Your proposal should be 6-8 pages, (about 1800-2400 words) and provide 1) an overview of your work in progress, 2) a description of your specific argument, and 3) an annotated bibliography of related sources.

The paper must be typed, double-spaced, and on one side of the page. Leave no more than a 1 1/2-inch margin on both sides of your page, number your pages, and fasten them together (staple or paper clips; staple is best).

 You will have the opportunity ahead of time to discuss your proposal topic with me in my office during the week of November 28th.

Guidelines for writing the proposal

What is the difference between an 8-page English essay paper and an 8-page English "written proposal"? One way of distinguishing the two is that ultimately an 8-page paper is only the finished project and doesn't show the thinking, reading, and research work that went into it. The written proposal asks you to document not only your argument on any given topic but the process by which you arrived at your topic and your thoughts on that topic.

 The final thesis project (due next semester) will require you to have done more extensive research and analysis than you may have ever done before in your career as an English major. The stakes are higher, but the written proposal allows you to gradually develop your abilities to do extensive research and to make a long detailed argument in your thesis.

 One way to think about the proposal is that it is sort of a formal written statement of the "halfway point" of your research for the eventual thesis. It's sort of a formal "snapshot" of your work up to date.

For the written proposal, I am asking you to do three tasks:

Provide an overview of your work in progress (1-3 pages)
The overview should include a general description of your own thoughts on your project. How, for example, did you select you topic? What drew you to it? What sort of themes, issues, problems that we have explored in class are you particularly interested in? What is you topic? What works of literature are you interested in focusing on? How do you locate your project within a specific academic "field" (e.g., children's literature, gender studies, ethnic/colonial studies, etc.)? What will be your general approach or focus as you go about investigating your topic? What sort of problems are you having in researching your field? What uncertainties still disturb you in thinking about your topic? What areas or topics interest you but still need to be pursued later on?

Describe in general your basic argument (3-5 pages)
This part of the proposal should resemble most closely a conventional (short) English essay. In the description you should try to describe the specific point you are making concerning your topic. The description part could easily resemble a long response assignment. The main difference between the response essay and the description is that the description should demonstrate evidence that you have done outside research. In other words, it should include specific citations of outside sources.

Include an Annotated Bibliography (1-3 pages)
The last section of the proposal is an "annotated bibliography." In other words,  it needs to be a listing of sources related to your specific topic, written down in proper MLA citation form (the "bibliography" part). Each citation should be followed by a short (2-3 sentence) summary of the basic points or argument of the source (the "annotated" part). The annotated bibliography should simply be attached to the first two sections of your written proposal. Include 7-10 sources in your annotated bibliography.I will provide a bibliography of useful or interesting scholarly works related to issues of war and Western culture that I hope will  help to get you started on your search for information. (Many times you can also find a useful bibliography of secondary material in the back of a given edition) You may also initially consult the list of interesting links at the bottom of the Culture of War syllabus webpage. It might be best, though, first to reflect and brainstorm on the topics and works that might interest you before embarking on your research at the library.

Good luck and happy hunting!