Springfield Township High School
Graduation Project Annotated Bibliography
Student Name: Taylor Koroncai
Annotation # 2
MLA Citation:
“Update: Drunk Driving.” Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts
On File News Services, 21 Sept. 2007. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. .
INFORMATION:
Author’s credentials:
There is no author stated for this article, but Facts on File is a reliable database.
Scope and purpose of the work:
This article is an informational report that gives two different sides to the issue of drunk driving.
The article provides an argument for and against certain laws, actions, and organizations involved
in ending the controversy of driving under the influence.
Intended Audience:
This article is intended for an average person. It is not difficult to understand. At times there is a
lot of information that is presented and it can be overwhelming, but other than that it’s pretty
simple to understand.
SUMMARY
Thesis or main idea:
The main idea of this article is to debate which method is the "proper approach" to deal with and
decrease the number of drunk drivers. Out of this main idea, the author discusses a variety of
plans, standards, and movements created by state authorities, the US Supreme Court, and
multiple organizations and also creates an essential question that becomes the thesis of this
piece: "Should the government employ some of the more aggressive means of preventing drunk
driving, such as operating security checkpoints? Or do such efforts go too far, infringing on
suspects' rights?"
Summary of main arguments:
The database begins the article with a basic overview of the issue (drunk driving). It discusses
how severe the problem is and the steps authorities are taken to crack down on the issue by
providing different facts on drunk driving. The article then gets into the controversy of the laws
that are enforced such as security checkpoints and the BAC. Two sides of this argument are then
presented to debate whether or not these laws are justifiable or unconstitutional. The article also
presents certain milestones in the fight against drunk driving including the creation of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving (MADD), an organization run by the federal government, and the case
Michigan vs. Sitz, which gave the government a loop hole in the Fourth Amendment that
administered authorities to run sobriety checkpoints. Finally, the article ends with an overview of
the critics point of view in the controversy and how they believe certain constitutional rights are
being violated and how "proponents have misrepresented the issue by using misleading figures.
EVIDENCE
Summary of evidence:
There are many pieces of evidence that support the two sided argument in this article.
References to the Fourth Amendment are present and a variety of statistics are exhibited
(example: "39% of all traffic-related deaths are related to alcohol.") Also, information about certain
organizations, Supreme Court cases and rulings, and an overview of the history behind drunk
driving can be found in the article.
EVALUATION
Evaluation of research:
The article provides many statistical facts that provide support for each argument. Therefore, the
article information is well researched. Because the article is organized in different sections, under
different titles, it is easy for the reader to follow along and pick up the main points clearly.
Evaluation of scope:
The topic has been well addressed. The entire article was purposeful and significant. All of the
information seemed there for a reason and everything was stated in the right way. There was a
lot of information to take in from this one article.
Evaluation of author bias:
There is no bias opinions by the author. The article presents an essential question as the thesis
and provides information to support each side of the argument.
REFLECTION:
I really enjoyed reading this article (even though it took me a while). It included a whole lot of
information about my topic. Most of it was very relevant, too. Even though some of it has been
repetitive of the previous articles I read, it helped to engrave the information in my mind. It
included a mixture of both general information and detailed information. There was a lot of
facts/statistics that I could take out of this article, as well as general knowledge that I should know
about my topic.