Beryl Pittman, Academic Writing 2023

Assignment 3:  Thesis Statement + Annotated Bibliography (Individual,15% of final grade)

Due:  Nov 6 23.00 EET, Assignments

 

This assignment has two components:  the thesis statement/answers and the annotated bibliography. 

 

Why this matters: You’ve taken some important baby steps – learning brainstorm, to lay out your own opinions, to summarize, to analyze, and to use databases.  You’ve been busy! Now it’s time to take a bigger step:  deciding upon your thesis statement and beginning your research in earnest.  That being said, this is still not the time to fall in love with your thesis statement.  It will evolve as you refine your focus.

Before you start: You were on the right track with your essay; it's time to drill deeper now and to bring in the voice of others. 

Think about industry sectors such as health care, telecom, consumer goods, consumer services, oil & gas, tech, finance, utilities, and materials.  Each of these sectors can be broken down into many specific business areas.  Think about what you've already learned about/formed an opinion on related to Artificial Intelligence and business.  Look at some of the videos under Course Reading/Watching, set aside a couple of hour for a documentary, do some web searches (knowing that your sources for this deliverable will need to be scholarly).

 A couple of things to remember:

·         A topic is very broad and may be simply informative.  You may consider lots of topics of interest and value, but you need to narrow them down in order to come up with a thesis statement.

·         Your thesis statement needs to take a stand; you need to take a position; you are being persuasive, not informative; your statement needs an argumentative edge.

·         This argument needs to matter; it needs substance.  Make sure it passes the “so what” test.

·         Include a word/phrase such as “ought” or “should” or "must" or “needs to” in the CLAIM part of your thesis statement.  And then the second part of the statement provides the REASON, so try including the word “because.”  CLAIM + REASON = THESIS STATEMENT. This isn’t the only way to write a strong thesis statement, but it’s a safe one. 

·         Later, we’ll likely add a “roadmap” to your thesis statement – a preview of main points that will help the reader stay oriented throughout your argument. That should be easy if your REASON includes three main points.

By the time you're working on this assignment, you will have posted a provisional TS in a forum and received feedback from several classmates.  Take another look at their suggestions.

Remember that your thesis statement will evolve as you do research and refine your ideas.

 For the  November 6 deliverable, write your thesis statement at the top of the page and answer these questions:

1.        Why did you choose this thesis?  What topics/theses did you consider but reject?

2.       How is your thesis related to AI in some area of business?

3.       What do you already know about this area, and what do you hope to learn that will help you make your argument.

You do not have to write these answers in essay form.  Just write your proposed thesis statement and answer each question.  It should be easy for me to tell which question you’re answering.

Annotated bibliography:  Don’t let the fancy name intimidate you.  An “annotated bibliography” is simply a formal document that’s the same as what you’d be doing anyway:  recording citation information and describing what the piece is about and analyzing how you might be able to use it.

 

An annotated bibliography helps you to learn more about your topic and it also helps other researchers by consolidating important information that’s been published about a topic (Purdue OWL). 

 

Before you invest precious time in preparing an entry for your annotated bib, evaluate the source, as explained by Purdue University’s OWL and by Jaana’s presentation.  Remember that you’ll likely need to skim/evaluate quite a few sources before you find the ones that will work best for you and, in the case of this assignment, provide the required five solid entries.

 You may or may not use these same sources in the bibliography of your persuasive report.  But either way, you’ll very likely need to skim far more than five sources in order to get the six that you use for this assignment.  And you will most definitely need to look at many sources before you find the right ones for your argument in the academic report itself.

 How many: Again, the minimum requirement is five annotations from scholarly sources.  And the idea is to choose sources that, to the best of your knowledge at this point, have the potential to be useful.

 What to do: For each entry, first attribute the source according to the proper citation format according to the Harvard Citation System.  Then provide

·         2-3 sentences to summarize the piece,

·         2-3 sentences to analyze it, and

·         2-3 sentences to reflect on how you might use the source.

Here’s a sample from Purdue OWL:

 Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books, 1995. Print.

Summary:  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.

Analysis:  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.

Reflection:  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.

Note that this sample is formatted according to the MLA citation style. You will use the Harvard.

Format:  ~5 pages (max), Arial 12. 1.5 line spacing within paragraphs; justified left, ragged right.  Default margins in MS Word.

Follow the Harvard Citation guidelines for the bibliographic info.  Alphabetize your entire list by the first word in the bibliographic entry. Call this section “Reference List.” 

You do not need an intro or conclusion.

Evaluative criteria:  Thesis must be meaningful and argumentative. Thoughtful, thorough answers to questions.  Easy to read in terms of style, usage, and correctness. Correctness of citations.  Formatting of list.  Thorough but concise summary; meaningful but concise analysis. Clear distinction between summary, analysis, and reflection.

 

Material adapted from the Norton Field Guide to Writing, 3rd ed. Richard Bullock, 2013.



Last modified: Friday, 3 November 2023, 2:19 PM