Assignment: Research Proposal
One of the keys to completing a successful research project is to narrow a broad subject to a specific topic. One way to do this is to prepare a research proposal that discusses your central focus, provides a working model of your thesis, and covers key conceptual areas tobe discussed in your paper. Such a proposal will also list potential sources that you might use to support your thesis. This proposal will serve as a preliminary step to your third paper of the term (Paper 3).
For this project, you will be required to write a formal research proposal of at least 2 pages (the list of potential sources does not apply toward the page count). Remember to include the following sections:
A General Framework:
Provide relevant contextual information on your research. It will be helpful to answer the questions in the HCR on page 78.
A Specific Focus:
Describe the specific focus of your project for the reader, highlighting the methods you used to narrow the topic. This section should also contain your working thesis statement.
Potential Sources:
List, in MLA Works Cited Format (remember ex. 14.1?), the potential sources that you are considering for your project. Assemble them in alphabetical order, just as you would on an actual Works Cited page. Remember, they are potential sources, not the final list for your research paper. Therefore, there should be more potential sources listed than the minimum number required for the research paper. The minimum source requirement for Paper 3 will be four sources, so you need at least five for the proposal. I will also be looking for a wide range of source types. You will need to find at least one book and at least one scholarly journal article.