Select a person or an event that played a significant role in the development of multimedia and/or the Internet.

Be sure to select an appropriate topic; one where you can find sufficient resources--online and/or offline--to write a paper of 5-8 pages. Creativity is encouraged; if you pick a person or event I talked about in detail during class, you cannot get a grade higher than a B. Need ideas? Stop by my office and I can offer some suggestions.

(A few I'd really rather not read about, only because I've already read so very many papers on them: Steve Jobs, Steve Case, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, David Filo, Jerry Yang, Pierre Omidyar, Vint Cerf, Linus Torvalds, Tim Berners-Lee, Vannevar Bush, Marshall McLuhan, Doug Engelbart, Marc Andreessen, and Grace Hopper.)

Write the paper in your own words. If you plagiarize any of the paper, you will fail not only this assignment, but the entire course. (Web sites with examples of what does and does not constitute plagiarism can be found in the readings for our class on research, copyright, and ethics.) I will submit your paper to TurnItIn.com, which will check it for plagiarism.

Be creative, and don't be afraid to be personal. This does not need to be a formal research paper (though you still need to cite your sources of information, including web pages and books). Explain why you chose this person or event--what meaning and importance does she/he/it have for you? What did you find out that you didn't know before? Don't just summarize the facts that you find...that increases your risk of plagiarism, and decreases your chances of a high grade. Instead, do the research, then put the books and printouts away, and think about how you'd explain to your best friend or your parent what's important or interesting about the topic you've chosen.

The paper should be submitted to me both electronically (as a .doc or .rtf file uploaded in the Files section of myCourses), and in hard copy format at the beginning of class.

Here are the guidelines for writing and printing out your paper:

• The total length of the paper should be no fewer than 5 pages and no greater than 8 pages, not including the title page or bibliographic references. A page must have at least 250 words on it to count in the page count. (That means the paper must have a minimum of 1250 words!)
• Use a serif font (e.g. Times, Bookman, Century Schoolbook, Garamond) in a 10 or 12 point type size. Use double-spacing between lines.
• The margins should be no greater than 1" on each edge.
• Do not put an extra space between paragraphs, but do indent each paragraph(by no more than 1/2")
• Put your name, my name, the quarter (041 or 20041 or Fall 2004) and the course number (4002-320) or name (Intro to Multimedia) on the first or title page, and your name and the page number in the upper right corner of each subsequent page.
• Use a style manual, such as APA, MLA, or Turabian to format your paper, footnotes/endnotes, and bibliography. For more information on citing sources, try the Internet Public Library guide to research and writing (link will open in a new window).
• Include a bibliography of all articles, books, and online resources you use to research your topic. There should be at least eight references, of which at least four should be books or magazine articles. (This bibliography is in addition to any footnotes used in the report, and does not count towards your overall page total.)
• Proofread and edit your writing. I also suggest that you use a style guide (e.g., Strunk & White) to improve your writing style. Use your spelling checker! Spelling and grammatical errors will count against your grade.
• Print the paper out on a laser or ink-jet printer, and staple all pages together in the top left corner (do not use plastic paper covers, binders, or folders).

Your paper will be graded using the criteria below. The assignment is worth up to ten points; total points for each component are shown below.

• Appropriateness/creativity of topic 2 pts
• Quality/originality of content 3 pts
• Quality of writing (grammar, syntax, etc) 2 pts
• Thoroughness of bibliography 3 pts

The paper is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, September 21st.