Introduction and Outline (for Peer Reviewer)

In the last four modules, you have completed important steps toward building your final research paper and received feedback from your instructor to help you make changes and improve. Feedback is essential to the writing process; the more eyes on your work, the better it can become. So this week, you will submit your Milestone 5 assignment so that both your instructor and a peer reviewer can give you their feedback in Module 6. In turn, you will also review another student’s work in Module 6.

Begin by reading pages 5.8 through 5.11 in the webtext and then compile the submission components below in the Milestone 5 Template.

Step 1: Introduction Paragraph

For this assignment, you will draft the introduction for your final paper. First, review the following resources on creating an effective introduction: Excelsior OWL – Introduction paragraphs (Links to an external site.) and UNC Chapel Hill – Introductions (Links to an external site.)

Your introduction paragraph should be approximately 150-200 words. It should:

1. Grab the reader’s attention with an opening “hook” – this may be an interesting example, a quotation, an anecdote, or a question related to your topic
2. Include your thesis statement as the last sentence of the introduction and underline it to make it clear to your reader. It’s expected that your thesis statement has changed and improved since you last submitted it in Milestone 3 based on your instructor’s feedback.
3. Since you are drafting content that will become part of your final project, which is a formal academic writing assignment, you should avoid informal language (i.e. slang) and first-person pronouns (i.e. “I”, “me”, “my”)

Step 2: Outline

Once you have drafted your introduction paragraph, below it, in the same document you will compose an outline of the body paragraphs and conclusion of your paper. First, review the following resource on outlines: Excelsior OWL–Traditional Outlining. (Links to an external site.)

Your outline should include body paragraphs supporting your thesis statement, at least 1 body paragraph to refute opposing perspectives, and a conclusion that reiterates your thesis statement. Each body paragraph should include at least 3 supporting details with the source or sources you plan to use as evidence for that detail. This way you will determine if you have enough evidence for your points, which will make it much easier to draft your full paper in the coming weeks or find additional sources if necessary. In addition, after your supporting details, each body paragraph should include an explanation of the evidence that summarizes how the evidence relates to your thesis.

Follow the format in the Milestone 5 Template to make sure your outline includes the necessary components.

Step 3: Reference List

Since you are including source information in your outline, you need to include a list of references at the end for all of your sources. This should be formatted in APA style, just as you did last week for Milestone 4. If your instructor offered corrections and feedback on your Milestone 4 references, make sure to make those changes before submitting Milestone 5.

Resources:

• Milestone 5 Template (Word document)
• Excelsior OWL – Introduction paragraphs (Links to an external site.)
• Excelsior OWL – Traditional Outlining (Links to an external site.)
• UNC Chapel Hill – Introductions (Links to an external site.)

Submission Instructions

Your final submission should include:

1. Your introduction paragraph with your underlined thesis statement as the last sentence
2. Your outline with sources for each of your 3 supporting details per paragraph and an explanation of evidence
3. A list of references in APA style at the end of the document.

Put both of these components into one document using the Milestone 5 Template and submit it to the dropbox by Sunday of Module 5.

Evaluation

• This assignment is due Sunday by 11:59 pm ET.
• This assignment will be evaluated according to theIND301 Milestone 5 Rubric. Make sure to review the rubric before submitting so you know how you will be assessed.
• This assignment is worth 5% of your overall course grade.

Peer Review in Module 6: Once the due date for this assignment has passed, your assignment will be automatically sent to a peer for their review in Module 6 (and you will receive another student’s work to review). Please aim to submit Milestone 5 on time. If your submission is late, your instructor will need to manually assign you a peer review. See Milestone 6 in Module 6 for further directions on the peer-review process.