It is common for sports stories to connect to historical moments and sociological concepts. Greek philosophical ideas help us understand the idea of the hero. The history of civil rights in the U.S. helps us understand the film 42. Gender issues surface in Dare to Dream. There is always a context for our stories. Sometimes it is spelled out in the story, and sometimes there are aspects that are not explicitly considered.

For this assignment, you will be exploring an idea that reaches a sports story beyond the bounds of the details of the story. For example, the story of Cubs fan Steve Bartman says a great deal about fandom, about how fans affect how stories are told and remembered. A research paper placing that story in the context of the psychology of sports fans could have as a thesis something like: The hysteria found in the story of Steve Bartman, the man who became the hated scapegoat for the loss by the Chicago Cubs’ loss in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, can be explained through the psychology of sports team identification. In this case, it is “the psychology of sports team identification” that you would need to research.

A League of Their Own is a film that uses sports to reveal how women’s societal roles were changing in the 1940s in great part due to World War II. A paper using this context as the basis for the research paper would have a thesis something like: A League of Their Own is much more than a movie about the first women’s professional baseball team; it also tells the story of the changing roles of women in US society during World War II.

For this assignment, you will need to select a work (either literature or a full-length film) that we will not be covering in class or that is not used as an example for the assignment. Regardless of how you put the sports story in a historical or social context, you will need to develop a thesis statement that will allow you to research a social/historical issue related to the film (or literature).

For example, for the film Dare to Dream,

the issue could be gender inequality in sports.

the thesis could be: While the film Dare to Dream is about the first women’s professional US women’s soccer team, it raises the issue of the on-going gender inequality in that sport.

The next step is to conduct college-level research that could be used to develop that thesis. This research will result in the creation of an Annotated Bibliography.

The directions for this assignment, along with an example and the rubric that will be used to grade it follow.

Annotated Bibliography

What’s the purpose of an annotated bibliography?

• To gather and summarize information into one document about the historical/sociological topic that you are researching related to the film you have chosen
• To create a quick reference sheet which will remind you of what your various sources presented and how they are useful to your paper
• To preserve a record of research about your topic which may be shared with others in your field

How to do it:

Make an MLA works cited list of 5 sources you’ve found on your topic. Bold the Works Cited entries and indent correctly. These should be the STRONGEST sources you have found, which means you will probably have to find and investigate at least 10. A GREAT resource for MLA format rules is https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html Be sure to use 8^th edition rules.

Beneath each citation, write an annotation paragraph. These will not be bolded. Each will include:

1.a summary of the type of information in the source

2.an evaluation of the author’s background or authority (This might mean that you will need to do additional research into the author, the organization, and/or the publication.)

3.an explanation of how the source can be used to develop your preliminary thesis

Organize your citations alphabetically, using hanging indentations (traditional Works Cited page format). See the MLA Forman and Style Guide for details about MLA Formats for Works Cited citations: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

REVIEW OF SOURCE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum of FIVE sources for the final Annotated Bibliography

No source can be an encyclopedia (including Wikipedia or specialized encyclopedias)

No Source can be from a blog

Three sources must be accessed through the JWU Library database Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) OR History Reference Center (EBSCO) If you can find NO relevant sources through these databases (which would be VERY unusual), please let me know during your initial research, and we will determine another database for you to use.

All sources must be appropriate for college-level academic research

Annotated Bibliography Rubric

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Novice	Competent	Proficient
Formatting	0 to 9 points No or very incorrect MLA format	10 to 12 points MLA format mostly correct but there may be a few minor errors	13 to 17 points MLA format is correct and complete.
Summary of types of info in source	0 to 9 points Gives reader no/unclear indication of types of info in sources or summary for fewer than four sources included.	10 to 12 points Gives reader clear indication of types of info in at least four sources	13 to 17 points Gives reader clear indication of types of info in FIVE sources
Evaluation of author’s bkg/source authority	0 to 9 points Info about authors’ bkg/source authority incomplete in details or number	10 to 12 points Info about all authors’ bkg/source authority included, but could be clearer/more detailed	13 to 17 points Thorough info about all authors’ bkg/source authority included
Explanation of source’s value in thesis development	0 to 9 points Inadequate connection/no connection of each source’s usefulness to thesis development.	10 to 12 points Adequate connection of each source’s usefulness to thesis development.	13 to 16 points Clear connection of each source’s usefulness to thesis development.
Source requirements: Minimum of FIVE. No encyclopedias or blogs. Three sources from JWU Library databases (see assignment) OR cleared with me.	0 to 9 points Few if any requirements met	10 to 12 points Most requirements met	13 to 17 points All requirements met
Grammar, usage, punctuation, etc.	0 to 9 points Paper has many errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, etc. causing major distractions to reader.	10 to 12 points Paper has some minor errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, etc., and any resulting distraction to reader is also minor.	13 to 16 points Paper may have some minor errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, etc., but these do not distract reader.