Assignment 1

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography compels preliminary research. The document should constitute a list of resources that will support your research paper. Each of the resources should be cited in the APA format and should include a brief paragraph-length summary and evaluation of the resource contents. To fulfill the research component of this assignment, you should:

1. Conduct at least two searches using any of the databases in the Ashford Library (revisit Database Tutorials).
2. Locate at least five sources that will help you support the topics and arguments you plan to present in your research paper.
3. Make certain the sources you select are appropriate for an academic research paper (revisit Section 5.6 Evaluating Information and Evidence in Writing College Research Papers and the Evaluating Internet Sources tutorial in the Ashford Online Library).
4. Take care to arrange your resources in alphabetical order by authors’ last names and format the citations in APA style (revisit: Sample Annotated Bibliography).

Word Range: 500-700 words
Estimated Time on Task: 3-5 hours

Submission Information: Complete the tasks above as MS Word or compatible DOC or DOCX files and submit them via the corresponding assignment links. Please use a naming convention for your assignment files that includes your last name, the week number, and the assignment number. So, your Annotated Bibliography assignment should bear a file name that looks like this: smith_w2_a1.doc.

Assignment 2

Paper Outline

Draft a formal outline for the research paper you intend to write. Please complete most of your preliminary research on your topic before you draft your outline. Develop a full-sentence outline in the APA style (see pages 2-3 of the Ashford Outline Sample). Be sure to leverage any useful feedback you received on your Research Paper Project Plan (in Discussion 2). You may also find the Writing Center’s Thesis Generator and Preliminary Outline Form helpful in the completion of this assignment.

Word Range: 200-500 words
Estimated Time on Task: 3-5 hours

Submission Information: Complete the tasks above as MS Word or compatible DOC or DOCX files and submit them via the corresponding assignment links. Please use a naming convention for your assignment files that includes your last name, the week number, and the assignment number. So, your Paper Outline assignment should look like: smith_w2_a2.doc.

Note: Your instructor or teaching assistant will return these submissions to you with helpful feedback. You will have the opportunity to revise the contents of the assignment upon submission of the research paper in Week Five. After you complete the planning and research segment of your research paper assignment, you may make modifications to the content of the paper. However, you may not make changes to the paper topic without the prior approval of your instructor. Therefore, make sure you have conducted sufficient preliminary research on your topic to ensure that materials are available!