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🏆CGI 3D Animated Short Film🏆: "Dia De Los Muertos" - by Team Whoo Kazoo + Ringling | TheCGBros

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Día de los Muertos is celebrated across Mexico with skulls, skeletons, and graveside visits-but what does this beloved holiday really represent?

Hector Colin brings marigolds to decorate the graveyard in Carpinteros, Mexico, for Day of the Dead. Celebrated each year on November 1 and 2, the holiday uses a blend of pre-Columbian and Spanish traditions to honor deceased family members.

Photograph by Jaime Rojo, National Geographic

Here's one thing we know: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is not a Mexican version of Halloween.

Though related, the two annual events differ greatly in traditions and tone. While Halloween embraces terror and mischief on the last night of October, Day of the Dead festivities unfold over the first two days of November in an explosion of color and life-affirming joy. Sure, the theme is death, but the point is to demonstrate love and respect for deceased family members. In towns and cities throughout Mexico, revelers don funky makeup and costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to lost loved ones.

The rituals are rife with symbolic meaning. The more you understand about this feast for the senses, the more you will appreciate it. Here are 10 essential things you should know about Mexico's most vibrant annual event.

Day of the Dead originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead disrespectful. For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a natural phase in life's long continuum. The dead were still members of the community, kept alive in memory and spirit-and during Día de los Muertos, they temporarily returned to Earth.

(Here are the best hotels to stay in to experience the Day of the Dead.)

Today's Día de los Muertos celebration is a mash-up of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Christian feasts. It takes place on November 1 and 2-All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the Catholic calendar-around the time of the fall corn harvest.

2. It has been recognized by UNESCO.

Cultural heritage is not just monuments and collections of objects. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says that cultural heritage also includes living expressions of culture-traditions-passed down from generation to generation.

In 2008, UNESCO recognized the importance of Día de los Muertos by adding the holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Today Mexicans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds celebrate the holiday. But at its core, Day of the Dead is a reaffirmation of Indigenous life.

3. Altars are an important tradition...

The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda, built in private homes and cemeteries. These aren't altars for worshipping; rather, they're meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. As such, they're loaded with offerings-water to quench thirst after the long journey, food, family photos, and a candle for each dead relative. If one of the spirits is a child, you might find small toys on the altar.

Marigolds are the main flowers used to decorate the altar. Scattered from altar to gravesite, the golden petals guide wandering souls back to their place of rest. The smoke from copal incense, made from tree resin, transmits praise and prayers and purifies the area around the altar.

(Here's how marigolds became iconic symbols of the Day of the Dead.)

4. ...and so are literary calaveras...

Calavera means "skull." But during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, calavera was used to describe short, humorous poems, which were often sarcastic tombstone epitaphs published in newspapers that poked fun at the living. These literary calaveras eventually became a popular part of Día de los Muertos celebrations. Today the practice is alive and well. You'll find these clever, biting poems in print, read aloud, and broadcast on television and radio programs.

5. ...especially the calavera Catrina.

In the early 20th century, Mexican political cartoonist and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada created an etching to accompany a literary calavera. Posada dressed his personification of death in fancy French garb and called it Calavera Garbancera, intending it as social commentary on Mexican society's emulation of European sophistication. " Todos somos calaveras," a quote attributed to Posada, means "we are all skeletons." Underneath our human-made trappings, we are all the same.

In 1947 artist Diego Rivera featured Posada's stylized skeleton in his masterpiece mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park." Posada's skeletal bust was dressed in a large feminine hat, and Rivera made his female and named her Catrina, slang for "the rich." Today, the calavera Catrina, or elegant skull, is the Day of the Dead's most ubiquitous symbol. (Learn more about the dark history of the holiday's immortal icon.)

6. Families bring food to the dead.

You work up a mighty hunger and thirst traveling from the spirit world back to the realm of the living. At least that's the traditional belief in Mexico. Some families place their dead loved one's favorite meal on the altar. Other common offerings:

Pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, is a typical sweet bread (pan dulce), often featuring anise seeds and decorated with bones and skulls made from dough. The bones might be arranged in a circle, as in the circle of life. Tiny dough teardrops symbolize sorrow.

(Read more about pan de muerto.)

Sugar skulls are part of a sugar art tradition brought by 17th-century Italian missionaries. Pressed in molds and decorated with crystalline colors, they come in all sizes and levels of complexity.

Drinks to celebrate the holiday include pulque, a sweet fermented beverage made from the agave sap; atole, a thin warm porridge made from corn flour, with unrefined cane sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla added; and hot chocolate.

7. People dress in costumes.

Day of the Dead is an extremely social holiday that spills into streets and public squares at all hours of the day and night. Dressing up as skeletons is part of the fun. People of all ages have their faces artfully painted to resemble skulls, and, mimicking the calavera Catrina, they don suits and fancy dresses. Many revelers wear shells or other noisemakers to amp up the excitement-and also possibly to rouse the dead and keep them close during the festivities.

8. Streets are decorated in papel picado.

You've probably seen this beautiful Mexican paper craft plenty of times in Mexican restaurants. The literal translation, pierced paper, perfectly describes how it's made. Artisans stack colored tissue paper in dozens of layers, then perforate the layers with hammer and chisel points. Papel picado isn't used exclusively during Day of the Dead, but it plays an important role in the holiday. Draped around altars and in the streets, the art represents the wind and the fragility of life.

(These Mexican paper crafts bring the party during Day of the Dead.)

9. Mexico City hosts an iconic parade.

Día de los Muertos is more popular than ever-in Mexico and, increasingly, abroad. For more than a dozen years, the New York-based nonprofit cultural organization Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders has staged the city's largest Day of the Dead celebration.

But the most authentic celebrations take place in Mexico. If you find yourself in Mexico City the weekend before Day of the Dead this year, make sure to stop by the grand parade where you can join in on live music, bike rides and other activities in celebration throughout the city.

10. Other communities celebrate in unique ways.

Countless communities in Mexico celebrate Day of the Dead, but styles and customs differ by area, depending on the region's predominant pre-Hispanic culture. Here are a few places that stand out for their colorful, moving celebrations:

Pátzcuaro: One of the most poignant Day of the Dead celebrations takes place each year in Pátzcuaro, a municipality in the state of Michoacán about 225 miles west of Mexico City. Indigenous people from the countryside converge on the shores of Pátzcuaro Lake, where they pile into canoes, a single candle burning in each bow, and paddle over to a tiny island called Janitzio for an all-night vigil in the cemetery.

Mixquic: In this Mexico City suburb, bells from the historic Augustinian convent toll and community members bearing candles and flowers proceed to the local cemetery, where they clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones.

Tuxtepec: This small city in the northeastern part of Oaxaca state is best known for its sawdust rugs. For days, locals painstakingly arrange colored sawdust, flower petals, rice, pine needles, and other organic materials in elaborate, ruglike patterns on city streets. Traditionally made for important processions, Tuxtepec's sawdust rugs are judged in a contest held during Día de los Muertos.

Aguascalientes: Located roughly 140 miles north of Guadalajara, Aguascalientes-birthplace of engraver José Guadalupe Posada-stretches its Day of the Dead celebrations to nearly a week during its Festival de Calaveras (Festival of Skulls). The event culminates in a grand parade of skulls along Avenida Madero.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on October 26, 2017. It has been updated.

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Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead

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Día de los Muertos is celebrated across Mexico with skulls, skeletons, and graveside visits-but what does this beloved holiday really represent?

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Worth the read.

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The flipped classroom is considered by many teachers to be one of the most revolutionary developments in education in 50 years.

And Lisa Johnson-Bowers is one teacher who is a true believer. She wants all teachers to flip out.

A retired chemistry and physics teacher, Johnson-Bowers says the concept of the flipped classroom is one of her favorite topics and something she has been using and teaching for years.

The flipped classroom is often defined as "a model in which typical lecture and course homework elements are reversed." However, Johnson-Bowers calls that definition generic. She says teachers often flop the flip because they take the definition to heart.

"Flip teaching is about flipping Bloom's Taxonomy and not merely the lecture/homework concept," she says.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in cognitive, affective and sensory domains. Therefore the cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives, assessments and activities.

On the other hand, Johnson-Bowers breaks down why that is wrong with that approach.

"Here is how it goes: Take a concept that you are going to teach and break it down into the individual objectives. Then, categorize the objectives as easy or difficult to understand. The easy objectives are moved to the homework venue. The hard to understand concepts remain in the classroom where there is now ample time for the teacher to work one on one with the students. It's that simple."

Evolution of the flip

The trend toward the flipped classroom began with Colorado high school chemistry teacher Jonathan Bergmann. He created videos to teach the content given a high rate of absenteeism. Essentially, he was trying to solve a problem, not revolutionize the classroom. Meanwhile he created the videos to help catch his students up on missed work. The videos were successful.

This concept developed into a new teaching style for him and his colleague Aaron Sams. They created videos for each chapter. Then, they created a course guide. There was no more traditional lecturing. The students worked at their own pace. They watched the videos and completed practice problems, labs and tests on their own under supervision.

Above all, Bergmann decided to "flip" what students did in his classes, watching video lectures at home and doing exercises (homework) in class under supervision. He and Sams not only found that grades went up, they also found time for other types of activities, which Bergmann states is more important than the videos.

Moreover, the flip teaching movement has evolved into blended Learning. Therefore advancements in technology have given the teacher a new dimension with which to work.

"When we grew up, the teacher and librarian were the only sources of knowledge," Johnson-Bowers says. "Today, students can gain knowledge from anywhere. The role of the teacher has changed and they are now facilitators. The stress is placed more on helping students to learn how to problem solve; to learn what to do with the knowledge. The one-on-one process is very crucial."

Three-step process

Johnson-Bowers says the flip model essentially comes down to three steps.

Flip Teaching requires extensive planning. Moreover, the teacher must use the backward design approach and reflect on every single objective. What do the students need to know in order to complete the objective? Is this an easy concept to grasp or is it difficult? What background knowledge will the students need to have?

The assignments do not have to involve technology. The point of the outside assignment is that they are accomplishing the easy objectives so that the classroom time can be used more effectively. These assignments can be videos, of course. They can also be written assignments, research assignments, and simple read and take notes. The point of the outside assignment is for the student to construct knowledge to accomplish the simple objectives.

However, problems might arise. "Teachers who do not think and reflect through the process merely grab and create a video to teach the content and assign it for homework," Johnson-Bowers says. "Then, they do the same things in class that they have done for years. They assign practice problems. Teachers get frustrated because the students don't understand the practice problems because they either didn't watch the video or they didn't understand the content in it."

Why does the flip flop?

No doubt, common problems exist.

Generally speaking they are the following: Students don't understand the content in the video; teachers make the paradigm shift inside the classroom; students feel that teacher has stopped teaching; parents say the teacher is replaced by a video.

But Johnson-Bowers says all of these problems are fixed if Bloom's Taxonomy is flipped and if the teacher makes the cultural shift inside the classroom.

True story

Johnson-Bowers tells a story to provide an example of success.

"My last year was spent as an instructional coach in my district where I help teachers to infuse technology into their methods and to flip their classes," she says.

"I had the opportunity to work with a 4th-grade math teacher. She had the lowest state test scores in the district. We spent a couple of days re-designing the pieces of her lessons for an upcoming unit. We used the three-step process. The process was merely about rearranging the pieces of what she already used and about helping her make the paradigm shift in her mind.

"She had the highest scores in the district that year. I tell you that story as an example of what is possible. I didn't do anything but help show the teacher a new possibility. The teacher did all the work."

Click here to learn more about the flipped classroom course. (need course number)

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The flipped classroom: A revolutionary guide for teachers on the front lines

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The flipped classroom is considered by many teachers to be one of the most revolutionary developments in education in 50 years. And Lisa Johnson-Bowers is one teacher who is a true believer. She wants all teachers to flip out.

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I think we should all take this course next...

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READING, Pa. - Students at Penn State Berks are learning about a variety of cultures, in part by sampling international cuisine - all while earning credits. The special topics course, "Communication and Food Culture," taught by Cheryl Nicholas this fall semester, is helping students to explore the relationship between food and culture through the lens of communication.

"Food is an often taken-for-granted 'ordinary' component of culture, yet its influence in our lives surpasses its role as merely a sustenance-provider," writes Nicholas in her course description. "Our relationship with food is profound; from its relationship with identity and culture, to politics, nature, science, and history, food is a core ingredient in our lives in many ways."

As part of the Communication Arts and Sciences baccalaureate degree program, the course is actually a research methods course, explains Nicholas, associate professor of communication arts and sciences and global studies. The 20 students enrolled in the course are required to work in teams to complete research projects, which include exploring gas station food culture, perceptions of gluten-free diets, how food and sex are used in public discourse, representations of race and gender in popular Food Network programming and defining the role of the Philadelphia cheesesteak in that city's culture, just to name a few.

The course took students to students to Penang, a Malaysian restaurant in Philadelphia, and Awash Restaurant, an Ethiopian eatery in Lancaster. "Both excursions introduced students to the history and cultural worldviews that underscore food preparation, ingredients, and/or food rituals, customs, and behaviors," explained Nicholas.

A native of Malaysia, Nicholas explained that she chose the Malaysian restaurant because she thought their approach of incorporating both heating and cooling foods into a meal would be interesting to students. The Ethiopian restaurant was selected because of its communal eating approach in which patrons share dishes, using their hands rather than utensils.

Students also have the opportunity to visit food truck festivals on their own and write about how their experience relates to the topics discussed in class for extra credit.

Among the concepts explored in the course is that of "food tribes," a social group linked by a set of common values and beliefs that shape their food and lifestyle choices. Nicholas explains that food tribes are impacted by race, class and gender.

The course also explores how the media informs the public's eating habits and how social media and food are related, including the phenomena of people taking food photographs for social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Nicholas enjoys teaching special topics research methods courses. Past courses have focused on comic book culture and the LGBTQ community.

"I want to tap into the kinds of things students are excited about from an academic lens," states Nicholas.

She definitely gives her students food for thought.

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Communication and Food Culture course exposes Berks students to the world | Penn State University

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Students at Penn State Berks are learning about a variety of cultures, in part by sampling international cuisine -- all while earning credits. The special topics course "Communication and Food Culture," taught by Cheryl Nicholas this fall semester, is helping students to explore the relationship between food and culture through the lens of communication.

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Understanding Culture. Food as a Means of Communication

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We're going to share some advice about how to manage projects, at both the secondary and elementary levels. Projects have lots of moving parts, so we'll highlight a few key elements and share some best practices.

Launch your Project with an Entry Event

Rather than simply announce a project, we can generate interest by creating a special event that takes our class out of their routine, and lets them know something special is about to happen. Entry events should engage and intrigue, and provoke students to want to know more. We avoid pre-teaching important content, because we have not yet created that need to know. Entry events might be a field trip, a guest speaker, a video, a simulation or a piece of real or mock correspondence.

After the entry event, the students should have a need to know more. The entry event should provoke student questions. The goal is to grab the hearts and minds of your students. For lower elementary you may want more than one entry event to build their understanding. They need things to be more concrete.

Create Teams to do the Work

When creating project teams, four is often the best number. Groups of five may spread the work too thin. But groups of three can work also. In the elementary level at K to 2, you may have the whole class doing the project as a single team.

It is usually best to have heterogeneous groups, and the teacher should help set them up. Group students strategically, so they have the support they need to be successful. For example, you want to make sure that any students who are still learning English have someone who speaks their language in their group.

We often assign students special roles within a team, related to the real world jobs that would be required to complete the project. You can share information by gathering representatives from each team - such as all the researchers, or all the designers. This way you avoid taking time from the whole class, and it allows you to share information more efficiently.

Create a Project Wall

Hand out documents only as they are needed. You don't want to overwhelm students with instructions. It is a good idea to have a central place where the project documents are posted or stored. Nothing kills student enthusiasm at the start like dropping a huge project packet on their desks. You can avoid this by using a project wall - have just one copy of each key project document posted, and then students can find what they need when they need it.

In the elementary classroom, the project wall can also be used as a gathering place where we can go over what is needed. You can use post-it notes on your calendar - then they can be moved if the need arises.

You can also create a digital version of the project wall that students can access from home.

Entry Events, Day-to-Day Flow, Classroom Culture & More! Ready to take the plunge and launch your first project? Or perhaps you'd like to expand your existing repertoire of project implementation strategies or learn how to manage a project better? In this webinar, we take a look at various facets of project management, including: using entry events to stimulate interest and curiosity at the beginning of the project; the typical day-to-day flow of a project; creating the classroom culture conditions for PBL to flourish.

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We're going to share some advice about how to manage projects, at both the secondary and elementary levels. Projects have lots of moving parts, so we'll highlight a few key elements and share some best practices.

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Using Google Earth to virtually tour & learn about a country.

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Using Google Earth to virtually tour & learn about a country.

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https://www.google.com/earth/education/

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Google's Geo Tools aren't just about geography. You can use them to trace Marco Polo's journey through Asia, to explore the architecture of Barcelona, to measure how Alaska's glaciers have receded, or to analyze the habitat of the Cameroon grassland frog. Geospatial thinking has transformed our perceptions of the World around us, and how we address issues such as climate change on and the protection of wildlife.

Education is more than learning: It's a journey of discovery. Let's start exploring together.

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Google's Geo Tools aren't just about geography. You can use them to trace Marco Polo's journey through Asia, to explore the architecture of Barcelona, to measure how Alaska's glaciers have receded, or to analyze the habitat of the Cameroon grassland frog.

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This food blog is informative, easy to follow, and not too intimidating for students!

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July 21, 2016
PBL in the Mirror: Planning for Student Reflection

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Planning for Reflection in PBL)

Have you ever implemented a project, only to realize that students don't really understand the connections between their product, the process, and the key skills? Within our project design, reflection is a key element that helps us support students as they work to understand the why, what, and how of their learning within the project.

WHY should I plan for reflection?
By definition, reflection is serious thought and consideration about an idea or experience. In PBL classrooms, I've found the benefits of reflection are astounding! Students experience:

deepened learning, via

sharpened analytical skills and

integration of new knowledge with previous knowledge & experiences

Students who are able to explain why they are completing a task or why the activity is important to their final product are one step closer to the integration of new knowledge.

Upon WHAT should students reflect?
Reflection should be ongoing and throughout the project, not solely at the end once the project is complete. As project designers, we can anticipate many of students' "Need to Know" questions for the project, to inform our thinking about what students can reflect on. To anticipate the "Need to Know" questions consider:

What are the necessary questions students will need to pose?

Which content-based questions do you expect, knowing your students' skill sets?

What product-based questions may arise?

Let's look at how some BIE project planning forms can help. Planning with the end in mind is easier when we have already considered what we expect students to experience. The anticipated "Need to Know" questions:

stem from the Key Knowledge listed on the Project Assessment Map we create;

help us choose an effective question focus when using the Question Formulation Technique to spark inquiry as we gather students' questions; and

help us select standard-based checkpoints and learning targets

For example, take a look at the Medical Interns Project Assessment Map (on the BIE website here) below:

The Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skill listed for the final product are informational writing, circulatory system, and critical thinking. These are the three main areas where we'd anticipate students' content-based and product-based questions to arise and thereby drive instruction. Herein lie the key learning experiences upon which we can plan for students to reflect. Look closely and we can notice that the key knowledge about the circulatory system is going to be formatively assessed via reflective journal writing.

Let's look deeper into the Medical Interns project design forms to explore this question of planning for student reflection.

HOW will students reflect?
Student reflection can occur both informally and overtly throughout a project. We can integrate reflection into our design:

On page 2 of the Project Design: Overview form in the Reflections Methods section, individuals, teams, and whole classes can perform any of the following strategies to reflect on the key learning experiences:

Journal/Learning Logs

Whole Class Discussions (e.g. Harkness Discussions & Socratic Seminars)

Surveys

Focus Groups

Fishbowl Discussions

On the Project Design: Student Learning Guide form, Checkpoints/Formative Assessments are important for reflection planning. For each Learning Outcome/Target on the Student Learning Guide, we can strategically scaffold the final products' anchor learning targets by associating each checkpoint with a reflection strategy based on the Key Understanding or Skill.

For example, in the Medical Interns project (above sample is also here), for the Learning Outcome/Target "I can write a report to inform a patient of his/her diagnosis," reflective journal writing is incorporated as a Checkpoint/Formative Assessment method.

We can also build the culture of our classrooms to incorporate strategies such as the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Think-Pair-Share can be employed to "breadcrumb" students through the reflection process. When given a problem or prompt, students can individually think on their reflection, pair with a partner to discuss their responses and then share aloud to the class where their reflections are similar or where they diverge.

John Dewey said it best: "...we learn from reflecting on experience." Creating a learning experience is all the more purposeful with strategic reflection. Happy Designing!

Let us know how you plan for student reflection in your project in the comments below or by tweeting @biepbl!

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(This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Planning for Reflection in PBL) Have you ever implemented a project, only to realize that students don't really understand the connections between their product, the process, and the key skills?

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I had put these in the works cited, but I thought I'd copy them here. These are great resources.

Cooper, R., & Murphy, E. (2016). Hacking project based learning: 10 easy steps to PBL and inquiry in the classroom (Vol. 9, Hack Learning). Cleveland, OH: Times 10 Publications.

Hacking Project Based Learning provides a simple blueprint for PBL can help educators to establish a culture of inquiry and creativity in the classroom, create umbrella questions that drive the project, use formative assessment throughout the entire PBL experience, teach and embrace reflection, and publish work the right way, so all stakeholders can see it.

Hacking Project Based Learning does several things well. It creates a context for the work that needs to be done. It provides teachers with the tools they need to do it properly and effectively. And it talks about the possible resistance from students and colleagues and how to respond.

The only drawback for using this in our project is that it is oriented toward elementary education. They do offer tips and tricks, alternatives, and very general methods that are easily modifiable for all types of classes/lessons/students, so I think we could gain a lot from it.

Kaye, C. B. (2010). The complete guide to service learning: Proven, practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility, academic curriculum, & social action (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

This book provides an overview of what service learning is as well as a blueprint for completing a service learning project which includes investigation, preparation and planning, action, reflection, and demonstration (exhibition). There are themed chapters that help generate project ideas and lots of really helpful reproducible forms.

Service learning is project based learning that is focused on meeting community needs so there is built-in authenticity. The steps outlined in the book match with the PBL guidelines that we are learning in the course.

The forms could be used as is or as a model for some useful tools for our project. There are also other resources referenced that we might find useful. Any of the reproducibles could be scanned and stored in our Google drive or on the Padlet.

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https://www.inlexca.org/top-10-guatemalan-dishes/

https://theculturetrip.com/central-america/guatemala/articles/the-10-most-traditional-dishes-from-guatemala/

https://www.tripsavvy.com/traditional-guatemalan-food-and-drink-1490561

https://flavorverse.com/traditional-guatemalan-foods/

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Link to how to write MLA citations (students will be expected to do this)

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Link to how to write MLA citations (students will be expected to do this)

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MLA Formatting and Style Guide - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

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Link to how to write APA annotations in case you need a reference. 

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Link to how to write APA annotations in case you need a reference. 

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Suggested Resources
Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS.

Overview

Below you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each with a different research project. Remember that the annotations you include in your own bibliography should reflect your research project and/or the guidelines of your assignment.

As mentioned elsewhere in this resource, depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source's possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor's directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations.

Please keep in mind that all your text, including the write-up beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author's last name is the only text that is flush left.

Sample MLA Annotation

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

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. 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.

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.

In the sample annotation above, the writer includes three paragraphs: a summary, an evaluation of the text, and a reflection on its applicability to his/her own research, respectively.

For information on formatting MLA citations, see our MLA 9th Edition (2021) Formatting and Style Guide.

Sample APA Annotation

Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. Henry Holt and Company.

In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation.

An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich's project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched.

The annotation above both summarizes and assesses the book in the citation. The first paragraph provides a brief summary of the author's project in the book, covering the main points of the work. The second paragraph points out the project's strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This particular annotation does not reflect on the source's potential importance or usefulness for this person's own research.

For information on formatting APA citations, see our APA Formatting and Style Guide.

Sample Chicago Manual of Style Annotation

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess. London: Routledge, 1998.

Davidson's book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts.

This annotation includes only one paragraph, a summary of the book. It provides a concise description of the project and the book's project and its major features.

For information on formatting Chicago Style citations, see our Chicago Manual of Style resources.

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Summary:
This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS.

Overview

Below you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each with a different research project. Remember that the annotations you include in your own bibliography should reflect your research project and/or the guidelines of your assignment.

As mentioned elsewhere in this resource, depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source's possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor's directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations.

Please keep in mind that all your text, including the write-up beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author's last name is the only text that is flush left.

Sample MLA Annotation

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

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. 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.

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.

In the sample annotation above, the writer includes three paragraphs: a summary, an evaluation of the text, and a reflection on its applicability to his/her own research, respectively.

For information on formatting MLA citations, see our MLA 9th Edition (2021) Formatting and Style Guide.

Sample APA Annotation

Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. Henry Holt and Company.

In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation.

An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich's project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched.

The annotation above both summarizes and assesses the book in the citation. The first paragraph provides a brief summary of the author's project in the book, covering the main points of the work. The second paragraph points out the project's strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This particular annotation does not reflect on the source's potential importance or usefulness for this person's own research.

For information on formatting APA citations, see our APA Formatting and Style Guide.

Sample Chicago Manual of Style Annotation

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess. London: Routledge, 1998.

Davidson's book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts.

This annotation includes only one paragraph, a summary of the book. It provides a concise description of the project and the book's project and its major features.

For information on formatting Chicago Style citations, see our Chicago Manual of Style resources.

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Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved.