Length: 100-200 words (not including citation and any quoted matter that you may choose
to include)
Due: End of Week One. Submit your work through the Assignments link in the drop-down
menu in the “Course Work” tab on the top-frame navigation bar in the course.
Preparation: Please first review the Final Research Project assignment and any feedback you
received from your instructor and your peers on your project plan (submitted in the Week
One: Discussion 1: Research Project Planning discussion forum). Please also complete the
News Search practice activity (optional, but recommended) and the Web Search Activity (an
assignment also due in Week One), and review the materials in the Week One lectures and
tutorials on identifying sources. (http://info260.hcommons.org/?p=30 ).
Purpose: The goal of this writing assignment is to help you develop and communicate an
introductory knowledge of your topic. In writing the Project Introduction, you will
strengthen your own sense of the inquiry you are conducting, and you will develop a piece
of introductory writing that you will likely be able to revise and re-use in later versions of
the project.
Writing: This writing assignment will serve as your first submission of edited prose in
ILR260. Use complete sentences, correct spelling and punctuation, etc.
Contents: Your submission for this assignment should consist of a single paragraph that
introduces your topic and research question. Within this paragraph you will concisely
reference a web or news source that helps you set up your question for readers. You will
also provide a correctly formatted APA citation for this source (if you are a humanities
major—for example, English, Philosophy, Art, etc.— use MLA ).
The type of source you reference is up to you. A news source can provide you with data to
help establish the scope or significance of the question you are pursuing. A reliable website
can provide similar data, or an expert opinion, or some key terms. Even an unreliable
website can be useful in an introduction: for example, it might provide you with an example
of a type of misinformation or fear-mongering that swirls around your topic.
ILR260: Week One: Project Introduction Assignment Checklist tool: Here is a checklist you can use to construct your introduction one step at a
time:
• Write at least one sentence introducing the general topic.
o Note: Be careful not to make #1 overly broad (“The Internet has brought many
changes to American society”).
o Note: Avoid clichéd openings (for example: “In today’s society…,” “Throughout
history…”).
• Write at least one sentence introducing the narrowed topic.
• Write at least one sentence in which you reference a news source or web source.
o Note: Remember that in this class we are using a combination of academic
citation and journalistic/everyday citation, so do not simply drop a
parenthetical citation into the introductory paragraph. There should be
something in the actual sentence or sentences leading up to the citation that
identifies the source. (Examples appear farther down on this page. See also
this week’s reading on identifying sources.)
o Note: It’s up to you where this appears in the paragraph. In the examples
below the source reference appears around the middle of the paragraph, but a
source reference might also work well as an attention-grabbing paragraph
opener.)
o Note: The opening paragraph of a research paper needn’t always contain a
source reference. This requirement has been built into the Project Introduction
assignment because 1) a source reference is often a useful addition to an
introduction, and 2) source-integration is challenging, so we need to begin
practicing this skill early in the course.
• Present your research question.
• Include a complete and correct citation for the source you’ve cited
o Note: We will practice news source citation (optional activity) and web source
citation during Week One. If you’re unsure of how to cite a source, ask! One of
the purposes of ILR 260 is to help you navigate the complexities of academic
citation.
EXAMPLE 1:
Sofia Student ILR 260
The first video games emerged in the late 1970s with poor graphics and a low amount of
depicted violence. Since then, video games have become much more violent with far more
sophisticated graphics making the games seem almost lifelike. This has prompted concerns
from the media and mental health professionals–concerns that frequently resurface in the
3/6
ILR260: Week One: Project Introduction Assignment wake of school shootings. For example, following a 2006 school shooting in Montreal, the
Associated Press reported that the shooter had been “fascinated” by the video game “Super
Columbine Massacre” (“Columbine game ‘fascinated killer,’” 2006). Did violent video game
play lead this young man to go to school with a gun? Is there a cause- and-effect
relationship between video game violence and real-life violence and aggression?
Columbine game ‘fascinated killer’. (September 15, 2006 ). Yorkshire Post. Retrieved from
www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic
