History 497

Devine

Spring 2014

Paper Proposal instructions

The paper proposal you submit in class on Thursday should consist of the following. In theory, you should have been preparing the required elements of this proposal over the past four weeks; now is your opportunity to bring everything together on paper.

1) Prepare written answers for the following questions:

-- What is your topic? Describe it briefly.

-- What is the main question or set of questions that will drive your research?

-- What will your readers learn from this project?

-- What will make this project interesting to readers? (You might consider how your project sheds light on, complicates, or adds to some broader issue.)

2) Prepare a list of secondary sources that have information pertinent to your topic. They could be books, journal articles, essays from an edited compilation, or dissertations. You should list at least ten sources. Rather than list them alphabetically, however, list them in the order that you think they will be helpful to you – the first source listed being the most helpful and so on.

3) Prepare a list of primary sources that you will likely draw on in writing your paper. Rather than simply list a web site address or a title, you should also give a brief narrative description that identifies what kind of source it is that you are citing. You should aim for five primary sources, but the more you are able to find, the better.

4) Conclude with a paragraph that describes what you will be doing over the next two weeks to work on your paper. Avoid generalizations – indicate specific things you need to do. End the paragraph listing three things you want to accomplish on your paper before March 6th.