Assignment: Opening Paragraphs and Outline for your Book Introduction
Length: 1-1.5 pages of your opening paragraphs, and 2 page outline of remaining introduction
Due Date: March 5, 2015 March 19, 2015
Purpose:
To ensure that you are thinking about how to draw together arguments about research from different
disciplines and sources in your project, you will write the first 1 to 1.5 pages of your larger introduction,
which will be workshopped in class. You will need to consider how to use these first paragraphs as a
narrative hook, thinking about possible approaches into your more substantive argument. Along with
these introductory paragraphs, you will also need to provide an outline for the rest of your introduction
that demonstrates an engagement with each level of the conversation surrounding your topic, exhibits
your ongoing research, and provides a clear trajectory and argument for the final project.
This assignment should include:
1. Tentative title for the book you are writing an introduction to.
2. First 1-1.5 pages of book introduction
Basic structure:
-An engaging “narrative hook” –why should the reader care about your topic? Talk in general terms
rather than technicalities. Examples of narrative hooks include beginning with anecdotes, laying out a
problem to be addressed, posing intriguing questions, etc. The purpose of a narrative hook is to draw
the reader in. After your hook, the reader should want to buy the book you are writing an introduction
for!
-Define your question. In this section try to be as specific as possible.
2. Outline of remaining book introduction (approx. 2 pages)
Basic structure:
-Outline of the disciplines that you would like to engage with in your paper (if possible, include a key
citation for each discipline).
Remember, you need to include at least one source from the natural sciences, social sciences and
humanities.
Examples of the Natural Sciences (not exhaustive): biology, medicine, statistics, environmental
studies, occupational safety
Examples of the Social Sciences (not exhaustive): Psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology,
law, public policy, government, political science, behavioral science
Examples of the Humanities (not exhaustive): Literary studies, media studies, cultural studies
-Thesis paragraph of your book: What is the overall question will your book try to grapple with? How will
it use different disciplines to look at the question from multiple disciplines?
-Bullet points of your chapter titles that have creative titles and describe what disciplines you would like
to engage with. What aspects of the risk described in the introduction will you tackle in each book
chapter?
Overall, this section should be well-researched with at least 2-3 preliminary sources cited from
published literature (scholarly journal articles, books, etc.)
Some overall guidelines:
-Try to really focus on one or maximum two questions and really define and examine the question from
all angles.
-Don’t be afraid to incorporate arguments that conflict with, contradict or question your key arguments.
Your introduction will likely be stronger if you acknowledge and/or address conflicting perspectives on
your topic.
-If you are struggling with how to incorporate all three disciplines, choose one that is most interesting to
you to focus on and then build smaller examples for the other two.
-Avoid vast generalities. Instead of trying to represent a whole discipline (ex. Instead of saying the field
of economics says…; Try: This article published in the Journal of Behavioral Economics argues…).
Remember, even though you are writing for a general audience, your writing should be well-researched.
COME TO OFFICE HOURS AND TALK IT OVER WITH US!
Here is an abbreviated example of what we would like to see for this assignment. For this example, the
general topic is: the occupational risks of being a police officer.
Tentative title: 9/11 and Police Militarization in New York City: We feel like we are at risk for terrorism
and therefore we must be at risk for terrorism
Short Example of the first few paragraphs of an introduction (yours should be longer and researched in
more depth, but just so you have an idea of what we are looking for):
Example hook: The year is 2015. Crime and violence in the city of New York are at historical lows. Yet,
men and women in the NYPD have just been authorized to use machine guns for anti-terrorism efforts in
New York City. How did this happen?
[Paragraphs about the risks of terrorism and increased militarization of the police force]
Specific question: How did the individual, interpersonal and societal perception of risk towards terrorism
change for police officers in the NYPD following the terrifying events of 9/11?
Short example of the outline for the remaining book introduction (yours should be longer and
researched in more depth, but just so you have an idea of what we are looking for):
Discipline 1: Psychology — How did men and women in the NYPD help each other through the trauma
after the attacks?
Citation: Dowling, Frank G., et al. "A peer-based assistance program for officers with the New York City
Police Department: report of the effects of Sept. 11, 2001." American Journal of Psychiatry 163.1 (2006):
151-153.
I will use this source to talk about how the police force has really tried to promote efforts to heal itself
and work through the issues of Sept. 11.
Discipline 2: Cultural studies — How have our cultural perception of the risks involved with being a
police officer change after 9/11?
Citations: Images of the police in popular television show NYPD, Episode 22, Season 2 compared with
episode 24 of 24
I will use specific scenes from these shows to make a point about our police force going from people
who swore to protect at all costs, to people who are hypervigilant to terrorism in light of 9/11 related
events.. [Describe specific scenes]
Discipline 3: Medicine — What are the lasting health implications of exposure to the 9/11 attacks?
Citation: Pietrzak, Robert H., et al. "The burden of full and subsyndromal posttraumatic stress disorder
among police involved in the World Trade Center rescue and recovery effort." Journal of psychiatric
research 46.7 (2012): 835-842.
I will use this article to show how the mental health effects of being involved in the acts of 9/11 were
really traumatic for many individuals on the force. These people relive these moments everyday even as
they continue to serve the city. The threat of terrorism for them is not a 14-year distant past, but an
everyday reality that they may seek to shield themselves from future acts of terror.
Thesis  In this book I would like to explore how the increased militarization of the police force has its
roots in the horrific acts of 9/11. I will examine the cultural, interpersonal and individual risks perceived
by the police force. While the police have a societal duty to protect the public, their personal encounters
with terrorism change their perceptions of risks associated with their jobs.