The Research Project gives you an opportunity to use all of your developing skills in summary, analysis and synthesis to develop and pursue your own line of inquiry. You will embark on an extended investigation into a literary text. For this semester, our class has been given a choice between two plays: Fences and Doubt to use as your primary text. Your analysis of this primary text will be informed and complicated by the work of other experts in the field. The end product will be a thoughtful, critical, and persuasive thesis-driven essay about the meaning, power, and/or structure of a literary text supported through literary analysis as well as secondary sources.
The next step of this research project after the Annotated Bibliography is a formal Research Project Proposal, in which you present your plans for the project. Your Research Project Proposal will need to cover each of the basic elements described below. Craft a good paragraph for each section using the same headings.
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Research Agenda
What have you chosen as your primary text(s) and why?
What is interesting/noteworthy/confusing about this primary text(s)? What makes it worthy of further study?
What do you hope to learn?
Summary of Primary Text
As with all of the summaries of literary texts we have written about this semester, you’ll need to cover the basic plot point, characters, setting, and conflict/resolution of the story.
Imagine that your audience has either not read this text or has not read it in many years. Your goal is to give them enough information to understand your analysis.
Contextual Considerations
This is where you will discuss the kinds of secondary research you have done/will do.
What arguments have other literary scholars made about this primary text, about this author, or about similar primary texts?
How does or how might biographical research about the author, historical research about the setting or time of publication, and/or other contextual research contribute to a deeper understanding of the primary text?
Research Question/Working Thesis
What angle do you plan to take? What is/are your research question(s)?
Do you have a current hypothesis or working thesis about the power, meaning, and/or structure of the text?
How does your developing argument contribute to the broader conversations you’ve been researching?
Plans
One of the most important parts of writing a successful research-based paper is management of time and tasks. In this section, therefore, plan out your strategy for the rest of the semester. Look at the due dates on Blackboard, reflect on your experience with previous assignments, consider your other deadlines in other courses, and develop a specific strategy for successfully completing this one. Include a timeline with clearly delineated tasks.
I have provided a model research proposal for your review as you work on this piece of the project. I have also provided a rubric. As always, if you have questions, please email me immediately.
