Note that some of the answers to these questions will change as your research progresses; in fact, you will be asked later on to reevaluate the answers you give here, so don’t worry about completely thinking them out now.

1. What is the broad topic of your assignment?
   
   
   
2. What poem or short story have you chosen or is referred to in the assignment?
   
   
   
3. Are there literary or rhetorical terms in the assignment that you need to define before you can begin? List these terms and refer to The Bedford Introduction to Literature to find their definitions.
   
   
   
   
4. Explain or define the topic you just identified. What do you want to illustrate?
   
   
   
   
5. What types of materials (e.g., works of art, historical documents, etc.) would be most helpful in illustrating your topic?
   
   
   
   
6. How does the assignment ask you to link the multimedia materials to the poem or story found in The Bedford Introduction to Literature?
   
   
   
   

• Item of information:
  
  
  
• URL of relevant Web site:
  
  
  
• Who is the author of this information or the owner of this site? What is the source of this person’s or this group’s authority on the topic? What does this tell you about the reliability of your information?
  
  
  
  
• When was this information posted? How does the currency of this information affect its applicability to your project?
  
  
  
  
• Are there basic flaws in the presentation of this information (i.e., spelling and grammar errors, missing information, lack of citations, many dead links, etc.) that make you suspicious about its accuracy? Why would such flaws lead you to question the site's reliability?
  
  
  
  
• What is the purpose of this site? Is it trying to sell you something? Is its domain:
  
  .edu? This site could be a reliable and authoritative source or it could simply be a student's homepage or a posted student paper. Review the information carefully to determine its author or source.
  .com or .net? This site could simply be a glorified ad, or it could be a sponsored, reliable, and authoritative site. Review the information carefully to see if it’s trying to sell you something.
  .org? This site could be maintained by a reliable, recognized, and respected nonprofit organization or a questionable fringe group. Review the information carefully to determine the level of bias it contains.
  
  What does this tell you about the reliability of your information?
  
  
  
  
• Can you isolate the factual information on the site from the opinions and interpretations? Examine the site again and look for bias in presentation. Do the author’s language, tone, and approach lead you to accept his or her authority on the topic or cause you to question it?
  
  
  
  

• What is the subject of the assignment?
  
  
  
• Do your materials relate to this subject and your focus? Explain the relationship of the materials to the subject.
  
  
  
  
• If you are going to write from these materials, do you understand them fully enough to put them in your own words, interweave them with your own ideas, and avoid plagiarism? Summarize your information in the provided text box. If you cannot do this, search for different materials.
  
  
  
  

1. What is the focused topic for this assignment?
   
   
   
   
2. What is the relationship between the story or poem in The Bedford Introduction to Literature and the materials you researched on the Internet? (Explain how you are to use these materials as supporting research and how you will compare/contrast them with the Bedford piece and establish a context.)
   
   
   
   
   
3. Review and assess the materials you gathered. Which fit the best with the assignment’s purpose? Provide concrete examples from each of the online sources that you could use as support within your essay.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Review the assignment and your materials, including the Bedford story or poem if relevant. Within the context of the assignment, what conclusions can you draw from these materials? Do some quick prewriting in the text box that follows.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Go back through all of the previous questions and use your answers to develop an outline from which to write the first draft of your essay.
   
   
   
   
   
6. For help documenting your sources, go to Diana Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online or use Bedford/St. Martin’s Research Assistant Hyperfolio.
   
   

1. What is the focused topic for this assignment?
   
   
   
   
2. What is the relationship between the story or poem in The Bedford Introduction to Literature and the materials you researched on the Internet? (Explain how you are to use these materials as supporting research and how you will compare/contrast them with the Bedford piece and establish a context.)
   
   
   
   
   
3. Review and assess the materials you gathered. Which fit best with the assignment’s purpose? Provide concrete examples from each of the online sources that you could use as support within your essay.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Review your description of the connection between your materials and the topic. Could this connection form the basis for the assignment’s written material? If so, use the text box that follows to do some prewriting for this purpose.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Does your assignment require that you provide concrete examples from the online materials? If so, use the text box that follows to identify key examples that you can integrate into the project.
   
   
   
   
   
6. If your project requires that you include images, how might you integrate these with the textual component?
   
   
   
   
7. Your multimedia project should show some understanding of how to effectively present the materials you have gathered. Because this project takes a form that may be new to you, leave time to show your project to your peers as part of a review process. Without telling them the actual assignment, ask them to identify the project’s purpose. If they have a great deal of difficulty, you should revise the project. You may have tried to include too many external materials or you may not have gathered enough. Your presentation may not be as clear as it could be, or the link between your images and text may not be strong enough. Leave time for revision before you submit the final version.
   
   
8. For help documenting your sources, go to Diana Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online or use Bedford/St. Martin’s Research Assistant Hyperfolio.