Proposal and Final Paper
 

I went over the proposal, final paper, and associated due dates rather quickly in class on 
Thursday March 18, so some reminders and clarifications might help. So here they are
(I will also post to the wiki).

Big picture: a draft proposal is due Tuesday the 23rd (2-3 pages), I will also meet to discuss 
your ideas in conferences Tuesday - Friday.  You will give brief presentations about 
your proposals on March 30 and April 1. Final proposals (4-5 pages) are due April 1. 
The final paper, due at the end of the semester, ~May 15, will be around 8-10 pages. 

The details: for next Tuesday I'd like you to compose an initial draft/plan. This can be
provisional and exploratory, and is just 2-3 pages (but more if you wish, or are further
along with your plans). This does not need to be highly polished. Your draft should 
basically state the following: a) what you plan to write about and why (why you are interested in the
topic and/or why you think it's important), b) what you are thinking of doing in the
paper, c) how you plan to do this - what texts are you thinking of using, or if you
are planning on analyzing a text, site, or object, what this will be.

Take a look at this document to get an idea of the main paths former
students have taken.

Note that these paths describe the final paper. So your first proposal draft would just
describe the kind of project you are planning, and where you hope to go with it.

So on Tuesday March 23 I'd like you to post your 2-3 page initial "pre-draft" on
the discussion board. 

I will meet with students Tuesday - Friday (March 23 - 26) to talk 
about your ideas and suggest ways of developing and/or revising the plan
(there will be no class Thursday 25).  The sign up page for conferences is here.

I would also like you all to do informal peer reviews using the discussion board (more on that soon). 
(If needed, these reviews can come in later next week as people post their work.)

On Tuesday March 30 and Thursday April 1 I want students to present their 
proposals. This will be short and informal, but ought to help share ideas, identify
projects with overlap or similar interests, and also identify potential opportunities for 
collaboration.

The final version of the proposal is due April 1. This should be about 4-5 pages,
(one page of this will be a works cited page).

I will meet with everyone this week. After that, in the time we have left, up until ~May 15,
I will give feedback on as many drafts as people care to share with me. You can 
put new drafts in your Google folder then email me. 

I will also be available to meet over zoom to talk about drafting work. You just need to email me to
set this up.