Write two prospective introductions for your research project, one closed-form and the other open-form. In the introduction for the closed-form essay, a thesis statement should come at the end of the paragraph. As the Guidelines on Thesis Statements, Form, Introductions, and Conclusions explain, in the introduction for the open-form paper, the thesis should not appear in the paragraph at all. Instead, the introduction should end with a statement that you think does a good job of framing the issue the thesis statement settles. Both paragraphs should be cohesive, interesting, and well-written in a style appropriate to a publishable paper. Of course, correct grammar, spelling, and format are all important.

These introductions should both be for essays making the same argument. In other words, the issue with which you end the open-form introduction should be settled by the thesis with which you end the closed-form introduction.

Do not start out, end up, or reach too high on the scale of abstraction. Broad claims about the topic — let alone life! — have no place here.

Grammatical mistakes in your introduction immediately make your reader doubt your competence. Any kind of error in the sentence that defines your focus or in your thesis completely blows your credibility. Check your grammar (and spelling) carefully.

125-175 words for each introduction. Please put the word count at the bottom of each, and label them as closed-form or open-form (though whether the introduction is closed-form or open-form should be obvious).

When you have completed the exercise, e-mail me the document directly at rnanian@gmu.edu. You do not get credit if you fail to e-mail me the document by the time class ends.