Annotated Bibliography Format
In order to create a bank of literature you’ve read over the last two years, compose an Annotated Bibliography Extended paragraph for TEN pieces of literature. This should be a variety of fiction, nonfiction, and short stories. Include each of the following components in an Extended Paragraph, first listing each component separately. Also, compose each paragraph on a separate page to allow for easy review before the Regents Exam.
Title: MLA Bibliographic Format – Author (last name, first name). Title. City of publication: publisher, year of publication.
Follow the punctuation EXACTLY.
Theme: the author’s view of life or human experience; the central idea.
Setting: time, place, and historical setting
Atmosphere: the feeling the author presents through the setting, characters and development of the plot.
Point of View: the perspective of the narrator and the narrator’s relationship to the story.
Main Characters: the protagonist, antagonist and other major characters.
Plot Summary Extended Paragraph - Begin with a topic sentence that explains the theme of the work. Then, detail the main plot events, those that have meaningful relationship to one another. Do not use I phrases. Include in your paragraph, discussion of TWO literary devices that were prevalent in the literature; explain which devices were used and how they were used effectively. Finish the paragraph with a summation sentence that relates back to the theme and gives your appraisal of the work.
Here’s how your Annotated Bibliography Outline & Paragraph should look:
Gaines, Ernest J. A Gathering of Old Men. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1992.
Theme: the power of prejudice to create divisions between people whether they are discriminated against or guilty of racism.
Setting: A Louisiana sugarcane plantation in the 1970s, not long after the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s.
Atmosphere: Heightened tension caused by the racial division of the town, which is divided between white landowners and local Cajuns and light and dark skinned blacks. In each case one group thinks they are superior over the other.
Point of View: First person omniscient; each chapter is narrated from a different character’s perspective.
Main Characters:
1. Candy Marshall – a woman of high moral standing who protects Mathu, the black man who shot Beau. She is compassionate and protective of the black men who raised her while at the same time, strongly maintains her position as the owner of the plantation and as their boss.
2. Beau Bauton – dead from the beginning of the novel, he remains important because he symbolizes white dominance over blacks. Beau represents the callous white man who continues to subjugate blacks well into the 20th Century.
3. Sheriff Maples – the typical white lawman, he represents bullish violence used since the time of slavery to rule over blacks. He is an ironic character, though, because in the end, he refuses to initiate the use of force to subdue the men who have gathered to protect Mathu, whom he secretly respects.
Mathu – a proud, moral black man who is not afraid to stand up to the prejudices of others. Everyone respects him for his morals, character and his fearlessness. He is a role model for the black men who protect him.
Plot Summary Extended Paragraph
In A Gathering of Old Men Ernest Gaines explores the racial tension that remains in small southern towns of America. Set during the 1970s in Louisiana, soon after the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, A Gathering of Old Men is the story of a group of black men who band together to protect their friend who killed a white man in self-defense. Because each man says he committed the murder, the authorities, baffled, can do nothing. Led by a white woman who symbolizes justice, the eight black men come together in a way that mirrors the protest movement of the 60s. Candy, the protective, young white woman represents all that is good in America while contrasting Beau, the racist Cajun farmer who was murdered by one of the black men. With the support of Candy and few other members of the white community, the power the men experience and the resulting tension that is created slowly builds throughout the novel. Ernest Gaines uses omnipotent characterization to move the plot towards its violent conclusion. Each chapter is narrated from the perspective of a different character intrinsic to the plot. Putting the reader in the mind of the character, allows the reader to sympathize with their dangerous situation while seeing the crime from their point of view. Thus, the reader vacillates between whether a murder has been committed or whether justice has finally been served in the racist southern community. In A Gathering of Old Men, Gaines forces the reader to examine their own prejudices and ponder what they would do in the face of injustice.