Discussion (?) 4

this is not an optional step (and it may take more than one try); read this carefully; look at the samples

Before you turn in a proposal be sure that you have read all of the information about The Reseach Paper on the class website. I also strongly recommend you look at the Student Samples in the Week 5 Readings folder on Canvas; use those as models. There are very specific requirements about acceptable topics, what the thesis must include, and so on. For example, if you try to write about anything that does not cover one of the following three topics, it will not be acccepted:

• Research an unexplained/unsolved mysterious phenomenon (like a particular UFO siting or the appearances of the Loch Ness Monster; based on the evidence you research, you must explain that this is not just an imaginary of scientifically-explainable phenomenon but that it is actually real. So you are taking the side that there ACTUALLY WERE alien autopsies in Area 51, for example, and you need the credible evidence to support that argument.

  OR

• Research an unsolved mystery (it need not be a murder, but it is much easier if it is); based on the evidence, write up a reasonable argument for what actually happened. For example, who is a reasonable murderer in the Jack the Ripper or the Black Dahlia murders?

  OR

• Research and support one popular conspiracy theory from between 1952 and the present. Yes, you are taking the a side that is not historicalldy accepted because there is sufficient doubt that the historical version is correct. And you are supporting just one version of the conspiracy theory even if there are several. For example, history records Marilyn Monroe died of an accidental drug overdose. There are many different conspiracy theories that suggest otherwise. One of them presents a lot of evidence that President Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy (both of whom were later assasinated) had her murdered to silence her from revealing damaging information about them. If you chose that theory, you will not include other theories.

The Research Proposal (which you will be Posting to the Discussion Board this week for review) asks you to do a few things:

1. briefly write some background intruducing your topic
2. craft a thesis statement that must follow a prescribed format (see below)
3. produce a tentative Works Cited page (more on that below as well)

is there a particular format that you need to follow?

The short answer is, "sort of."

If you were in my face-to-face class, you would be required to turn this in (typed, printed out) in strict MLA-8 format. Of course Canvas is not designed to be a full-featured word processing software, and although you actually could emulate MLA format on the Discussion Board, it would be a big pain. I am not requiring that. However, you are going to get as close as you reasonably can by following these guidelines (again, if you look at the Student Samples in this week's Readings folder, you will see one Proposal done in full MLA format and the same done for Canvas; please look):

1. You will have a brief (about a paragraph) opening that introduces the topic. It will essentially give some highlights about the case or conspiracy and explain that it's never been satisfactorially solved.

2. NOTE HOW ALL THREE BEGIN WITH THE WORD ALTHOUGH; there are certainly other ways to frame an argument thesis, but I actually explained in a lecture why this is a good opening strategy.

   • If you select the unsolved mysterious phenomenon option, your thesis will look like this:

     Although many consider it just a fantasy or urban legend ______________________ is actually real.

     EXAMPLE: Although many consider it just a series of false sightings and legend, Bigfoot is actually real.

   • If you select the unsolved murder/crime topic, follow this template:

     Although police have never found the killer of _______________________, the murder was actually committed by _______________________ .

     EXAMPLE: Although Jonbenet Ramsey's killer was never located, she was actually murdereed by her brother Burke which was then covered up by Jonbenet's mother.

   • If you pick the conspiracy theory topic (note: this must be a conspiracy theory, and you must be able to name conspirators by name), follow this template:

     Although history tells us that ____________________, actually there was a cover-up by __(name names of individual people)__ who did ____________ because __(motive)_.

     EXAMPLE: Although the official cause of Marilyn Monroe's death was accidental overdose, she was actually murdered by Peter Lawford working with John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy because the president and attorney general feared she would reveal secrets they had told her during their affairs.

     NOTE: there are several different Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theories with different names and motives given; you can choose ONLY one theory to support.

3. A Works Cited page with at least three sources at this point. At least one of those sources must be a book source. Even though I do no expect you to have double spacing and hanging indents, be sure your list has all of the information required for MLA-8 format entries; maks sure the order of information, the punctuation (periods, quotation marks, italics, etc.) are done correctly. The list needs to be in alphabetical order. NOTE: I prefer Accessed dates on electronic sources.

a few important final notes

Yes, this may take more than one try; it often does. Try to get your Proposal on the Discussion Board early.

If you do not get your Proposal onto the Discussion Board on the due date (or before), you will have to type it up in full MLA format and send it to me as a Word docx attached to an e-mail. You won't earn the DQ points for it, but I will still go over it to see if it is acceptable or if it needs a bit more work.

Likewise, if your Proposal has still not been APPROVED by the Discussion close date/time, you will have to type it up in full MLA format and send it to me as a Word docx attached to an e-mail. In this case, however, it will earn the DQ points because it was posted on the board on time.

I will not read a Research Paper if the Proposal has not been APPROVED, so you cannot skip this step. Late Research Papers are subject to late penalties, and they will not earn any grade if they are more than a week late.

samples

Please read the Student Samples in this week's Readings folder on Canvas. Don't guess, and do realize you are not alone.