UNST 124K: FRINQ SUSTAINABILITY

Fall 2014
Paper #1: Annotated Bibliography
Due date: THURSDAY, 10/30, MIDNIGHT, VIA D2L

In the first chapter of They Say I Say, Graff and Birkenstein explain the guiding
principle of their book: For us, the underlying structure of effective academic
writingand of responsible public discourseresides not just in stating our own
ideas but in listening closely to others around us, summarizing their views in a way
that they will recognize, and responding with our own ideas in kind (3). As a first
step toward crafting your own argument, you need to demonstrate your ability to
listen and summarize the views of others on your chosen subject; that is the task of
your annotated bibliography.
In the first few weeks of class, we have encountered a wide range of genres,
attitudes, issues, controversies, histories and speculations associated with
sustainability; the remainder of the term will be devoted to exploring the politics,
ethics, economics and aesthetics of garbage and other wastes. This project serves
as a preparation for that investigation, and for the other assignments you will be
tackling this year.
An annotated bibliography presents citation information for a number of scholarly
sources, along with brief but detailed summaries of each sources argument and
conclusions. An example of a successful annotated bibliography will be distributed
in mentor lab.
In summary, this is how youll do it: choose a suitable topic; undertake some further
research into this topic; formulate a position in response; and prepare an annotated
bibliography that details some of the scholarly or other rhetorical perspectives you
find. We will work, in mentor lab and in class, on each of these steps, providing
support and demonstrating best practices, but most of the work will be undertaken
on your own. The PSU Librarys research guide for FRINQ students, at
http://guides.library.pdx.edu/unst, is an invaluable resource and should be your first
stop.
First, choose a topic. This should be an issue or example that is relevant to our
study of sustainability at PSU, in Portland, and worldwide. It should be a topic that
has some depth to itperhaps a controversy or debate, something that isnt yet
fully resolvedand also a topic thats not too big for you to tackle in a couple of
weeks (so global warming or electronic waste would be too broad, for
example!).

Once you have chosen your topic, and done some initial reflection, begin
researching your topic.
1. Using the library catalog, online scholarly databases available through the
librarys website (the JSTOR; Lexis-Nexis; and databases specific to individual
disciplines via links at http://library.pdx.edu/dofd/, may be good places to
start), and any other strategies available to you, identify and acquire up to 5
essays, articles, books or book chapters that deal with waste, garbage, or
other aspects of your topic in a useful way (i.e., sources that would help you
write a paper on the topic you have chosen).
You may need to use the universitys Interlibrary Loan or Summit service to
obtain books or articles in journals not held in the campuss collections. Make
sure you begin this process early enough that you have time to order and
receive these sources.
https://ill.lib.pdx.edu/Logon.php
2. Select 4 of the most useful or interesting of these sources for inclusion in your
annotated bibliography. At least one must be a peer-reviewed, scholarly
source (an article in a scholarly journal or a book/book chapter); the others
can be news articles, creative nonfiction, literary texts, or films, though peerreviewed sources are always preferable. Try to choose reputable, edited
sources rather than blogs or other non-edited sources, though one or two of
these might be acceptable depending on your topic. Wikipedia is not an
acceptable source, though it can be a useful starting-point.
3. For each of your sources, create an entry with relevant publication
information in the MLA format (see the Purdue OWL site for specific
instructions: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/05/ and the
additional links on the left side of the page).
4. For each source, prepare a page, single-spaced annotation that:
a. Carefully, thoroughly, and clearly summarizes the argument and
conclusions of the source, following the templates provided by Graff &
Birkenstein;
b. Describes the evidence provided by the author for this argument;
c. Includes evidence, in the form of direct citations (with page references)
or indirect paraphrase (with page references, where necessary), for
your claims about the sources argument;
d. Discusses the rhetorical approach favored by the author (logos, ethos,
or pathos?) and shows why this approach is taken;
e. Accounts for the title of the article or chapter; and
f. Evaluates the helpfulness of the source to an argument about the
specific topic you have chosen to focus on (hint: if its not helpful, dont
use it!).

5. Your bibliography should look as follows:

a. Your name, the date, and the class number (UNST 124K) should appear
at the top of the paper;
b. You should include an initial brief summary (1-2 sentences) of your
chosen topic and preliminary thesis;
c. You may alphabetize your entries by authors last name, or you may
arrange them in any order that seems suitable;
d. Clearly indicate which Works Cited entry applies to which annotation,
perhaps by using indentation, bold typeface, or numbered lists.
e. Be sure to provide page numbers and quotation marks for every direct
citation;
f. Italicize the titles of books, scholarly journals, newspapers or
magazines, films, websites and other self-contained sources; articles,
stories, chapters, blog posts, and other partial sources are indicated
with quotation marks (no italics).
Submit your Annotated Bibliography, in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format, to the
appropriate folder in the D2L Dropbox, by midnight on Thursday, October 30.

Topic suggestions
Remember to choose something as specific as possibleyou only have a few weeks
to cover this issue! Possible topics may include (though you should feel free to
develop your own!):

Food composting program in Portland: for or against? Pros and cons? How
effective is PSUs food composting system at reducing the campuss waste
stream?
Teaching or mandating units on waste and the environment in
schools/universities: how effective are these at bringing about specific
change?
School gardens: can they help solve environmental or waste-related problems
facing schools or communities in Portland? Should PSU have a garden?
Banning disposable coffee cups on campus: is this a feasible strategy for
reducing waste at PSU?
What are the (psychological, logistical, cultural, political) obstacles to
reducing the Portland or PSU waste stream? How can these obstacles best be
overcome?
Burning garbage for energy in Oregon, or at PSU: for or against?
Plans for the coal export terminal in Oregon: for or against?

Banning gas-guzzlers in Portland, limiting downtown to bikes and transit only,

imposing an environmental gas tax, or other transportation-based solutions
to pollution or waste issues: your perspective?
What impact would raising the cost of parking permits, or lowering the cost of
transit passes, have on PSUs environmental impact? Are there other
approaches the campus could take to reduce the impact of cars?