Proposing A Research Question

• Format: Typed, double-spaced, submitted as a word-processing document.
  12 point, text-weight font, 1-inch margins.
• Length: 250 – 400 words (approx. 1-2 pages)
• Value: This project will be graded out of 100 possible points, and will be part of the Unit 1 Assignment, worth 15% of the grade for the course.

Overview:

In Unit 1, we have been reading the published writing of other writers critically in order to begin developing our own “invitations” into topics that interest us. We used textual analysis to break down the context, voice, thesis, and other elements of existing written texts. We also used invention strategies to begin exploring specific issues that interest us as we read and reflect. Finally, we exercised our critical literacy skills in order to evaluate the content and context of sources. For this Unit 1 Assignment, we will put these research and invention skills to work in the creation of a research proposal that gives shape to the general topic and specific issue we want to pursue the basis of our larger research project for this course.

Assignment:

Write a brief research proposal in which you identify a topic that you want to address and define the existing context for the topic, including how different groups have engaged with the topic.

Your research proposal should

• offer a specific research question and thesis for your proposed project
• provide enough context to explain why the topic is relevant and how it has been addressed by other writers
• make clear how your project will add new insight to a contested issue relevant to the topic, whether through offering new information or analysis, proposing a solution, or extending existing perspectives in novel ways

Components:

In order to finish this project, you have completed the following parts over the past few weeks:

• Invention/Prewriting Activity: Critical and Rhetorical Analysis. Submitted online to Canvas.
• Invention/Prewriting Activity: Activity: Entering the Conversation and Establishing Stasis. Submitted online to Canvas.
• Final Research Proposal:  Your final submission. This final draft should meet all of the assignment criteria, and will be evaluated with the Unit 1 Assignment rubric.

Objectives:

In this project, you will

• Identify a topic that you will research further in this course
• Narrow your focus from a topic to a specific issue
• Demonstrate your ability to analyze existing perspectives on the topic
• Develop a research question focusing on the issue you will pursue
• Articulate and develop your own perspective on a relevant issue