Dietel-McLaughlin / FYC 13100 / Fall 2010

Print-Based Research Essay Proposal

Directions: Please complete the following proposal in a Word document. When finished,
please save your document as LastnameFirstname_PROPOSAL.doc and submit it via the
Concourse website. Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on FRIDAY, October 1.

Your Name ________________________________

Research Question _____________________________________________________________

Working Thesis _______________________________________________________________

Possible Main Points to Support Your Thesis:

1) ___________________________________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________________________________

4) ___________________________________________________________________________

Possible Counterarguments to Your Position:

1) ___________________________________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________________________________

A Few Possible Sources (give specific titles/authors):

1) ___________________________________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________________________________

Exploratory Draft (type and attach to this sheet):

First section: You should begin with something like “In this paper I plan to,” followed by “argue
that,” “propose a solution to,” “speculate about the causes for,” or whatever you plan to
accomplish with your essay. Also explain why this topic is interesting to you and why you
think it’s important that other people know about it. You should provide relevant background
information to show the need for and importance of the research you are proposing.

Second section: Talk a little bit about your intended audience and what that audience has at
stake in the controversy you are researching. Who will benefit from your research? Who is in a
position to be persuaded? How do you plan to convince that audience to agree with you?

Third section: Discuss what sources you’ve found and what other ones you would like to look
for. What kind of information will your audience expect? How will you accommodate those
expectations? How are you going to integrate source material from the course? Where are you
having trouble finding information?
Dietel-McLaughlin / FYC 13100 / Fall 2010

Fourth section: Share any concerns or questions you have about this project. Where do you
think you might run into problems? Put some thought into this – the more specific you are
about your questions, the more I will be able to point you toward some answers.