Most professions and careers require proposals—of projects or ideas for employment, funding, advancement, or as part of the job. All proposals answer basically the same questions: what, why, and how.
Since Essay 4 is a Synthesis/Inquiry project, I’d like you to write a formal proposal as part of your writing process (and to count as Essay 3). You’ll build on the skills of summary, analysis, and critical thinking that were stressed in all of our previous assignments, both in-class activities and out-of-class essays.
Essay 3 will be, specifically, a proposal abstract. In academic terms, an abstract is an overall summary of a project—from thesis to conclusion—which is written at the end. However, I want you to write a proposal abstract that identifies what you want to research, why you want to research it, how you’re going to research it, and offers some evidence of that research process.
Do NOT wait until 11:55 to submit. The Dropbox will lock at 11:59 PM, and if you have problems, you’ll be unable to submit). See the syllabus for late paper policy.
Over the course of the semester, we’ve been focusing our discussions and writing on the various themes of Experience, Freedom, and Higher Education. We’ve covered strategies for college success, examined texts about the power of language to capture experience, analyzed speeches for how language works to convey a message, and examined how various views of the cost of college and the burden of student loans.
In our class discussions of these issues and topics, we’ve employed multiple perspectives—namely, subjective response and objective analysis. You have learned how to find points of engagement and areas of interest in order to enter into a critical conversation.
For your final paper and project, you’ll be creating, conducting, and writing an inquiry argument. As you will see, this is not a traditional research paper where you gather a bunch of sources, summarize them, and present other people’s ideas in an essay. An inquiry essay is an argument of YOUR design in which the outside sources you use will determine the conclusion reached or the thesis’s argument.
Your role for this final project/paper is that of investigative journalist. You are to “investigate” a subject. Be sure you choose a subject about which you know nothing or very little. This will prevent you from regurgitating unsubstantiated information.
Ultimately, what you choose to write about is up to you. I expect each of you to write unique essays and use appropriate resources. I suggest that you find a text/topic that you’re interested in and run with that.
Remember: WRITE THE PAPER YOU WANT TO READ
This is NOT a book report--there must be an argumentative thesis statement that is the result of the research you conduct.
This is NOT a research paper—don’t just summarize/list/categorize types of sources. You’ll need to propose an answer to your question based solely on what your research tells you.
