500 words or more
The topic:
Before beginning any form of research, you need to have a clear topic. Think carefully about a
topic that you personally wish to research for the semester research essay project. The sky′s
the limit for your topics of choice. For your proposal, you will need the following:
1. A chosen topic of research (obviously) that is thoroughly explained – Remember
that I may not be familiar with your topic
● This section should be at least 2-3 sentences in length. I need to know what topic you
are interested in researching and what you will be arguing about in relation to your
chosen topic.
2. Objective of your research (What is your goal?)
● This section should be at least 4-5 sentences in length. This is one of the more important
sections because you will be answering the following questions in as much detail as
possible:
● What do you want to accomplish in your research paper?
● What do you want your audience to learn from your research paper?
● What do you want your audience to be able to do after reading your research paper?
3. Justification for your topic (Remember to always challenge yourself with the question,
“So what?”)
● This is the most important section of the proposal. This section needs to be at least 2
paragraphs (5-7 sentences each).
● In this section, you need to discuss the importance of your topic. You will need to answer
the following questions in detail:
● Why is this topic an important topic to research?
● Why is this an important topic that needs to be discussed in an academic setting?
● Why should audiences care about your chosen topic?
● What evidence shows the significance of your topic?
● This means you will need to do some research before completing this part of the
proposal.
4. Methodology (What possible sources will you utilize? Where will you possibly
gather your evidence?)
● This section should be completed before starting any of the previous sections.
● In this section, you will be creating a mini annotated bibliography.
● For this section, you will need the following:
● At least 3 sources cited in MLA format – These need to be valid scholarly sources. Start
with the FCC databases before going to other areas of the Internet to find your sources
● Each citation needs to be followed by an annotation – a paragraph (at least 4-5
sentences). Each annotation needs to answer the following:
What is the source about? – Read each source carefully, and summarize it in at
least 2 sentences.
How might this source be useful? – Evaluate the source, and tell me how it proves
and strengthens your argument. Be sure to tell me what kind of purpose the
source might have in your research paper.
5. Time Table – When do you plan to have the major parts of your research essay
project completed (i.e. Outline, Bibliography, Drafts)
● This section is much more of a plotted out schedule, that I would like you to create and
stick by, throughout the semester.
● Look at the syllabus and the deadlines for each part of the Research project.
● Think about what you would like to have completed in your research every 2 weeks.
● List the dates and the goal you have for that date in your time table. This does not need
to be in complete sentences. You can create a bulleted list or a spreadsheet.
Basic Assignment Requirements
The proposal must meet the following format guidelines:
● Be in MLA Manusсrіpt Format
● Have 1inch top, bottom, right and left margins;
● Times New Roman 12 font;
● Running header with last name and page number;
● MLA compliant title block on first page;
● All content double spaced;
The proposal must meet the following content and mechanics guidelines:
● Must be at least 500 words long;
● Must offer a clear and consistent discussion of the topic;
● Must be organized logically with clear topic sentences that clearly delineate the
progression of the narrative in time;
● Must provide adequate levels of detail and desсrіption to depict the event;
● Must contain a clear introduction, body, and conclusion that discuss the event and
establish its importance to the audience;
● Must contain none of the following major mechanical errors:
● Run-on sentences
● Fragments
● Tense shifts (i.e., present tense to past to future, etc – watch out and correct those!)
● Possession errors
● Capitalization errors
● Subject-verb agreement errors
● Must conform to Standard English Grammar requirements for proofreading, usage, and
spelling.
