Annotating Sources

As a part of your argumentative research process, your professor may require an argumentative annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography is a list of potential sources for your paper or project with summaries and evaluations. A traditional annotated bibliography can be found on the Annotated Bibliographies page, but your professor may ask you to take an argumentative angle with your annotated bibliography and focus more attention on evaluating the persuasive elements of the source.

A basic argumentative annotated bibliography will include the following for each entry:

  • Reference information following a particular formatting style (APA, MLA, or another)
  • A summary of the source’s content
  • A thorough evaluation of the argument that includes a focus on rhetorical concepts and terms
  • A few sentences on how you will use this source in your paper or project

A sample argumentative annotated bibliography can be found below. Click the image below to open a PDF of the sample paper. In the sample, the different parts of each entry have been noted for you.

Annotated Bibliography sample essay

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