Corporate Finance Exam – Spring 2021

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Instructions: Read these instructions and each question carefully. Failure to follow these

instructions may result in deductions from your grade. This is a take home exam, and it is open

note and open book. You may use internet resources. You can use anything to help you take the

exam except for the assistance of another individual or individuals. Additional instructions

follow:

 On or before 8:59 am ET of Sunday, February 5, 2021, each student will electronically

submit his or her Midterm Exam in an MS Word document via the link within the Canvas

course shell. This link will be directly located on the course homepage and named

“Midterm Exam”. Follow submission instruction from there closely to turn in your

exam. When asked for a “Paper Title”, each student will use their name followed by FIN

6806 Midterm Exam as their “Paper Title”. For example, “Ken Johnson FIN 6806

Midterm Exam”. The first page (title page) of the exam should contain the student’s

name and FIN 6806 Midterm Exam, as well.

 If there is a conflict between these instructions and any prior information provided,

including your syllabus, these instructions take precedence.

 If you believe a question is unanswerable, explain why and make any necessary

assumption(s) and then answer the question. Make these assumptions at the beginning of

your answer in Italic print (or otherwise highlighted) in order to stand out from the

remainder of your answer.

 If you believe a question has incorrect information, you are to make explicit reference to

the incorrect information, provide corrected information, and answer the question. Make

these corrections at the beginning of your answer in Italic print (or otherwise highlighted)

in order to stand out from the remainder of your answer.

 If you leave a question unanswered, partial credit cannot be granted. Therefore, make an

attempt to answer all questions. Show your work for the maximum award of partial

credit. In general, show your work. It helps the grader decipher your thought process.

 After the exam is made available there will be a communications blackout between the

students and the instructor and any teaching assistants. Therefore, there is to be no

contacting the instructor or TA (teaching assistant) during the examination period.

 As you have significant time to complete the exam, your work product is to be organized

and presented at a professional level, i.e. do not submit “sloppy” work. See sample

exams in Old Exams & Answers under Course Content in the course’s Canvas shell.

 Include a Title page, Table of Contents, and the Grading Rubric (found below) in that

order as the first three pages of your exam.

 Assume you are working with KHJ Consulting Inc and the reader of your work product

(exam) is a client of the firm. The reader is sound mathematically and has good

comprehension and reasoning skills. You are to deliver a professional report, in terms of

both quantitative and qualitative rigor, to the client summarizing the questions below.

 If needed, attach a Reference section to the end of your exam. You may follow any

citation and referencing style that you desire; however, you must be consistent with its

use. There is no need to reference the textbook for the course and/or the instructor’s

notes and lectures.

 Where applicable use the same notation as in class.

 While you may employ Excel to calculate answers, do not submit Excel Spreadsheets.

 You are being asked throughout the exam to replicate topics/materials. You MAY NOT

use examples from class, the course textbook, other textbooks, the internet, or any other

outside sources. This includes your own existing work product. Your old exams are

considered your own existing work product). You must always create your own work

product. You may never represent the work product of others as your work product. You

must only produce current/original work product. Work product is defined as the

answers that you provide to the client. Violation of any underlined instructions will

result in a maximum score of 50% on the exam.

 Exams are to be submitted in a Microsoft Word document or be readable in Microsoft

Word. The readability of the electronic file/document that contains your exam is your

responsibility.

 Once an exam/work product has been submitted, you may not resubmit. Therefore, proof

your work carefully before submitting.

 A goal of this course is to produce autodidacts in the field of finance. Accordingly, the

goal of your exam should be to teach/professionally explain the subject matter to the

client.

 You may not place jpeg files in your exam, i.e. no pictures/images. They are not readable

by Turnitin.

 Teach the client.

Have fun and good luck.

Grading Rubric

FIN 6806 Midterm

Fall 2020

Requirements Deductions

Quantitative Understanding

Qualitative Understanding

Communication/Teaching

Instructions

Total Score

Instructor Comments (if any):

Exam Questions

All questions are equally weighted

1. Assume that a publicly traded technology company (ITech Geek) has 2,000,000 shares

outstanding and faces a marginal tax rate of 25%. Also, assume that this corporation

plows-back 50% of its net income into its retained earnings. You are to create the

necessary Balance Sheets and Income Statement and then calculate the annual Cash Flow

from Assets (aka: CFFA or Free Cash Flows (FCF)) for ITech Geek. A constraint here,

however, is that your must range between $25,000,000 and $33,000,000 annually. Said

another way, you are to replicate and explain the relevant parts of the textbook, notes, and

lectures associated with these concepts to our client.

2. ITech Geek is not familiar with the mechanics of corporate bonds. In particular, they are

interested in the concepts of: (a) a bond that sells for a discount, (b) a bond that sells for a

premium, and (c) a bond that sells at PAR. Explain these concepts to ITech Geek

management. Said another way, you are to replicate and explain the relevant parts of the

textbook, notes, and lectures associated with these concepts to our client.

3. ITech Geek is very interested in understanding which rates (higher or lower) converge

quicker to the present value of a perpetuity. First, provide and example illustrating which

rate (higher or lower) converge quicker. Second, explain when this convergence

becomes untenable to use as a proxy for value estimation of a financial asset.

Organizational Behavior

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Investigate professional journals and locate two articles pertaining to organizational behavior that are of interest to you. You are to critique each of the two articles according to the instructions below. The articles should be less than three years old.   Each one- to two- page critique (a total of two to  four pages for both critiques) must include the following three parts and must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide (including title page, in text citations and reference list). Include both article reviews into one document for submission to WayPoint (do not submit two documents).  Identification of the Article – Provide the reader with enough information about your article so he/she will be able to locate the article.  Summary of the Article – List the main points that the author has tried to establish (i.e., 1, 2, 3 or first, second, third). There normally will be three to five main points. If you are summarizing a court case, you should discuss: What provision of the law was at issue? Briefly state the facts of the case. What legal tests were applied? Were there any unusual elements in the case?  Your Critique – Provide your reaction (insightful, critical, and logical) to the points that the author tried to make, or an overall critique of the entire article. A simple statement of agreement or disagreement is not sufficient. While you may make such a statement by way of introduction to your reaction, you must clearly and logically state the reasons for the position that you have taken.

audit plan/report

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Using the case study Jim’s Auto Body, prepare an audit program to audit revenue. You will use all of the relevant management assertions as the audit objectives, and you should include the following:

  • Management assertions to be addressed (audit objectives)
  • Internal control
  • Test of controls
  • Substantive test of transactions

Part 1

After the audit program has been drafted, identify the type of report that will be produced as a result of the audit of revenue, and develop the audit report.

Part 2

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) professional standards provide uniform wording and format for the audit report. The audit report should focus on the revenue cycle and Jim’s Auto Body. Write a 1-page audit report for Jim’s Auto Body that includes all seven parts of a standard audit report, as follows:

  • Report title
  • Audit report address
  • Introductory paragraphs
  • Scope paragraph
  • Opinion paragraph
  • Name of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm
  • Audit report date 

Jim’s Auto Body (Inc., or LLC)
1122 Sesame Street
New York, NY, 10002
EIN 90-1234567
Dated incorporated January 1st, 2010

Jim Jameson
8701 Electric Avenue
New York, NY, 10002SSN: 123-45-6789

  • Jim Jameson took on Fred as a partner for the LLC. Fred owns 50% of all profits, losses, and capital. You do not have to complete Part 2 K, L, or M on the 1065 Schedule K1 (there is not enough information provided).
  • $4,500 salary expense is officer’s compensation for the corporation and guaranteed payment to partners for the LLC.
  • $55,000 equipment is 7-year property in its 5th year of service and was placed into service in the middle of the year, thus using the half-year convention. Use the correct table from the IRS—Publication 946: How to Depreciate Property—to determine the tax deductible depreciation. Form 4562 is not required.
  • Jim made four quarterly estimated tax payments of $800 each over the course of the year.
  • In accordance with IRS instructions: “Corporations with total receipts and total assets at the end of the tax year less than $250,000 are not required to complete Schedules L, M-1, and M-2” (Internal Revenue Service, n.d.). This also applies to the LLC.
  • For the 1065 Schedule K1, you will not have enough information to fill out Part 2 K, L, and M.

Jim’s Auto BodyRevenues:Service Revenue

28,000

Total Revenue

28,000

Expenses:Salary Expense

4,500

Rent Expense

1,200

Utility Expense

300

Depreciation Expense

500

Insurance Expense

100

Supply Expense

400

7,000

Net Income

21,000

Jim’s Auto Body

Balance Sheet

As of April 30, 2015

AssetsCash

101,800

Acct Rec’able  20,000PP In

1,100

Equipment  55,000Accu. Dep.

500

Supplies

2,600

Total Assets

180,000
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Liabilities and Stockholders’ EquityLiabilities:Accounts Payable

8,000

Salary Payable

3,000

Total Liabilities

11000.00

Stockholders’ Equity:Common Stock            150,000Retained Earnings

19000

______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Total Stockholders’ Equity

169000.00

Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

180,000

______________________________________________
______________________________________________ 

Please read before inbox and see if you can help me… U3C

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Unit 3 Assignment Part 2

Determining the competitive advantage is critical for company success.

Assignment: Competitive Advantage

You are a marketing consultant to Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. A way for Tim’s Coffee Shoppe to determine the advantages (or weaknesses) Tim’s has compared to its competitors is through doing a competitive profile matrix (CPM). When you identify Tim’s key success factors, you can weigh them according to their strength/weakness compared to the competitors.

Additional Resource:

U.S. Small Business Administration (n.d.) Business guide. https://www.sba.gov/business-guide

Checklist:

Optional Step 1: Do a partial SWOT analysis by concentrating on the internal strengths and weaknesses of Tim’s (based on your practice in the learning activity in this unit) versus what would be Tim’s competition if Tim’s was located in your nearest town.

Step 2: Identify Tim’s key success factors, weigh them according to their strength/weakness as compared to the competitors. You can set any weight you wish, but a simple one is provided.

Use the competitive profile matrix template.

Using competitors you research on the Internet or in your local area, create a CPM for Tim.

Other factors you may wish to consider include:

Price

Selection

Service

Reliability

Expertise

Company Reputation

Social Responsibility

Appearance

Credit Policies

Advertising

Key success factors can be identified for the business. They can include things such as the quality, location, brand recognition, profitability, product, staff, etc. In the matrix, you will list these factors and rate the strength of each one in Tim’s business as well as his primary competitors. Each competing coffee shop should be ranked first, second, or third in each of the factors that may or may not affect their competitive advantage.

You can examine the data in several ways. While the total score for Tim’s business may be higher than his major competitors’ scores, Tim’s may have lower scores in some areas, which means Tim’s Coffee Shoppe is not as competitive in those areas. Some of these areas might allow the competitors to create advantages, and their customers or potential customers may choose a competitor over Tim’s business. For example, if Tim’s products are rated closely to a competitor’s, but the competitor has a higher score on staff friendliness, might customers start frequenting the competitor’s business? What would you recommend to increase Tim’s score in this area?

For this assignment, spend some time looking around Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. Either search online or visit two competitors in your area that Tim’s may compete against and familiarize yourself with those businesses. You may even be a frequent customer of a coffee shop and already be aware of how you might rate their strengths against Tim’s.

MGMT 600 IP 1

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Scenario

Big data is everywhere, and various businesses around the world are driven by big data. While some businesses rely on big data for organizational decision making, this does not mean that the implications and applications of big data are properly used to ensure optimal effectiveness for the organization

For this scenario, you have been appointed as a business analyst for Big D Incorporated, charged with providing authoritative recommendations to the Board of Directors. As the business analyst, the recommendations that you provide will be based upon data calculated from statistically appropriate formulas. Be reminded that you are not the company’s statistician yet. However, as the business analyst, you are therefore responsible for interpreting statistical data and making the appropriate recommendations.

Big D Incorporated was offered a series of business opportunities, and it is your job as the business analyst to provide expert insight and justification for recommendations regarding these potential prospects.

Assignment Details

Big D Incorporated has a business opportunity to provide two different types of information to a new client. As the business analyst, you are tasked to assess the financial feasibility of this opportunity. The new client is a retailer and looking to expand its product offerings. However, the client is requesting Big D Incorporated to assist in the decision-making process.

Prepare a presentation that addresses the following:

  • Explain the difference between nominal and ordinal data.
  • List 3 qualitative attributes of outdoor sporting goods that the client may want to ask consumers. Make sure 1 of the qualitative attributes is nominal.
  • For each ordinal attribute, assign names for the endpoints of a 5-point rating scale.
  • Explain the difference between interval and ratio data.
  • List 2 quantitative attributes of outdoor sporting goods that market researchers might want to measure.
  • Explain the difference between a population and a sample.

 5-6 slides with speaker notes (75 word minimum per slide)

Help with paper?

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Prior to beginning your written assignment, read the Excessive Bail (Links to an external site.) article and review all previous weeks’ materials concerning the 4th Amendment, due process, the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, cruel and unusual punishment and capital punishment.

In the state of Denial, the Capital City Police have been watching gang activity between two local gangs, the Drips and the Scruds. The Scruds are mad at the Drips because they believe that the Drips have been encroaching on the Scruds’ territory and selling drugs in the Scruds’ neighborhood. Members of the gangs take the first letter of the gang’s affiliation for their “gang name.” For example, the leader of the Drips is assumed the name Dripster, while the leader of the Scrips took on the name Stupido. Officers Do-Right and Justice have been assigned to the case and have been following members of both gangs closely over the past several weeks.

Dripster (the leader of the Drips) has been driving around in a Black Chevrolet Blazer that is registered to his girlfriend. Do-Right and Justice have placed a tracking device on the vehicle so that they can follow the gang leader at a safe distance without him noticing them. Using the tracking device, they have followed him to a party being held at a house owned by the girlfriend of a fellow Drip, Dufus.

The officers decide to use a new device that they have obtained from the police department called the Bloodhound, which can sniff out certain smells from a distance. Using the Bloodhound, the officers have determined that inside the house are the following substances: marijuana, creatine (which is commonly used to cut cocaine), and lye (which can be used in making methamphetamine). Based upon the information they have obtained from the Bloodhound, they call a magistrate and obtain a search warrant for Dufus’ house.

After backup arrives, Officers Do-Right and Justice lead the way to the house, where they break through the front door of the house without first knocking and announcing their presence. Inside the house, they find Dripster sitting at the kitchen table in front of a scale and a white powdery substance, which is later determined to be to be cocaine. They also find Dufus in a back room surrounded by boxes of electronics and a pile of cash that they later determine to be $50,000. With Dufus are two low-level Drips, Dummy and Duncecap, who are armed with automatic assault rifles and loaded handguns.

When the officers rush into the room where Dufus, Dummy, and Duncecap are, Duncecap immediately throws up his hands and tells the officers, “I’ll tell you everything I know! Just don’t arrest me!” Dufus turns to his accomplices and says, “If either of you says a word, you are dead meat.” Duncecap immediately stops talking and claims he “doesn’t know anything about anything.”

As Do-Right is escorting Dripster to his cruiser after he has arrested him, a carload of Scruds drives by slowly. The Scruds’ leader, Stupido, leans out of his window and yells to Dripster, “I told you to keep your business off our turf!” Dripster, thinking Stupido is the reason that the cops raided the house, grabs Do-Right’s gun and opens fire towards Stupido’s car. Dripster misses Stupido and his car, but he shoots and injures a 12-year-old girl, Innocent, who is watching the arrests in her front yard across the street. Innocent survives but is paralyzed. At the same time, Stupido, realizing that Dripster is shooting at him, grabs his own weapon from the car and shoots at his arch-enemy but misses him.

Officers are able to safely transport Dripster, Dufus, Dummy, and Duncecap to the police station and have also arrested Stupido. They search Stupido’s car at the scene and find the gun he used to shoot at Dripster. Ballistics shows that the gun was used in a previous armed robbery of a party store. Stupido is charged with the robbery.

At the police station, Officer Justice, who is questioning Dummy without first reading Miranda warnings, tells Dummy that if he tells him everything he knows about the rivalry between the Drips and the Scruds and agrees to testify against the members of both gangs, the police will charge him with only possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Dummy takes the deal.

Stupido was interrogated at the police station regarding the armed robbery and told that he had been named as the robber by an eyewitness. He asked for his lawyer three times, but his lawyer, who arrived at the police station while Stupido was being interrogated, was twice denied entry to the interrogation. After three hours of interrogation, Stupido confesses to the armed robbery.

Dripster is convicted of attempted murder of Innocent and sentenced to death. He is also convicted of possession with intent to sell marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. He is additionally convicted of possession of stolen property (the electronics) and unregistered firearms. Stupido is convicted of the armed robbery and attempting to murder Dripster. Dufus and Duncecap are also convicted of possession with intent to sell marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine; possession of stolen property (the electronics); and for unregistered firearms. Dummy is convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The cases are all combined as People v. Dripster, Dummy & Stupido , et al. The following points have been appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. You are an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and this case has come before the Court. The Chief Justice has assigned you to write a majority opinion resolving the case. In your paper,

  • Write an opinion (an analysis of the questions below that will serve as the reasoning and the ruling of the Supreme Court) that resolves the case based upon previous cases from the United States Supreme Court, other federal and state courts, and other scholarly sources.
  • Explain your opinion on each of the following points:
    • Evaluate whether all the evidence from the house should have been suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree, because the placing of a tracking device on the Blazer driven by Dripster without a warrant and without probable cause violated the Fourth Amendment.
    • Assess whether all the evidence from the house should have been suppressed because the use of the Bloodhound device without a warrant and without probable cause violated the Fourth Amendment.
    • Determine whether all evidence from the house should have been suppressed because the warrant issued by the magistrate was based upon information obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
    • Rule on whether all evidence from the house should have been suppressed because the police officers did not knock and announce; the warrant was not a no-knock warrant.
    • Conclude whether the gun used by Stupido should have been suppressed because the officers had no right to search his car at the scene.
    • Examine whether Dummy’s conviction for marijuana possession should be overturned, because he was not read Miranda warnings before making a deal.
    • Evaluates whether Stupido’s confession should have been suppressed, because his lawyer was not allowed to see him.
    • Explain the validity of Dripster’s death sentence for shooting and paralyzing Innocent violates the Eighth Amendment.

The Supreme Court Opinion Final Paper

  • Must be 1,500 to 2,000 words in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
  • Must include a separate title page with the following:
    • Title of paper
    • Student’s name
    • Course name and number
    • Instructor’s name
    • Date submitted

Humanitites

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You are the director at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville. Recently, a wealthy philanthropist and her husband have donated a sizablesum of money to the museum, making it possible to procure a collection of invaluable pieces of art.  The philanthropist has requested that you use her giftin the following ways:  First, you must develop a theme around which to organize your exhibit.  Second, you must choose SEVEN pieces of art that spanthe Prehistoric era to the Late Middle Age.  Here are the parameters for how you must select your artifact:One piece must be a Prehistoric artifact One piece must be an artifact from a River Valley Civilization Two pieces must be artifacts from Greece and RomeOne piece must be an artifact from Post-Roman EuropeOne piece must an artifact from non-European origins, including Islamic, Indian, or Chinese civilizationsOne piece of your own choosing from antiquity or the Middle Ages I recommend the following format for structuring your paper:Introduce the theme of your paper and the artworks you chose. Provide a thesis statement and spend the duration of the paper backing up this thesis withyour seven artworks. Present the cultural background of each artifact and then discuss the artifact itself, including its artistic relevance and how it fitswithin its culture. Conclude by explaining why you grouped these specific artifacts together, how they relate to one another, and why these works bestexpress your theme.

Bussiness ERP Research – Workday

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Scenario

You have just completed your degree and have now joined Abbott, Bronson and Cole, a professional services firm with a strong practice in Higher Education.   You just learned about your first assignment — to help a major university develop plans for a major ERP implementation covering all business operations of the university, and potentially the academic functions as well.

One of the ABC partners, Patricia Abbott, asked that you provide some perspective on the ERP Program currently being implemented at OSU.  She has asked that you prepare a brief memo summarizing the OSU effort.

Your Assignment:

Research the Workday Program at OSU.  Fortunately, The university has provided a website for the community to enhance understanding and awareness for the entire Buckeye community.  This should be your starting place:

https://enterprise-project.osu.edu/about/workday-explained (Links to an external site.)

Navigate from the home page to learn about the capabilities and features of the new business model.  Once you have a good sense of the program, write a brief memo summarizing your findings.  Your memo should address these questions, if possible:

  1. Program Scope:  What business and academic functions will be moved over to the ERP Platform?
  2. ERP Product Suite Selected: Given that WorkDay is the core software suite being deployed, what are the key features/characteristics of the solution.  Are other solutions included within the program as well?
  3. Business Objectives: What does OSU hope to achieve through its implementation program?
  4. Timing and Progress:  What is the implementation timing?  How long will it take, and where is OSU today?
  5. Audit Implications: Are there any accounting and auditing implications that come to mind?

Document your observations in a short memo to Patricia —  1-2 pages, single-spaced.  Be sure to follow class standards for writing memos.  (See sample document.)

Additional Tips:

1. This assignment is intended to get you thinking about the complexity of today’s business environment, and also the inherent risks associated with new ways of doing business.  Additionally, you should gain some preliminary insights into the impact of ERP software on the business environment.  The assignment is also intended to reinforce business writing skills, so be sure to format your response in a well-organized business memo.

2.  You should not conduct extensive research on either Workday or OSU.  Rather, your memo should be a guide for additional in-depth research at a later point.

3. Be sure to follow class standards for writing memos.

job Dissatisfaction

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Assignment 3: Job Dissatisfaction and Organizational/Management Practices

The United States has seen a trend of increasingly high job dissatisfaction. A survey conducted for the Conference Board in 2009 showed that only 45% of Americans were satisfied with their jobs. This was a significant decrease from a 61% satisfaction rate in 1987 (Gibbons, 2010). Job dissatisfaction is highly correlated with a negative impact on organizational effectiveness (Pfeffer, 2007). The origin of much of this dissatisfaction can be traced back to specific organizational/management practices (typically controlled by the Human Resource Management Department). Examples include lack of work–life balance programs, unfair performance appraisal processes, and a lack of training, development, and career planning.

Using the Argosy University online library resources, the readings for this module, and the Internet, research factors contributing to job dissatisfaction.

Review the following from the Internet:

  • Gibbons, J. M. (2010). I can’t get no . . . job satisfaction, that is.
               New York, NY: The Conference Board.

Review the following from the Argosy University online library resources:

Respond to the following questions:

  • Identify two organizational/management practices that you believe contribute to job dissatisfaction and explain why they have such an effect. Use appropriate examples to demonstrate your point.
  • Examine why organizations often do not address this problem effectively.

Your final product should be a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document, which uses a minimum of three sources from professional literature. Professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, and .gov). Be sure that you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

Submission Details:

English composition Paper outline

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This week you must submit your paper outline.

Please use the attached worksheet to complete your paper outline: OutlineWorksheet.docx download

How to write an Outline for a Paper

What is an outline?

An outline can be defined as an organizational plan to help you draft a paper.  Writing an outline before beginning a paper is the most effective way to organize your thoughts.  An outline breaks down the parts of your thesis in a clear, hierarchical manner to help you see the overall format of your paper.

Remember: The three parts of a paper included in your outline are: an INTRODUCTION, a BODY, and a CONCLUSION.

INTRODUCTION‐ State your thesis and the purpose of your research paper clearly.  What is the chief reason you are writing the paper?  State also how you plan to approach your topic.  Is this a factual report, a book review, a comparison, or an analysis of a problem? Explain briefly the major points you plan to cover in your paper and why readers should be interested in your topic.

BODY‐ This is where you present your arguments to support your thesis statement.   Remember the Rule of 3, i.e., find 3 supporting arguments for each position you take. Begin with a strong argument, then use a stronger one, and end with strongest argument for your final point.

CONCLUSION– Restate or reword your thesis.  Summarize your arguments. Explain why you have come to this particular conclusion.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove.  A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts. A good tentative thesis will help you focus your search for information. Remember, your reader will be looking for your thesis.  Make it clear, strong, and easy to find. Sample idea for creating an outline for a paper I will create an outline that focuses on the life of Senator Barack Obama.