Project Proposal

By now, you are aware that the major assignment in this class is to write a research paper and give a presentation. I have told you many times over the course of the quarter what this is about: an inconvenient truth...a topic that nobody seems to want to acknowledge or talk about.

I have even given you some examples of topics that are somewhat broad, and I've said that I hope you don't simply use one I mentioned without at least considering other possibilities. The reason I do this is that I want you to choose topics that have some personal relevance to you, your friends, or your family. Some of you have already talked to me about topics, and in fact, in one or two instances the topic relates back to the first-day essay you wrote, about a secret you are keeping. It is not just a coincidence this has happened, I thought that it might. Topics with deep personal connections will inspire you to do your best research, because you care deeply and personally about doing a great job. In fact, the intellectual quest you are on might in fact have real tangible benefits to you, your classmates who will hear your presentations, or friends/family who you can eventually share this information with. I am even trying to plan a way to post all your powerpoints online, if you choose to allow me to. It would be a tremendous artifact of our class--something to be very proud of--if we could put them there for the world to see. The assignment for Tuesday is to complete your proposal and post it to the blog.

It should be 500 words, single-spaced...roughly, the same length as your summary/assignment #1. It should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction can be telling a story, giving some examples, or presenting the audience with some startling statistics. In the body--which can be one paragraph or a few--you should explain exactly what the topic is and then why it is "inconvenient." [Now that I think about it, the body seems like it should be two different paragraphs]. In the conclusion, you should specifically address what your *research questions* are. In class last week, I told you that these are the questions you hope to answer by working on your paper.