Annotated Bibliography s5

Annotated Bibliography

For this Research Paper, you are to find 4-6 sources. Find those sources, and then put them in the form of an MLA reference (like you would see in your works cited). Then you will add in your annotation.

An annotated bibliography is a citation (MLA format) of a source, followed by a brief description and evaluation of the book or article.

Example:

Darling, Nancy. “Peer Pressure is Not Peer Influence.” Principal. Sept./Oct. 2002: 67-69. MLA Darling, a professor of education at Bard College, writes that adolescents are most often citation influenced not by what their friends do or say, but how they think their friends will react to a situation. Schools can use this information to redirect peer influence towards a more positive course. By providing positive information, involving all students, and grouping students differently, schools can provide opportunities to reinforce positive values. This idea of adolescent positive peer influence is a timely theory and strongly supports the theme of my paper

What to put in the annotation: Annotation Information: A summary of your findings Evaluation: What did you think of it, how will it help your topic Comparison: How did it compare to other books/articles Authority: The background of the author

Annotated bibliographies are not difficult; just remember it is an organized list of the sources you’ve used, each of which is followed by a brief note – the annotation.

See below for an example of how your annotated bibliography should look: Sandi Greene Prof. Fitzmaurice ENG 500 Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Baym, Nina. The Scarlet Letter: A Reading. Twayne Publishers: Boston, 1986.

Baym discusses the impact of Hawthorne’s famous work, its approach toward tragedy, structure, dynamics, psychology, symbolism, allegory and a number of other themes and ideas. The author also offers a review of previous critical responses to the book. The chapter on characters contains vital information on Hester and the themes chapter has a section on women and society. The book also discusses Hester as a heroine and what makes her a heroine.

Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Office of The Scarlet Letter. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 1991.

This book is an in-depth analysis and interpretation of The Scarlet Letter. While the book tends to focus on ideology, interpretation, and criticism, the author does offer some insight into Hester and her individualism. A contributing book to the subject, but not something I will use much of for my paper.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Chelsea House Publishers: New York, 1986.

A number of scholars and critics look at Puritan society, Hawthorne, and Ann Hutchinson. The book opens up with an introductory essay by Bloom. It also contains a thorough chronology, bibliography, and index. I am most interested in the information on Hester and I am also curious at seeing how Ann Hutchinson relates to Hester themes. The book adds information about Hester’s relationship with Pearl and her relationship with the Puritan community.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Chelsea House Publishers: New York, 1986.

While the other text focuses on interpretations of The Scarlet Letter, this compilation focuses on views of Hawthorne. There are a quite a few more essays and they discuss elements in Hawthorne novels in relation to Puritans, literary tradition, love, language, art, and victimization. Only one essay specifically focuses on The Scarlet Letter, but other authors touch on it in various ways. The one central essay on the book discusses rituals, Hester’s psyche, and interpretations on what Hawthorne was attempting to say through Hester.

Brackett, Virginia. Classic Love and Romance Literature: An Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes. ABC-CLIO, Inc.: Santa Barbara, CA, 1999. This encyclopedia contains a number of topics including people, places, names, and things dealing with the Romantic time period. The amount of information, however, for each one is limited; perhaps because there is only one volume. Topics related to this paper found in the encyclopedia include Byronic Hero, Jane Eyre, Rhett Butler, Don Juan, Bronte, Heathcliff, and Gothic tradition.

Colacurcio, Michael J., ed. New Essays on The Scarlet Letter. Cambridge University Press: New York, 1985.

While not “new” today, almost 15 years ago this author created a compilation by various writers on the subject of The Scarlet Letter. Some of the authors focus on Hawthorne or the geographic area and time. A couple of the authors, however, focus on feminism, sex, and adultery. There are only five essays, but the ones on feminism and Hester will somewhat aid my paper.

Leone, Bruno, ed. Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne. Greenhaven Press: San Diego, 1996.

While this is also a compilation of essays on Hawthorne and his works, there are many more and a better variety of subjects. While many of the essays focus on Hawthorne’s views and themes, a few focus on specific works and interpretations. There is some information scattered here and there on Hester as a hero, sinner, and victim. There is also discussion on symbolism, allegorical elements, morality, Pearl, Chillingworth, imagery, and Dimmesdale.

McFarland Pennell, Melissa. Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Greenwood Press: Westport, CT, 1999.

McFaland’s book explains on an elementary level the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his works. Her chapter on The Scarlet Letter discusses the Custom-House, setting, plot, structure, characters, themes, symbols, historical context, and feminist criticism. The most important information for my paper will be the section on characters and on feminist criticism. She talks a lot about Hester and about Hester as a heroine. She also discusses the book in light of feminist criticism, which is key because I would like to look at the idea of Hester as a Byronic Hero in terms of various criticisms and interpretations.

Railo, Eino. The Haunted Castle: A Study of the Elements of English Romanticism. Humanities Press: New York, 1964.

This older, yet lengthy book contains a number of studies on the Romantic age. The author covers subjects such as themes, people, the haunted castle, ghosts, incest, eroticism, heroes and heroines, terror, and the Byronic Hero. In his chapter on the Byronic Hero, the author focuses on The Castle of Ontranto, Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott, Rokeby, Byron, and other selected poetry. It is somewhat disappointing that he mainly deals with the Byronic Hero in terms of poetry, but he does give glimpses of what the Byronic Hero is and what he stands for.

Swisher, Clarice. Understanding The Scarlet Letter. Lucent Books: Maine, 2003. A rather elementary level, this book would be good for high school or undergraduate students. It contains historical information on Hawthorne and the historical background of The Scarlet Letter. It also has discussions on the plot and characters and finally ends with a literary analysis. The book uses illustrations from the 1995 film version with Demi Moore. There is some general information on Hester, but for the level of this paper, this book will probably not contain enough in-depth analysis for what I am looking for.

Thorslev, Peter L., Jr. The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, 1962.

This rare book contains a wealth of information on the idea of the Byronic Hero. While the author focuses mainly on the works of Lord Byron, he also covers a number of other works and subjects. Some of the key elements in the book are what the author believes the descriptions of the Byronic Hero are and are not. The author disagrees with other scholars about certain characteristics attributed to the Byronic Hero and backs up his disagreements with what he believes are textual evidences. Besides looking at the Byronic Hero, the author also looks at characteristics of eighteenth century hero types and Romantic period hero types.