this is not an optional step (and it may take more than one try); read this carefully; look at the sample
Note: before you turn in a proposal be sure that you have read all of the information about The Reseach Paper on the class website. 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 support one popular conspiracy theory from between 1952 and the present, your topic will not be accepted, and you will have wasted time you need to complete the project. If you do not fully understand the requirements, you will not be able to do the proposal correctly.
The Research Proposal (the first part of the project you will be turning in for review) asks you to do a few things:
what is it, and what do i need to include?
Type this up in MLA format. That means you will correctly set up the font, margins, spacing, heading, headers, title. The thesis statement and notes (the notes are optional) will go on Page 1; the Works Cited page will start on page 2.
1. a thesis statement
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: your thesis must be in a very specific format; I will not accept it otherwise. Yes, of course, I do know there are many ways to write an effective thesis, but I am requiring you to follow a fill-in-the-blanks format so you 1) stick to the topic and 2) have all required elements. Here is the required template:
Although history tells us that (the official version goes here) , actually (name of one conspirator you are accusing) and (name of second conspirator you are accusing) (did what? what is the theory?) because (give the motive here) .
Here is what that fill-in-the-blanks template looks like without the explanations in parentheses (yes, all of your thesis statements for this particular paper are going to begin with the word "Although" and will have to follow this template):
Although history tells us that , actually and [did] because .
And here's a sample of what that looks like with those blanks properly filled in:
Although history tells us that Kurt Cobain shot himself to death with a shotgun, actually Courtney Love and Mr. XYZ (you need to find the second name if you choose this topic) murdered him because he threatened to divorce Love and leave her penniless.
Again, you must follow that exact format for this project. If you do not name two conspirators by name ("government" is not a person's name), you will have to revise this. If you do not directly accuse the two conspirators of some sort of cover-up or wrongdoing or hoax, you will have to revise this. If you leave any element out, well ....
Also remember that the conspiracy theory cannot be any earlier than 1952.
2. (optional) a few notes
Jot down some notes on the sorts of things do you anticipate including in your argument to make a case supporting the conspiracy theory (if you were inspired by a show or an article or a lecture, then you will already have quite a bit of information)
3. an MLA-format Works Cited page
You need at least three substantive sources at this point that discuss your topic. Do not use sources like Ask or Snopes or Wikipedia; remember that books are good; for most of these topics I expect you to have one or more book sources, not just short Web sources.
Note: these must be put on a separate Works Cited page, and they must be in MLA format. Do not guess; do not imagine you know how to do this from memory. Look at the samples; have your browser open to the Purdue OWL site as you put together your Works Cited page. This is entirely about looking carefully and following directions exactly.
sample
To view a sample student research proposal (on the Roswell cover-up), go to Etudes > Resources > Essay Assignments > Research Paper (there are samples on every stage of this project there)..
some additional thoughts
Producing a workable proposal takes a bit of time. You will want to do the following:
Really study the requirements of the assignment. Yes, this Proposal (especially the fill-in-the-blanks thesis formula) will help you some, but make sure you know what topics are OK or not, what you will be producing along the way, and so on.
Once you think about your potential topic for a bit, jot down some very quick notes on a piece of paper. They don't have to be complete sentences, and they could be in all sorts of forms--brainstorming, clustering, a list, a scratch outline, a formal outline--whatever you want. What do you (think) you know about the topic? What are some issues that relate to the topic? What is the official version of the incident you are writing about (for example, officially, Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman in the President Kennedy assassination)? What contrary version do you intend to support (for example, one theory suggests that Lyndon B. Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover had Kennedy assassinated because Johnson wanted to be president and Hoover was being investigated for corruption in his running of the FBI)? What sorts of things would you have to put into the paper (and in what order) to develop this argument and, maybe, convince a general reader? Since you have not yet done much research, your first list of notes will probably be very short.
The due date for the proposal is on the Schedule page, but do try to get it in early; the proposals often need revising (sometimes more than once), and you want yours approved as soon as possible so that you can move on to do the detailed research and writing :)