Research Topic
Your writing assignment for this week is a Research Topic Proposal for your essay. Please write a one page (at least) Proposal, in which you fully answer the following
questions:
1. Topic and purpose: What is your proposed topic? What is your purpose for researching and writing on this topic? What do you want to learn and discover on this
topic? What do you want to achieve by researching and writing on this topic?
2. Argument: What tentative thesis would you like to propose? Note: this tentative thesis can—and maybe should—change as you research the topic. What I am asking here
is how you feel about the issue today.
3. Audience and assumptions: Who is your audience for this research topic? Why do you think this audience would be interested in such a topic? What knowledge does this
audience already possess on the topic (if any), and what beliefs does your audience already hold on the topic?
4. Context: What other viewpoints are currently exist on your topic (that you know of)? What other opinions will you need to acknowledge and understand? What kinds of
outside sources do you think will be most useful for you to use: scholarly articles? books? newspaper articles? interviews? videos? statistics?
You can answer these questions in numbered paragraphs if you wish, or you can format your Proposal in a traditional essay form. Just be sure to fully respond to each
prompt. Submit your Topic Proposals here!
