Title, Strategy, and Organization Workshop

1)  Compare these working titles.  Which best prepare the reader for the paper that follows it, and which suggest most strongly that the authors are "authoritative"?  If your partner's paper has an effective academic title, congratulate him/her and move on.  If not, help him/her develop a more effective title.

Product Purchase Recommendation
“The Dash”
Purchasing a Hybrid Vehicle: Why the Toyota Prius is the Right Choice
Purchasing An Affordable Digital Camera for the Student Abroad
Apple Ipod Nano
The Superior Snow Tire
Panasonic LCD HD TV’s
Personal Player (trying to go for a play on “personal trainer” .. don’t think it works though)
Looking for Fantastic Rock Bass Tones? Join The Brotherhood of Clang- Get a Rickenbacker.
Picture Perfect
The Ultimate Sailing Dinghy to Appeal to Everyone
SUV: Safety is Undeniably Vital
Got Graphics?
Choosing the Best Item
Gaming Machines At Their Best
 

2)  Help the author develop a more specific description of exactly how the paper's best readers will use the product it recommends.  Add at least three details to the author's current picture of how the readers will use the product.

3)  Think about how the paper is currently organized.  Does it move from the readers' needs to the product's features in a way that eliminates contenders in a reasonably organized fashion?  Help the author improve the order in which the product features are used to delete contending products to leave one standing at the end.

4)  Work especially hard to eliminate positive prejudice from the paper.  If claims are made based on manufacturers' web sites, ask whether they have been independently verified?  If not, help the author figure out how to get that verification.  If no alternative products are considered, help the author figure out what they would likely be and how information about them would affect the recommendation.

5)  Look at the overall format of the paper, and make sure the author has turned on page numbering, has provided proper in-text parenthetical citations, and has a properly formatted Works Cited entry for each source.  Remember that a "naked" web URL is not a source citation.  Readers should not have to go to a web site to discover the kind of source being cited.  The URL is necessary, but not sufficient to document an online source.  When in doubt, consult the course style sheet, which you also can find linked to the home page menu.