Week 1
Topic Proposal Assignment
GOAL: After proposing a few topic options to your peers, choose the topic you want to investigate during the quarter. This assignment asks you to not only solidify that choice but to provide solid reasons why it is a good choice. REMEMBER: your topic must sustain your interest throughout the entire class.
ASSIGNMENT: Click here to download the template to complete this assignment. Please see attachment
All responses must be in complete sentences with correct grammar, punctuation, etc. Be sure to answer each question fully and completely.
1. What is your topic? It should be complex, debatable, narrow, academic in nature, and long-lasting. For example, issues such as “social media” are not specific enough. In this example, a more focused and acceptable topic would be “the impact of social media on teenage depression.”
2. What problems are associated with this topic? Who or what do those issues impact? How? Before you can discuss solutions, it’s essential to establish that an issue actually is a problem that impacts many people or the world in a significant way. If it is something that only impacts a few people a year, is it really a problem? A weak choice may mean you will run out of steam on the topic before the quarter ends.
3. What do you know about this topic? Build on your working knowledge to explain some of the key groups or individuals discussing the topic, the conversations being had, and the various perspectives being represented. What are people saying about this issue whether pro, con, or somewhere in-between?
4. Create a total of three research questions to explore throughout the course. Pose these as neutral, open-ended (can’t be boiled down to a “yes” or “no” answer) questions. The questions should match the assignment goals of each essay.
