Instructions on the Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is formatted the same as any other bibliography in MLA format, save that below each citation there is a short annotation, or blurb, that explains what the source is about and how effectively that source supports the thesis you have created.

Below, I have put together a sample annotated bibliography of some of the most common sources you will use, where all the sources and their annotations are fictional:

Ebonics: The New American English and Where It Is Headed
Annotated Bibliography

Thesis Statement: The common language of American society is gradually moving from the accepted homogeneous diction of what has heretofore been known as Modern Standard to a more heterogeneous admixture of the many different existing Englishes.

Books:

1) Jamison, Jack. Linguistic Devolution. Chicago: Halfcourt Blaze, 1999.

This book deals with Jamison’s extension of Chomsky’s theories concerning transgenerative grammar, and asserts that all language is becoming more accessible to modern society as a result of mass media in all its forms.

2) Rainey, Tim and Ingrid Tingley. What Up, G? East St. Louis: Homeboy Press, 1998.

This book explores the influence of black English on mainstream American dialect, with a definite bias against the further spread of non-standard English in a society that must rely on Modern Standard in its daily dealings with the world.

3.  Johnson, Jeff, Chad Elmore, and Tim Brown. Language be what I speak. New York: Sun Publishing, 1999.

This book asserts that any study of black English conducted by white linguists should be discredited on the basis of the unreliability of the linguists to record their observations without relying on the preconceptions regarding Ebonics already inherent within the philosophies of whites.

Anthologies:

1. Olson, Nelly.  "Why ain' nobody done moved to Little House sin' Laura Ingalls done lef'." Pickwick and Poke.  Ed. by Eric Sivertson, Chalna Trawick, and   Rhonda Redwine.  Tyler, Texas: REL University Press, 2010: 134-153.

This article is about how there was only one episode of Little House on the Prairie wherein a black man was introduced, and that there was therefore probably no way the dialect of that small town could have been influenced by Ebonics.

2. Wheat, Buck.  "My days with the Little Rascals dint none 'pare me fo' dis."  Pickwick and Poke.  Ed. by Eric Sivertson, Chalna Trawick, and   Rhonda Redwine.  Tyler, Texas: REL University Press, 2010: 216-19.

This essay, written by one of the all-time greatest stars of kid's television, explains the abuse Mr. Buck Wheat underwent in coping with his linguistic difficulties on national television.

Magazines and Periodicals:

1. Johns, Amy. "Blackspeak: The Fast Way to Get Hip With Your Man." Metropolitan 10 December 1997: 56-8.

This article seeks to demonstrate that by digressing into Ebonic forms of communication, it is possible for any woman to improve her sex life with her man.

2. Brenner, Taryn and Nicole Meyer. "Be-bonics: The Phonix of Bonix." Teaching Quarterly 9 (1998): 61-92.

This study demonstrates the wide reverberations still inherent within the linguistic community over the recent proposal to consider black English as a separate and distinct language, where both authors share contending viewpoints derived from their inter-racial marriages.

Newspapers:

Cobillas, Anthony. "The Great American Melting Pot just burned the Soup!" San Antonio Telegraph 13 January 1998, 1A+.

This article explains that as the use of Tex-Mex has long been an accepted Texan dialect, it is no major leap to consider "Ebonglish" an emerging dialect amongst America’s young middle-class.

Bulletins or Pamphlets:

Amor Vincit Omnia, Baby: The Power of Positive Hand-holding.   The Happy-Go-Lucky Institute.  1997.

The author of this pamphlet argues that it matters not what language one speaks or out of which culture one comes, but that if we all just held hands and sang the praises of sweet Jesus, be it "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," or "Kyrie Eleison," everything little thing would be alright.

Interviews:

Dillard, J. L. Personal interview. 1 Jan. 1998.

Dillard, the founder of the modern Ebonics movement, asserts that it was only through the analysis of consistent linguistic patterns in the structure of black English that it was possible to refute centuries of misconceptions about Ebonics being merely an ungrammatical and bastardized British dialect.

Notice the title of the essay and the thesis statement both appear at the top of the annotated bibliography. The reason for this is to help the instructor in his review of the sources and their relevance to the thesis statement. The instructor can expeditiously read that thesis and check it against each of the annotations to determine whether the source is relevant to the point the writer is trying to make.

Important note: Depending upon the size of your screen, you may have difficulty catching the format of that citation.  The first line of the citation is flush with the left margin.   The second line (and any others that follow) will be tabbed over one tab space.   The annotations may be flush with the left margin, but leave a space between the citation and the annotation.

You will be responsible for creating an annotated bibliography of your own to submit with your 3-4 page essay.  Since all of the sources you will be using come from an anthology, see above how to cite that.  On the bib sheet you submit, place each source in alphabetical order in the correct form, and follow each one up with an annotation that tells me in your own words how you feel that source is important to your thesis.

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