Research Proposal:

Your research proposal should be about 1-2 pages (300-600 words) in length, double-spaced and word-processed, and it should address the following questions.  Please respond to the questions in multiple-paragraph form (you may combine questions you feel are related); do not number your responses.  Your purpose in writing this research proposal is to persuade me (and the portfolio committee) that you have carefully thought through your topic at this point, that it is worthwhile for you to pursue, and that you have begun your research.  Your proposal will be evaluated based on its clarity, depth of thought, coherence, and "correctness" with respect to language.  You will only need to submit a final draft.

1. What "problem" have you chosen?  Clearly define it.
2. How did you find and decide on this "problem"?  Why is it interesting to you?   How does it impact your life?
3. What do you already know about this "problem"?  What knowledge, experiences, and observations do you already have about it?
4. Is this "problem" and its solutions controversial or debatable?  Without having done research, what are some possible solutions?  Where do you stand right now?
5. Is this "problem" researchable?  How do you know there are sources out there for information and that you will not be relying solely on your own knowledge, experiences, and observations?  What have you found so far?
6. How are you going to proceed with your research?  What have you already done?  Where are you going to look next?  What search terms are you going to use?
7. Who do you imagine your audience to be?  What might they already know?  What might they want to know?  How might they feel about this topic?  Why are you writing to them?

Note:

If you plan on using this paper for another class, you must let me know at this point; you should also ask permission from the other professor so that they are aware of your plan as well.  Be aware, however, that the paper you submit to me must meet all the requirements for this class; the other professor may have different requirements—you are responsible for knowing and meeting the different requirements for the different classes.

Working Bibliography:

Your working bibliography should contain at least ten (10) sources of at least three (3) different types--books, magazine articles, journal articles, newspaper articles, WWW sites, interviews, etc.  The bibliographic citations should follow MLA conventions, and they should be alphabetized.

Evaluation:

Your research proposal will be evaluated based on its clarity, depth of thought, coherence, and "correctness" with respect to language.  Your working bibliography will be evaluated based on its "correctness" with respect to MLA citation conventions.