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Hello, students! In this space, you will be writing your 500-700 word critical literature review that addresses the following questions:

//Using your two books and two database resources, what is your author trying to accomplish through his or her writing? What are repeated patterns, or what themes does this author explore? What is this author attempting to do or change through his or her literature? How is his or her literature a reflection of that particular time period? What does this author contribute to America or humanity through literature?//

Start by thinking of the recurring topics and themes that popped up during your research. For example, I learned from reading the article "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" by Philip Woodard in __Magill's Choice: Notable Poets__ that Longfellow "specifically imagined that each of his lines would be read aloud after dinner around the family circle, with young and old profiting by his every word" (Woodard 628). I also learned from a database article on Literary Reference Center that Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" is a direct plea to the American people to have courage with the impending Civil War. Both of these facts can be turned into excellent topic sentences that will guide my critical review of his vision. From these two pieces of information I found, I can conclude that Longfellow served as an important moral support during an unsteady time in our nation.

When you are done with your essay, you will need to put your Annotated Bibliography underneath your essay, therefore creating ONE long giant post. If you use direct quotations from your articles, you MUST include an in-text citation like I did above. Sometimes the author says exactly what you want to say--in that situation, use an in-text citation like I did above. Otherwise, the words will be what YOU write about your author's vision. This is NOT an exercise on how to try to cut and paste as many sentences from your research to see if I will figure it out. All information must be either cited correctly or paraphrased into your own words. All of the ideas in your entry must come from your two books and two databases, not from outside online sources.

Organize it in alphabetical order. Double-space between the citations and annotations. Do not worry about indenting on this format. Read my examples below and ask me if you have any questions.
 * EXAMPLE of what your Annotated Bibliography will look like**:

"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow." __Academy of American Poets__ (2006). Literary Reference Center. <[|http://search.ebscohost.com>.]
 * Annotated Bibliography**

"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" from the Academy of American Poets provides an extensive biography of the events of his life as well as a selected bibliography of his poetry, prose, drama, essays, fiction, and translated poetry. The information is clearly organized in short paragraphs that explain how important events in his life and the nation affected his poetry. I used the more interesting facts on my author trading card--Longfellow quit teaching full-time to write poetry. I also learned more about how certain personal events impacted his poetry. Although this particular source is excellent for biographical information, students should look to other resources for literary criticism.

Woodard, Philip. "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow." __Magill's Choice: Notable Poets, Vol. 2__. Pasadena: Salem Press, Inc., 1998, 627-638.

__Magill's Choice: Notable Poets, Vol. 2__ is a reference book from the editors of Salem Press, Inc., that features important poets from Friedrich Holderlin through Adrienne Rich. The article on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow offers information on his poetry, achievements, a short biography, analysis of his poems, other literary forms he wrote, a list of selected works other than poetry, and a bibliography for further study. I found the section on analysis to be the most helpful when determining specifically how the events of the United States influenced him to take on the role of moral supporter to the nation during a time of uncertainty. I would definitely recommend this resource as a comprehensive source for information on Longfellow for academic projects.