Topic and Question.
In this section you should identify your detailed topic and 8-10 research questions.
● Significance.
In this section you should address the questions “So What? Who Cares?” Why does this topic matter to
you or to anyone else? Try to avoid personal relevance and approach it from an academic standpoint.
● Plan.
Familiarize yourself with the work ahead by reading the assignment schedule. Make a timeline. Identify
important steps (for example, gathering sources, reading sources, composing drafts, revising, tutoring
session) and, for each step, identify and list a completion date. In other words, create a detailed schedule
so that you can manage this long and involved process. As you plan, be sure to account for other
demands on your time, including other classes, work, and family obligations. (Remember, you are not
just submitting the schedule of assignments from the professor’s syllabus.)
Just a few reminders about topics:
You want something that is academic and something narrow and persuasive. You don’t want to end up writing a paper that just re-presents what others have already said about the topic. This isn’t to say that you should change topics but that you refine them and narrow them as you go on through this process leading up to the final paper.
This checklist was in the boards but I will post it here as a refresher:
is there something new to say about this topic or will I just be repeating what all the sources have already said?
is this as narrow and specific as it can be? (ex. a topic generally on the effects of social media as opposed to the representation of queer black men in a certain film or tv show)
is this an academic topic?
is this topic one that lends itself to a persuasive/argument paper or is it merely informative?
does this topic allow me to draw from various disciplines or would all my sources be too similar and unvaried. Research Paper due 5/14 I need timeline (the plan out) to have specific dates. Aslo need a annotated bibliography for all sources cited.
