South Pacific: in Fiction, Film, and Culture

Bruce Harvey

Fall 2009

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: DUE OCT. 13 (more or less) VIA EMAIL

List 6-10 significant scholarly secondary works (essays or books), relevant to your research paper.

In a short paragraph, summarize the contents of each, especially in relation to your project.  The goal is to skim/read the articles or books at this stage, not necessarily to master their arguments.  I.e. to learn how to assess quickly and efficiently the merits of a research resource (this is not the same as evaluating the quality per se of the secondary source… you’ll be doing that in the book review down-the-road).

The annotated bibliography should be about a page long, single-spaced.

You may find scholarly books and articles either at FIU or other public/university libraries, or through electronic databases, especially JSTOR and ProjectMuse.  Google's "Books" and "Scholar" engines are also helpful, although entire books are seldom available.  Encyclopedia-style resources, online or in the library, do not qualify as serious scholarship. 

You should try to find materials on your own to develop your research skills, but if you're having troubles, let me know and I will assist.

I have a lot of stuff at home, both about Polynesia and theory in general.  Ask and you shall receive!

Use standard MLA bibliographic style/formatting (google MLA bibliography if you are not familiar with this style; or simply see how one of your scholarly books lists its Bibliography or Works Cited page). 

I will provide little feedback other than a letter grade: "A"=complete (6-10 listings) and correct bibliographical format and lucid writing; "B"=good faith effort apparent, but some glitches in phrasing; "C"=half-hearted, less than six listings, and sloppy prose; "D"=less than four listings and listings don't seen very relevant to your topic along with poor prose; "F"=not submitted.