Foundational Materials of an Informational Article

For this assignment, select a local and/or contemporary issue affecting your community, region, or state that has public relevance and sufficient credible information available. Examples may include housing affordability, food insecurity, transportation challenges, environmental risks, or another researchable public concern.

Your ultimate goal will be to write a newspaper-style informational article that explains the issue, why it matters, and what solutions have been proposed. For this assignment, you will not draft the full article. Instead, you will complete a research and planning packet that prepares you to write an evidence-based article for a general audience.

Your task in this assignment is to gather information, evaluate sources, and plan an informative, evidence-based article that could be submitted to a local newspaper or nonprofit newsletter.

Required Components

1. Issue & Audience Snapshot (200-250 words)

Describe the issue you chose and explain:

Why it matters to your local area or community

What prompted you to explore it

Who the audience for your article is

What you want readers of your future article to take away and how you will tailor your article to them

2. Working Thesis

Provide the following:

Your exact working thesis statement, presenting the central claim or explanation your article will develop.

3. Article Outline (250-350 words)

Provide the following:

An outline showing the planned structure of your article and the evidence for your arguments.

4. Source Evaluation (200-300 words)

Format this section similar to an annotated bibliography. Include a list of each of your sources in MLA format, and for each of your three sources, discuss:

Why you selected the source

How you determined the source was credible

How the source contributes to your understanding of the issue

How you plan to use the information in your future article

At least one source should address solutions or policy recommendations related to your chosen issue.

This planning packet will serve as the foundation for Assignment 2: Informational Article Rough Draft