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CM 223: Argumentation & Debate Research Guide

This guide has been created for students in Professor James Janack's Argumentation & Debate course.

What is an annotated bibliography?

It contains a list of citations (sources) such as journal articles or books and each citation is followed by a paragraph or two  that provides additional information about the source.

An annotation can contain, but is not limited to, the following elements: 

  • Summary of the main themes, arguments and conclusions of the article
  • Relevance of the source to your topic (why you choose the source)
  • Relevance of the source to other sources (compare and contrast)
  • Political, social, religious, ideological bias, if any
  • Author's professional qualifications and affiliations
  • Intended audience (academic, general public, technical etc.)

Sample Entry (in APA style)

Colten, M. & Dilsaver, L. M. (2005). The hidden landscape of Yosemite National Park. Journal of Cultural Geography22(2), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873630509478238

The author, professor of Geography at Louisiana State University, examines the infrastructure of national parks, mainly water, sewer, and garbage services.  The paper traces the gradual adoption of romantic-era concepts about shielding human intrusions in parks from public view by Park Service landscape designers during the early twentieth century. He also examines how the U.S. Parks Department has drafted formal guidelines for continuing to keep these services out of public view. This article is relevant to my topic since it provides a detailed, historic policy overview of Yosemite and supports my argument that Yosemite needs more creative ways to deal with increased visitor traffic. This article augments my other sources by providing a background to current Yosemite infrastructure policy.