Sections of the Proposal
Part I: Topic Overview
· Topic/Issue: a paragraph (7-10 sentences) that presents your topic and a bit about why you chose it. You may also consider discussing a little bit of the history and why the issue/topic is relevant today.
· Thesis: needs to be a working thesis, argumentative/persuasive in the sense it presents an opinionated perspective on the issue (1 or 2 sentences).
· Major Support Ideas: a paragraph (7-10) discussing what you think might be some major support points (also be thinking about ‘sections’ – Part I and II) within your essay.
Part II: Annotated Bibliography
· Min. of 5 Annotated Bibliography Entries: Review the annotated bibliography handout found in the assignment. It may be useful to first complete this portion of the proposal before producing the previous sections. Parts of an ‘anno bib’:
-Works Cited Entry (Citation): Often can be copied/pasted if the source is found through the library and/or databases.
-Summary of the source: This should be a short paragraph relating what the article is about. Annotated bibliographies are for your use, so the summary should focus on what you found to be the important or key ideas. This will help you recall and organize sources for larger research projects (7-10 sentences).
-Assess the article’s usefulness: Like the summary this should be a short paragraph (7-10). After the summary, measure and think about how you might use this article in your own work or essay. Assessment can be broad (The essay looks at how violence in video games continues to escalate. I could easily employ descriptions of programs as support for how the depiction of violence has become extreme) and/or specific (quote on page 3 par. 6, perfect for my paragraph on how extreme violence is being consumed by children as young as toddlers).
In total, the proposal should be around 2-3 pages (it may be single spaced).