliography due April 30th Description English 101 Annotated Bibliography Assignment:

An Annotated Bibliography is a list of works explored for a research project, with each entry containing brief descriptive and evaluative paragraphs (1 or 2; approximately 250 words total), called the annotation. Annotations should describe the content (focus) of the item, evaluate the credibility of the item, and explain the usefulness of the item to your research project.

Your Annotated Bibliography needs to contain 4 entries; you will receive a maximum of 10 points for each entry, and will lose points for an incomplete or inadequate Annotated Bibliography. At least one of these sources must be an article found in one of the college’s Learning Resource Center’s databases. See the Reference/Research Project description for a list of some Library articles. (There are many, though.)

DO NOT include the biographical article by Harding for this Annotated Bibliography assignment: You need 4 other sources.

NO late Annotated Bibliographies will be accepted; Annotated Bibliographies will not be scored if you forget to submit a copy to Turnitn.com. I will not submit files for students this time, so make sure you don’t forget to do so.

Note: Henry David Thoreau’s novel Walden is not one of the sources for your research (your project is in response to his novel). Do not include Walden in your Annotated Bibliography –just resources conducted for your project’s research.

(I thank several colleagues for much of the below information.)

The purpose of the annotation is to inform readers of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources explored. An Annotated Bibliography does two important things. First, it gives a bibliographical list of sources. Second, it provides brief descriptive, critical statements of each source. These statements, called the annotations, will be approximately 250 words long. These statements do not just summarize the source. They describe the focus of the work: what the source is about, and what readership it was designed for. They evaluate the credibility of the source: how viable, accurate, current, and scholarly the work is. And they explain the usefulness of the item to the project: In what way it was or was not helpful to your research focus.

How is an Annotated Bibliography different from a Works Cited page?

First, the Annotated Bibliography contains the annotation. So it both provides publication information of the source, like a typical Works Cited entry, and also gives the descriptive, critical statements of the annotation. Secondly, the Annotated Bibliography can provide sources seriously consulted for the research project (but ultimately not used), whereas the Works Cited page lists only those sources actually cited in the paper. (In other words, your Annotated Bibliography might have entries of sources you end up not using in your final paper, and, therefore, will not appear on the Works Cited page submitted with your Research Project.)

Think of the purpose of the Annotated Bibliography. If the idea is that readers get some knowledge about the viability and usefulness of sources, then it makes complete sense that they would be just as interested in why some sources are applicable to your project and why others are not. Obviously, if you do not seriously consider a source, you would not annotate it and put it on your list. If all you do is look up a title and reject it, for example, or read the first paragraph and realize it’s not a happening source for you, you would not include it. Annotations presuppose some degree of familiarity with the source beyond the opening words.

The Process

1. First, do the research: locate books, periodicals, electronic sources, and other documents that contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Keep bibliographical information on all the sources you consult. As you get more and more into your project, you will discover the sources that you will put on the annotated bibliography and those that you will specifically cite in the paper.

2. Second, to write the annotated bibliography, begin by writing a correct Works Cited entry for each book, article, and other document.

3. Next, write a concise annotation that includes one or more sentences that

a. present the focus, argument, or perspective from which the author(s) approaches the subject as well as comment on the intended audience. For example,

1. “This book is part of a multi-volume biography for a general audience and covers Hemingway’s life from 1921-1927. In the preface the author specifically says his goal is not to ‘analyze this well-examined life’ but ‘to recreate it.’”

2. “Bettelheim approaches the fairy tales from a Freudian standpoint, suggesting that fairy tales offer children a way to deal with problems that they may only understand subconsciously. It is written for a general audience.”

b. explain how this work is useful to or illuminates your topic:

1. “Since the material is ‘recreated’ it reads more like a novel and is therefore useful in giving access to Hemingway’s emotions.”

2. “Altogether this is a very clear and detailed explanation how Cinderella helps children cope with feelings of sibling rivalry.”

c. and evaluate the source’s credibility based on such factors as the authority or background of the author, currency, objectivity, strength of the reasoning, or any other factor you feel is appropriate:

1. “This is a well-documented critical biography written by a leading Hemingway scholar in the field; less gossipy than the book by Griffin.”

2. “Since I don’t agree with Freudian psychoanalytic theories and since they have been generally discredited in recent years, the book has limited usefulness.”

Annotations must be informative. Phrases such as “an interesting piece,” “a good article,” or “well-done” are not useful. Why is it interesting? What is good about it? How much and what kind of information does it contain that makes it well done?

In format, the Annotated Bibliography entry is formatted as a hanging-indented paragraph. The first line is against the left margin, all other lines indented a half-inch. Lines are double-spaced.