The Proposal Assignment
Vitals:
- Length 700 to 1000 words
- Specific writers and articles worth responding to
- MLA or APA format with Works Cited / References list and citations where appropriate
Submitted to canvas - Due Saturday, Sept 1st at 11:59pm, Proposal Project in Canvas
Note that it is strongly encouraged that you visit office hours to discuss your project with me before submission. Office Location & Hours: 1180D this Wednesday 1:30-3:00. Thursday 12:30-2:00 (extended hours this week to talk proposals).
Let’s take a look at the short project description:
In the proposal project you will articulate to me which discourse community you will join. Medium.com facilitates this process during account creation, since it offers you a variety of topics you might be interested in reading about. You will begin by selecting one of these topics and identifying which authors or outlets you will pay attention to–continue building off your community research assignments. You will also identify active places on the Internet at which people are writing and commenting and identifying a few of the major personalities that drive this community. I am interested in learning what you can add to this community, and how you see yourself fitting in. We will discuss this project more during the first week of class.
The proposal project is meant as an exercise in invention, in generating ideas that you can execute in the coming weeks. Writing on deadline every week can be more difficult than it might seem; this stage of the semester is meant to help you develop a wealth of materials that you can revisit in future weeks.
Grading Rubric:
- Sufficient Research: [51%] while I can’t put an exact number here, I’ll be looking to see that you have done your homework, so to speak, and that your paper reflects reading and research into the topic by explicating the names, sites, terms, activities, etc central to your topic. This should include numerous citations (both quotations and/or paraphrases). I leave the precise amount vague because some of you will go very deep on a small number of sources, others might be shallow but spread wide.
- Arrangement: [13%] Following below, I’ll be looking to see that your proposal reads like a proposal and follows the genre conventions we identify in class.
- Edited Prose: [13%] I expect that you will have carefully edited your prose for correctness and clarity. Also, since we are dealing with digital documents, I will be checking that links are properly hyperlinked.
- MLA or APA format: [13%] I will be checking three things here. First, I will be looking to see that your proposal is formatted according to MLA or APA guidelines. Second, I will be paying attention to how you format *subject headings.* Third, I will be paying particular attention to how you use direct quotes and/or paraphrases (checking the parenthetical, quotation marks, commas, etc).
Genre and/as Proposal
First, let’s talk about the term genre. Then we’ll talk about some of the fundamental parts of any proposal. Finally, I want to flesh out what my specific expectations are for the arrangement of this proposal.
I would like your proposal to have 3 sections:
- Project Description
- Preliminary Research
- Potential Topics for the First Two Weeks
The first section should be a Project Description. In a few paragraphs, this section should give me an idea of what you want to write about this semester: what community will you join? What is your background in the topic: are you a novice just joining the conversation or have you been invested in this for years? Is that investment casual, or is it more rigorous? Why do you think this community is important and worth doing right now?
The second section should be Preliminary Research. This section should give me concrete specifics about the community. Who are the people currently writing about this topic? Who does your community consider experts? Whose writing would you want to emulate (who is really good at this?) Point to a few specific articles from the links we have provided that looked good to you. Point to a few sites that are currently publishing that you might also draw upon. Make it clear what places you will be reading for ideas. I’m not looking for a mere bulleted list here, but rather a section that flushes out some of the key nodes in the discursive community you are engaging.
Given that you will be publishing on medium.com, I will expect your paper to detail a few of the writers there who are doing good work. We’ll talk more about this in future classes as we get to know medium.com.
The final component of the proposal is your Potential Topics. Here is where you trace out what topics you think your community will be addressing over the next month, so that I get a sense of “proof of concept.” You aren’t in any way wedded to these topics: I have said before, the primary force driving this semester is the idea of community. Communities are always reacting to unpredictable events in real time, and I want your process to be fluid enough that you can switch on the fly. But, at the same time, I want you to do enough research into your community that you have a sense of upcoming events, releases, problems, that your community will likely address.
I have developed a proposal template that you can use to begin the project. Note that it is not in MLA or APA format. This is meant as a heuristic, a process for discovering, improving, and organizing an idea.
Again, let me stress that you have freedom to design a project that interests you. My central concerns are that 1) you read things every week and 2) you develop the ability to summarize, synthesize, and react to those readings productively. I know this happens more if you are interested and engaged in what you are writing about. Don’t develop a topic because you think I will like it. Develop a topic because you think you will like it.
Homework
Get started drafting your proposal. Find a few more resources in addition to those from your community research assignment and post them to Canvas (one post: Monday Aug 27th and Tues Aug 28th constant writing). Be ready to contribute to a class list on Wednesday in the Ross computer lab (Ross Hall 1240).
