One of the most important things to emphasize about writing is that it is a process; a good paper goes through several stages before it can be complete. For this first major paper, that will start with a proposal. The proposal is not binding–you don’t have to commit to what you propose here–but it will definitely help you start thinking about what you want to do and say in your essay. This proposal should do three things. First, it should name the reading you’re interested in writing about for your first major essay. This reading should be one of the three readings assigned during week 3, and you should pick just one, not more than that. Once you’ve named the reading, you should explain why you chose it, and what you want to say about it. That’s it. Just give an account of your reason for picking the reading, and an outline of what you want to say about it. Try as hard as you can to be specific about the things you like or that you find compelling about the argument. The more focused you can be, the better. For instance, if you say, “I like Kang’s essay because it’s convincing and because it addresses cultural issues,” I’m going to say in response, “well what’s convincing about it? Where do you see him being convincing? What are the cultural issues it addresses?” If you can be specific in the proposal, I’ll be able to give you better feedback and you’ll be further along when you write your draft.
Nuts and bolts: 350 words, MLA style, submitted as a Word draft.
