Paper Proposal Assignment
As all of you know, you will need to submit a paper proposal for your
major paper this term. The proposal must be no less than .5
pages, but no more than 1 full, typewritten, double-spaced page in
length, and written in Times New Roman font at 12-point pitch. No
footnotes are needed for this assignment.
Instead, your proposal should first and
foremost state succinctly (in 1-2 sentences) the precise topic for your
historiographic essay. Second,
you should identify the specific, narrowly defined question that, in
your view, the group of historians in this field are trying to
answer. Third, you
should propose a
preliminary thesis that encapsulates where this field of historical
scholarship has been, where it is going, and where it should go;
obviously you will only have a guess at this by the time you complete
this proposal, but even attempting a guess is helpful in getting you to
think about what needs to be done in the essay. Fourth, the paper proposal should
specify which major historiographic perspectives you will be addressing
in the paper (you must address at least 3 but I would recommend against
addressing more than 5) and the scholars who represent these
perspectives. Fifth and last,
the paper proposal
should consider whether your historiographic essay will deal chiefly
with ideas or theories, particular facts that scholars in your chosen
field are trying to establish, or the challenges of primary source
material. It may be you will deal with all three of these
matters, and, then again, that may not prove to be so. As with
the fourth goal of the proposal, the key is make an attempt here so
that you are thinking about this matter.
Once completed you must submit you paper proposal to the class Turnitin
web portal. With this road map in hand, you will be in good shape
to generate a sound piece of historiographic writing of which you can
be
proud. Remember that the key to success here is to define your
topic narrowly and precisely. Good luck!