First, download the attached MLA formatted paper template and fill in the appropriate parts: Last Name in header, Your Full Name, and Title (for now, you can just put your topic as your title). This will be the document where you type your introduction and background paragraph. Obviously, this is the document you will turn in on June 8th. Follow the instructions below to complete this assignment.
Template: MLA Formatted Paper Template-1.docx ?? MLA Formatted Paper Template-1.docx
Last week, you read at least two online/popular source that introduced you to general and important concepts of your chosen topic. You most likely knew a few things about your topic before you even Googled it. Now, it is time to transform that knowledge into an introduction paragraph and a subsequent background paragraph.
Introduction Paragraph
Make sure you have read the assigned pp. 314-320 in the Chapter 11 PDF as this will provide you with ways to begin your introduction paragraph.
Once you have chosen a method from the chapter, go ahead and write your introduction paragraph.
Components:
It should be 150-250 words in length. Your final paper will be 5-7 pages long; in academia, that is a short paper. Your introduction paragraph should NOT exceed 1 page.
In your introduction paragraph, you should include an opening or a hook (see the Chapter 11 pages), a brief introduction to what topic your paper will explore, a brief explanation of your research question, and your thesis statement.
Obviously at this point, the research question part might be tentative. That is okay. Also (obviously), you do not have a thesis statement because you have not gathered your scholarly research yet. ***For the sake of this specific assignment, simply indicate WHERE your thesis statement will go once you have one. It should be THE LAST SENTENCE OF YOUR INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH.*** Excuse the snarky tone. The placement of a thesis statement is something I have seen students struggle with and it baffles me because all you have to do (literally) is find the very first paragraph of your paper and stick your thesis statement at the very end of that first paragraph. In case you have not figured it out by now, this is a pet peeve of mine. It stems from the fact that it is an easy thing to
do correctly AND it is a skill that carries through into upper-level classes. I am a 3rd-year PhD candidate and I STILL put my one-sentence thesis statements at the end of my introduction sections (Its a little different for me since I am writing 20-30 page papers, but the concept remains the same). See this sample if you are confused about how to indicate where you will put your thesis statement: Sample Thesis Statement Indication-1.docx ?? Sample Thesis Statement Indication-1.docx
Final thing: You should NOT be inserting any direct quotes from your sources into your introduction paragraph unless you are opening with a quote. The intro paragraph is the place where you are more broad about your topic.
Background Paragraph
First, it is important to understand that you DO have an introduction paragraph and THEN you have a background paragraph that comes AFTER the introduction paragraph.
The function of the introduction paragraph is just that: to introduce your reader to the aforementioned elements. The function of the background paragraph is more customizable because it is your opportunity to provide any and all good-to-know information about your topic and what people are saying about it. There are a couple of things you can put in your background paragraph:
History of the topic
Different sides/perspectives of the topic
Explanation of any complicated, profession-specific vocabulary that you might be referring to within your paper
You might also end up doing a combination of these three.
You CAN insert direct quotes from your popular sources in this paragraph if you want.
If youre still confused, think of it this way: What information does your reader need to know in order to understand the importance of your argument about your topic?
Background paragraph should be around 200-300 words. In all, this first larger assignment should be somewhere between 1.5-2 pages in length. *DOUBLE SPACE*
Final Thought: More than likely, you will end up editing your intro and background paragraphs by the time they become an official part of your final paper; therefore, think of this assignment as your opportunity to create a really solid draft of this opening part of your paper. It will be okay if you end up altering it by the end of the semester.
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