1. What purpose(s) will this assignment fulfill, in terms of:

•  increasing my students' understanding of and practice in writing? 

•  increasing my students' intellectual growth through writing?

•  using writing to strengthen my students' understanding of the course material?

• What kinds of growth in writing and intellectual skills will the assignment promote to build on the preceding assignment(s)?

• How does this assignment anticipate it and other writing assignments still to come?

• What preliminary writing practice will they get in using necessary concepts, methods, vocabulary, and so on? 

• What formal or informal writing tasks will provide this preliminary practice?

• What models will students examine so that they know what I expect from them?

• What materials and exercises have I prepared/made available for students to assist them with drafting, revising, and editing?

5. How will I provide critical feedback?

• How many rough drafts will I ask for? How will I respond to them? How detailed will my comments be? Will students also have the opportunity to revise the final paper if they have shown me a draft and received feedback on it?

• If I am not asking for rough drafts, will the students have the opportunity to revise the piece of writing they hand in? How will I structure that process? Will there be a time limit on revisions? How will I determine grades for revised assignments? 

• How will I help my students understand and evaluate what they learned as they wrote and revised this assignment? 

• How can I help my students repeat what they have learned through working on this assignment when they write other papers for my class and for other classes?