Introduction to
the
"Prospectus"
updated: 08 Sep 2015
Here are some details on what's expected for the various parts of
your
"paper prospectus" assignment. Think of this
assignment
as a "work-in-progress", a current status-report on where you are now
in
your approach, organization, and research. It's expected that
almost
everyone will want to submit a revised version after getting some
initial
comments.
- working title for your paper
The title lets your reader know right away what your topic is and
indicates
how you're approaching that topic. Clever/cutesy titles are
acceptable,
but you should also provide a sub-title which indicates what the paper
is actually about
- draft of your introductory paragraph,
setting
forth the context
of the problem and your thesis -- i.e., a proposed answer to your
"animating
question"
This paragraph launches your paper and alerts your reader as to what
to expect in the body of the paper. You can rewrite this
paragraph
as many times as you need/want to.
- outline of the whole paper, indicating the
structure of your
argument, and as much as possible of the nature of its substance; i.e.,
you don't have to list all your facts, but at least indicate what type
of facts you'll be providing
The outline provides a means for quickly assessing how you're going
to build the case for your proposed thesis. Therefore, please use
a standard numbered outline format (which most word-processing programs
should be able to provide automatically), with each sub-level
appropriately
indented. Do not use PowerPoint-style "bullets". Use short
phrases (which makes skimming easier) rather
than long sentences (and certainly not full paragraphs). As a
general
rule, if you have only one sub-heading under any given heading, then
you
should rethink your organization. By "types of facts", I mean,
for
example, that if you were writing about the growing impact of the opium
trade on China's 19th century economy, your outline should indicate
where
you would plug in the data on the increase in the number of chests of
opium
imported between 1767 and 1838, but you wouldn't have to give the
actual
figures in your outline.
- current bibliography
- alphabetized by author
- repetition of an author's name indicated by seven underscores
(i.e.,
"________.")
- single-space within each entry; double-space between entries
- "hanging-indent" format
- all of your previous submissions and my
comments,
stapled
underneath your prospectus
It helps me keep track of your progress if all of your work is
collected
in one place
- more on formatting:
- double-space all your text
- indicate page numbers (upper-right corner preferred)
- don't bother with any kind of fancy cover
- for further guidance on formatting and style for your paper as
a whole,
see my Stylesheet
for Term Papers