The Project Proposal
2-3 pages (Think of this as notes towards your introduction)
Double space Times New Roman 12
1. Explain the artifact you are choosing to research
2. Explain your interest/personal background about the artifact
3. Explain some of the general issues you want to know about this
artifact
a. The historical time period
b. The cultural webs of significance
c. Why is this particular artifact is important
d. Why it is it still important
e. What is your question based on the
given from your research
One
of the requirements of this project is an annotated bib of 40-50 sources.
That
means you will look at 80-100 sources to see what works for you based on your
givens and you central questions.
Take
a look at Purdue's OWL. It is a great resource and will
give you some background.
The
bib is not for me it is a tool for you to use. When you are working with this
much material you need to be able to keep track of it. Let me give you an
example.
My
project is the movie Inherit the Wind.
There
are several themes working at once in this project
- McCarthyism
- Darwinism
- Cold War
- Change of medium from play to
movie
- Intentions of the author
- Interpretations of the audience
- The fictionalization of real
people
- The fictionalization of a real event
My
central questions are:
"What
happens when we exchange one historical moment to explain another? Is it
ethical to fictionalize a historic moment like the Scope Monkey Trial to make a
completely different political point 30 years after the fact? Does the author
"owe" anything to the truth of history?"
So
I watched the movie three times. Read the play before and after each viewing. Read
reviews of the movie from the time period. Watched remakes of the movie. Read
interviews by the playwrights. Read about McCarthyism (because that is what the
play was about) Read about Darwinism and the Scope Monkey Trial (because that
is the historical moment the play is based on) and THEN I started to write the
paper. Get it? Before then I had nothing to say. I didn't know enough to say
anything but puke out what other people have said before. You want to do
something that only you can do because this is your interpretation. This time I am also going to add some interviews to my updated paper.
So
when I come across a source I can't just puke it down and say "There is my
source!" You need to make a note (an annotation) about:
What is an Annotated Bibliography? from Kimbel Library on Vimeo.
- What the source says
- How and where you plan to use this information in the project
- Make note of the direct quote and your summary information of it
- Where to look (very important) inside the document. Tell yourself the quote is on page three of 10 second paragraph. Trust me.
You will be happier when you know where to find the things you have worked
so hard to unearth. When the numbers get this high I guarantee you that
you will not remember why you wanted to use something or what way
important about it.
- If it is not an electronic source
(gasp) then you will have to write it all down and make sure you get
everything that you need.
- When you start to interview people you will do the same to create the annotation. Add whatever notes you need to make it as complete as possible.
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