The poem is: The little black boy by William Blake
Note well: Assignment instructions
The term “prompt” means assignment or instructions.
This is where you submit your final draft. You will not be submitting a “prompt”; you will be submitting a brief essay.
You are proposing a topic for your research essay–that research paper will be due a few weeks before the end of the semester. This assignment is not the research paper.
Topic Space: Some text that we have read or will read during the course.
Include a working bibliography
You should have a minimum of 5 sources listed altogether. They can be different primary texts that you have glanced at or looked at more carefully. Or you may include secondary texts if you want to go ahead and start looking for secondary sources (academic articles about an author or text).
So the proposal has to have two parts in this order:
Your text: 400-500 words, proposing your topic and plan of action–the plan of action should reflect the next stage in the process, doing the annotated bibliography.
Working Bibliography — 5 Sources Minimum
Study the excerpt from Bergmann’s book that is attached here. Consider Bergmann’s approach to proposals in the handout, especially her two examples of student proposals: your topic is different, but you need to use the same kinds of statements and language. Bergmann Research Proposal Assignment.pdf To reiterate: Bergmann lays out the general idea for this paper on pages 77-79 of the handout. Study the language in the examples–this is what your proposal should sound like. But her examples are not in MLA format: you must use MLA. Note that personal reasons for choosing your texts are encouraged.
What kin do of issue about your text do you propose to research? How have you shaped your research question and why have you shaped it that way? Why is it worth researching? What do you expect to find? How will that help you answer your research question?
Note well: in this proposal you are not doing the research or reporting on any in-depth research. Your research so far has not been focused and in-depth.
The proposal needs to make the case that your research will be worthwhile, that it will serve some good purpose.
Instead of a thesis, you begin with explaining your research question: and you develop the question by thinking more and more carefully about your text or author as you build up your working knowledge or the research on the text.
Formatting: you must use MLA–this means for both citation mechanics and for layout of the whole document.
Sentencing: your sentencing is key to the clarity of your writing and thinking. You sentencing should be absolutely free of these particular errors: fragments, comma splices, fused sentences, and mixed constructions. And if your sentences are unreadable or unclear, you will not succeed.
Final drafts should be between 400 and 700 words.
You are just trying to make the point that you have a good idea for research on one of our texts and good questions related to the idea.
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Here are Bergmann’s focus questions. You will have to make some adjustments for our literary context. You should give clear answers to them in your proposal:
What is the problem? (What is the issue around your text that you want to investigate?)
What is your solution?
How are you going to arrive at your solution?
What product(s) will be the outcome? (Sort of built into your assignments: annotated bibliography and an essay.)
When will it be finished? (By the deadlines . . . ?)
What resources will be used/needed?
But this is not really a problem/solution kind of topic. So how must you alter her focus questions to produce a good proposal in this situation?
Bergmann Research Proposal Assignment.pdf
