ACC 422 Apples acquisition of Beats Music Business Combination Paper

Merger/Acquisition Paper InstructionsYour paper should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper with 1” margins on all sides. You
should use a clear font that is highly readable. Your paper should include a title page with your name
and institution name listed along with date of submission and a list of references properly cited. The
length of your paper should be between 2-3 pages not including the title page.
You can follow the basic guidelines provided below to structure your paper. Obviously, they can vary in
length and in paragraph number. However, you will find everything you need within the confines of this
skeletal structure in order to write a comprehensive paper.
Let us go piece by piece through this basic structure to examine the elements of this style.
1. Introduction
The Introduction consists of an opening line. This opening line can be a generalization about life that
pertains to your topic. It can also be a quotation. Another segway into the introduction is to start it with
a little anecdote (or story). By “breaking the ice” so to speak with the reader, you are luring him or her
into the rest of your paper, making it accessible and intriguing. Once you have “introduced” the
introductory paragraph with a generalization, quotation, or anecdote, you can write vaguely for a few
sentences or simply jump into the crust of the argument. When you feel you are ready to introduce the
specific focus of the paper, then you write the thesis statement. The thesis statement should generally
come at the end of the Introductory Paragraph. If you are writing about a particular book, author, or
event, you should name it (in entirety) in the thesis statement. You should also list your argument with
its supporting evidence in this sentence. Essentially, the thesis statement is your tagline for the paper
and the final sentence of the Introduction.
2. Body Paragraph One
The Body Paragraph One should open with a transitional sentence. It should lead the reader into the
first piece of evidence you use to support your thesis statement, your argument. It is essentially a minithesis for the paragraph. From the transitional/opening sentence, you can go on to cite evidence to
support your argument. This evidence must all revolve around a single theme and should come in the
form of a quotation (or factual information from a primary source). If you put too many different
themes into one body paragraph, then the paper becomes confusing. Body Paragraph One will deal with
one theme for your argument. You may have several pieces of evidence to support this one them, which
is absolutely fine. Once you use a piece of evidence, be sure and write at least one or two sentences
explaining why you use it. Then, wrap up the Body Paragraph with a mini-concluding sentence summing
up only what you have discussed in that paragraph.
3. Body Paragraph Two
Body Paragraph Two should follow the exact same rules as Body Paragraph One. This time, pick the
second theme in support of your thesis argument and cite evidence for it. Again, you must open this
paragraph with a transitional sentence; one leading from the previous theme to the current theme.
4. Body Paragraph Three
Body Paragraph Three should follow the exact same rules as Body Paragraph One and Two. Again, you
must open this paragraph with a transitional sentence; one leading from the previous theme to the
current theme.
5. Conclusion
Your conclusion is a wrap-up of the entire paper. It takes your introduction and essentially says to the
reader, “See, I told you so.” You should be writing your conclusion with the belief that you have proven
everything you have set out to prove in your paper. You are allowed to be confident here, and you are
even allowed to drop little extra pieces of information that make the reader think more than you
previewed in the entire paper. It is also important to have a concluding mini-thesis in this paragraph.
This statement is the closing tag-line, the “see what I just did” idea in every paper. A paper can be
immaculately written, organized, and researched; however, without a conclusion, the reader is left
dumbfounded, frustrated, confused.
It is important to remember that this is a rough sketch by which to write your papers. If your topic is
quite complicated, then you may have infinitely more evidentiary paragraphs than three. Furthermore,
you can expand your individual themes, as well. You can write two or three paragraphs in support of
“theme 1” (or Body Paragraph One). The most important thing to remember here is consistency. If you
have two or three paragraphs in support of one piece of evidence, then you should have the same
amount of paragraphs in support of all sequential facts.
Here is a diagram of the basic paper guidelines. Remember, “Body Paragraphs” simply stand for Specific
Ideas for your thesis. There can be many more than simply three.
•
I. Introduction
1. Opening
▪
Sentence
▪
Anecdote
▪
Quotation
▪
Generalization
2. Explanation of opening, leading into Thesis Statement
3. Thesis Statement
•
▪
Name, Title, Event
▪
General argument
▪
3+ reasons why your argument is true (3+ pieces of evidence)
II. Body Paragraph
1. Opening Sentence (pertaining to Reason/Theme #1)
2. Explanation
3. Evidence A
4. Explanation of evidence A
5. Possible evidence B
6. Explanation of possible evidence B
7. Mini-conclusion only about Reason/Theme #1
•
III. Body Paragraph 2
1. Transitional/ Opening Sentence (pertaining to Reason/Theme #2)
2. Explanation
3. Evidence C
4. Explanation of evidence D
5. Possible evidence E
6. Explanation of possible evidence #F
7. Mini-conclusion only about Reason/Theme #2
•
IV. Body Paragraph 3
1. Transitional/Opening Sentence (pertaining to Reason/Theme #3)
2. Explanation
3. Evidence G
4. Explanation of evidence H
5. Possible evidence I
6. Explanation of possible evidence I
7. Mini-conclusion only about Reason/Theme #3
•
V. Conclusion
1. Transitional sentence wrapping up paper
▪
Return to original anecdote/quotation/generalization
2. Reconfirm your argument, recounting how you have proven it
▪
Write a mini-thesis, this time with more assertion
3. Possibly throw out a new idea (related to your thesis)
▪
Optional