The Assignment
For the Proposal, write a short informative essay to explore the topic you’ve chosen from the options provided. This essay should not be argumentative at this point. As you learn more about the topic, you will gather information and present it without including a bias.
Here are two short articles that will help you understand the purpose of this short essay:
Informational EssaysLinks to an external site.
Exploratory EssaysLinks to an external site.
Address the following points:
📝Introduction: Outline the topic. In this section, you will give background on the topic of your choice.
Start with a hook (it would be wise to use the video you watched as a lead in).
Next, describe the significance of the topic: In this section, you will explain why this topic is important. Who does it affect? What’s at stake? What will/could happen if people don’t do anything about it?
If you need to expand or don’t know where to start, use the journalistic questions. Do a brainstorm of a timed freewrite to generate ideas, and then put them together into a paragraph form. What does this social issue entail? Why is this important? Who does it affect? When, where… Introduce the issue to your audience.
For your thesis statement here, you can use this format:
While some people argue that…, others believe that…. (Do not take a side yet. This is informative for now).
This thesis statement will introduce the two main sides of the argument. That leads nicely into your first body paragraph about side number 1:
📝Paragraph 1: about one main side of the argument. Follow TEAL. Include a source.
📝Paragraph 2: about a main opposing side of the argument. Follow TEAL. Include a source.
📝 Paragraph 3: Explain when and how the research would be conducted: Describe how you plan to do your research. Will you use the library databases? Will you interview a number of people? Will you read other reliable sources (such as newspaper articles)? This is your plan. It is possible that in practice, some of these things don’t work out. You may plan to interview people who don’t respond. Or maybe you conduct surveys that don’t yield the information you needed. That’s what research is about! It’s trial and error, and requires planning in case something doesn’t work.
📝 Paragraph 4: Make a bullet point list of 3 to 5 research questions. What are you interested in learning about your topic? What information, details, and data do you want to find out more about? What do you not know yet that you think you should investigate? These are some ideas.
📝 Time table: when will you do research, brainstorm, meet with a tutor, complete your outline, start drafting, revise, complete final draft? You can create a table or use bullet points to itemize these dates. Consider when things are due so that you can plan ahead.
Outline:
Intro: outline the topic (may use one main source if you find one that presents the issue. Use this source like you’ve used the novel: introduce it by title and author and summarize it. This is still an introduction, so don’t include any citations).
Main side of the argument (with source)
Main counterargument (with source)
Indicate what your questions will be as you dive into your research.
Explain when and how the research would be conducted
A list of tasks to accomplish with dates showing when you are planning on doing these activities. It doesn’t matter if you keep to these dates or not, but planning is key for this essay. You may use the same dates I give you for the deadlines, or you may set up earlier deadlines for yourself.
i.e.:
Research 1:
Librarian Consult:
Tutor visit:
Research 2:
Research 3:
Outline:
Drafting:
Requirements
500 to 1000 words
Format:
Intro (what will you research and why),
Main argument 1
Main argument 2
Research questions
How you will do the research
time table
Format in MLA and
Include a Works Cited page
Three sources:
the video that inspired your topic
two articles for each main side of the article. These can be from popular sources like for Essay 2. A librarian can help you find what you need much faster than if you search on your own. You can drop in if you like, but you can call or chat. I recomment Paula Pereira since she’s worked with my topics before.
At this point in the research, the articles can be popular printed or online sources.
