English class,

Proposal Essay

This assignment has three interrelated goals:

1. To help you develop the necessary skills to create a class A proposal, considering context, research questions, sources, timeline, and larger implications.

1. To give you practice working with the Research Proposal as an academic genre.

1. To provide an opportunity for working on stylistics and effective academic discourse.

FORMAT:

Your essay should be at least FIVE FULL PAGES and in MLA FORMAT. Please include page numbers, a heading, in-text citations and a properly labeled and formatted works cited. You may use images in your draft if you wish – just please use them rhetorically, not decoratively.

In addition, be sure to cite any sources (textual or image-based) that you include in your draft and to include a bibliography/works cited at the end that includes a minimum of five sources.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND STRUCTURE

Your proposal should have a well thought out title and contain effective visual rhetoric as appropriate. It should be a traditional, linear Word document in MLA format. Make sure you are hitting the following parts within your essay (do not include subheadings. They are not needed):

Introduction.

This introduction should be designed to interest your reader in your topic and proposal and provide some historical/cultural context for your project. At the end of your introduction, include a tentative thesis to indicate to your reader that you are entering your project looking at your topic through a critical, analytic lens -- this thesis can state your intentions, but it SHOULD NOT BE IN FIRST PERSON.

A good formula for an introduction is context + problem/complication + proposed argument or research question. Each stage in this formula should be a few sentences long. If you are not ready to construct a hypothesis at this point, be sure to include at least one well-thought-out research question to indicate what line of inquiry you’re going to use in your research.

Body

In your body paragraphs, make sure that you are addressing the problem and its solution. MORE SOLUTION THAN PROBLEM should be in this essay. What are you proposing? What are you offering to the world?

Conclusion.

In your conclusion, address the "So What?" of this research. That is, why does what you are investigating matter as more than an academic exercise? Why should your audience want to read it? Why does it matter?

Works cited

If you cite any sources, you'll also need to have a works cited at the end of the proposal, with the citations in MLA format. Any parenthetical citations in the text itself should also follow MLA guidelines. You can find more help on in-text citations and works cited format through the TCC website or Purdue OWL.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

At a minimum, there needs to be some content for each of the sections listed above. Students who submit drafts that represent very little effort and are pronouncedly incomplete will receive a ½ grade (i.e., A- to A-/B+) deduction from their overall grade from this assignment.

An exceptional research proposal revision will contain •

· An interesting, focused introduction that captures the reader’s attention, clearly identifies the topic, and concludes with either a hypothesis or a research question (using the first person – “In this proposal, I will …”) that provides a strong guiding principle for the rest of the proposal

· Clear articulation of topic; a move toward sophistication and complexity of approach to the topic, one which narrows a broad topic to a manageable scope

· Strong transitions between sentences and ideas, producing prose that is fluid and organic, with clear and logical structure, producing an overall sense of coherence in the proposal

· Use of clear, concrete language and example to develop ideas; attention to detail • Strong sense of audience, including an understanding of the readers’ values, assumptions, expectations, and level of expertise in the topic under discussion

· Strong control of style, language, word choice, diction, syntax, sentence structure, and consistent and authoritative voice in writing

· A strategic, powerful, and appropriate use of rhetoric appeals

· Effective use of source material (textual and visual as appropriate), which is integrated into the author’s prose and argument, and is meticulously documented in proper MLA parenthetical citation form

· Attention to strategic and powerful document design

· At least 6 well-developed sections, creating a strong underlying structure for the proposal: an introduction; research method & sources; timeline; body paragraphs conclusion; & preliminary bibliography or works cited

· A research method & sources section that includes specific examples of texts, methodologies, and search strategies, with rationales for the use of that particular research plan

· A timeline that integrates attention to class deadlines for the research project with the student’s individual research practices and academic/extracurricular commitments

· A conclusion that synthesizes earlier sections of the proposal while thoughtfully addressing broader implications (the "So What?" of the project)

· A works cited and/or preliminary bibliography (as appropriate) containing at least 5 sources, in correct MLA form with notation as to how the author searched/located the sources

DRAFTING TIPS

Since this is a formal piece of writing, be strategic in your stylistic choices, especially in your introduction and conclusion. Think about starting with example, a quote, a statistic, a question, a fact, an opposing opinion, etc. Also, use concrete language and specific example to grab your reader. And for your conclusion -- don't trail off at the end. Conclude with a solid statement, something that makes us think, or at the very least makes us understand your project and want to read more about it.

Think of it this way: if you were writing a proposal for a $10,000 grant, how would you convince your readers that they should fund your project? Would you use bland language, or would you finely craft it?

Don't forget the power of visual presentation. How your proposal looks reflects on your argument and your persona as a rhetor. For instance: Do you want indented bullet lists or ones flush against the left margin? Do you want to use horizontal lines, color (it is going to be read on-line after all), boxes, shading, etc. to format your text? Do you want to embed relevant images -- not as decoration -- but as evidence for your argument?

Don't forget to format your sources correctly: Article titles should be enclosed in quotation marks; titles of books should be underlined or italicized. Also, if you quote, remember to cite your sources.

Overall, don't just go through the motions -- use specifics and concretes in your language and development as much as possible. Make your proposal an interesting read!

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