Organizing and Brainstorming
 SURF
Table of Contents
dissecting your assignment

How many sources do I need?

  • 2-5 sources for a 3-page paper/5-minute speech
  • 5-10 sources for a 5-page paper/10-minute speech
  • 10-20+ sources for a 10+ page paper/20-minute speech

Once you have a realistic timeline, look critically at your assignment. Do you have to do a ten minute opinion speech or a ten-page paper?

Spend a few minutes actually reading the assignment. It will help you focus your time and effort. Ask yourself:

  • What type of assignment am I doing?
  • How long is the assignment?
  • Who is the audience for this assignment?
  • Are there certain topics that are prohibited?
  • Are there specific types of sources I need?
  • What formatting guidelines are there?

Instructors will use a lot of different words which will clue you in to what they expect you to do for your assignment. Here are some examples of words used by professors and what they expect.

dissecting assignment
text version

WORKSHEET:

View Worksheet

After viewing Dissecting Your Assignment, look at your assignment and answer the following:

What kind of assignment are you working on?



What is the length of your assignment?

OR

Back

Logout



2 of 8 		Next