IAFS 1000

12 Oct 2009

Paper Proposal Assignment

Paper proposals are due at the beginning of lecture on Tuesday, November 3.  Your assignment is to identify a topic in international affairs that you will address in your final paper.  Your proposal must be analytical, rather than merely descriptive (keeping in mind that your final paper must have a clear argument, rather than simply providing a summary).  The proposal must include three things: 1) clear questions, 2) a preliminary discussion of methods, and 3) a statement of significance.  In other words,

1) You should specify the question or questions you will attempt to answer; alternatively, you might present a working hypothesis.  Either way, this section must tell us what you want to analyze.

2) You must also briefly explain the methodology you will use to do so.  This section will tell us how you will go about answering the questions outlined in the first section.

3)  You must answer the “so what?” question.  Why is it worth writing a paper on this topic?

Your proposal must be at least two pages, double spaced.  In addition, you must submit a preliminary bibliography (using the Chicago bibliography format).  Keep in mind that we suggest you use a minimum of ten sources for your final paper.

As you prepare your paper proposal, you may find it helpful to look at the grading sheet we will use to evaluate your work.

Paper Proposal Grade Sheet

Name:

Proposal Title:

__________________________________________________________________________

Topic:  Includes clarity of topic and proposed questions; overall concept of proposal.

Grade: ____/40%                     Remarks:

Organization and Use of Materials:  Includes use of appropriate concepts; overall logic of proposal.

Grade: ____/40%                     Remarks:

Writing and Style:  Includes quality of writing; grammar; presentation (was the proposal proofread? does the title convey the paper topic?); citation format.

Grade: ____/20%                     Remarks:

_____________________________________________________________________________

Overall grade:   _______/ 100%                                   Letter grade:

Late penalty/length penalty (if any):

Overall impression of proposal:

For additional comments, please see margins throughout.