Homework Assignment 7:  Proposal for Essay 3

To prepare for Essay 3, you will write a one-page proposal that outlines your topic, expectations, sources, and research plan. The proposal should have the following sections:

Statement of Topic 

This section gives a brief explanation of the topic and your interest in it.

Research Expectations 

This section describes what you think you will find as a result of the research process.  For example, if you're researching the effects of the Pearl Harbor bombing on civilians, what do you think those effects were?  What conclusions do you expect to able to draw by reading primary sources?  What information in Polenberg, Leffler, or Chase and Sitkoff has helped you form particular expectations about your topic?

Sources 

This section specifies the types of primary sources you would like to use for the project.  In considering the types of sources that may prove useful, think about the sources Dr. Singh has integrated into his lectures on particular topics.  

If you have already found primary source(s), give complete citations for those sources and write a one- to two-sentence summary of the source. 

Research Plan

This section outlines your plan of attack, indicating what sources or types of sources you will read and the dates by which you will read them.  The section should also indicate the types of writing activities you plan to do throughout the research process.  Will you keep a researcher's notebook, write summaries of each source, or make lists of arguments regarding what the source reveals about your topic?

Questions

This section lists your questions on the process of finding and analyzing primary sources and writing a paper based on a primary source.  If many people have the same questions, we will discuss those questions in class.

Bring your proposal to class on Friday, February 18.