English 5376

Project Proposal

Audience: The class, the instructor

Purpose:
To do preliminary planning for your writing project and receive feedback during early stages; to practice communicating your ideas clearly to a professional audience.

Assignment:
Write a proposal communicating your ideas about your project and your general knowledge about writing in your field to the instructor and the rest of the class. The proposal should also be somewhat persuasive in nature; you must convince us that this is indeed a worthwhile project within your field and within the parameters of this class. Remember that this class has members from multiple fields--write so that any graduate student could understand the basics of your proposal.

Elements of the Proposal:
Address the following in your proposal

• Provide an overview of the project: what is the topic, what research question are you exploring, what is the scope of your project. If applicable, discuss any work that you have already completed on this project.
• Discuss the importance of this topic in your field. What need/gap will this project address? What larger conversation within the field will you be joining?
• Identify the academic/professional genre that your project will be written in. Discuss why you have chosen this particular genre. Also discuss audience--who will read your project beyond the parameters of this class?
• Discuss what is considered "good writing" in this field and for this genre--what are the expectations? You don't need to talk about general "good writing" issues, such as grammar, organization, etc. (these are assumed). What expectations are specific to your field?
• State what documentation style is expected (APA, MLA, IEEE, Turabian, etc.) in your field. Identify a resource that will help you with writing and documentation in this field. (Note: this means a reference book about writing, not a source that is about your specific topic).
• List, using the documentation style above, three scholarly sources related to your writing project topic.

Grading:
The grade for the proposals is an all-or-nothing grade; you either get 100% or a 0. However, you will have multiple opportunities to get that 100%. I will meet with each student individually about the proposal, and after our discussion, you may be asked to rewrite some or all of it to earn that 100%. The point of this assignment is to make sure your project is feasible, is professional-oriented, and has a clear purpose from the beginning.

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