RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Proposals should be typed and double-spaced, with an MLA style heading. In place of the
title, include your question for exploration.
Compose a paragraph explaining how you chose your research question. Provide a
personal narrative or background information to explain the relevance of this particular
question to you personally. Then provide reasoning to show why you believe this is a
significant question to explore. What is the value of exploring this particular question to
you personally, to the wider culture, or to humanity?
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES
Compose a paper, 6-8 pages (including the Works Cited Page), MLA style, exploring a
question in depth. You must include a minimum of 8 sources and a maximum of 10
sources, including scholarly articles, books, interviews, documentaries, films, or surveys.
The first section of your exploratory paper should present the question you intend to
explore and an intriguing introduction including relevant background history regarding
your interest in the topic. You may tell a story, describe an incident, relate a humorous or
profound narrative, or include a thought-provoking meditation. This section should answer
the following questions: How did your interest in this subject develop? Why is this
particular subject so engaging? How did you arrive at your question? What will an
exploration of this subject accomplish? Why does this exploration matter? Your
introductory section should be approximately one page in length.
The second section of your exploratory paper should present your research findings in an
organized and efficient manner, including significant quoted material. This section will
include several paragraphs arranged according to a specific organizing principle. Your
first paragraph should provide a brief overview of your research findings, explaining the
differing perspectives, and a description of the order your research will follow. The
following paragraphs should disclose some aspect of your research findings, including some
paraphrasing and direct quotation, properly cited according to MLA style, using in-text
citations. This section should read objectively, simply reporting your findings in an
unbiased manner. This section should answer questions such as: What are the differing
perspectives discovered in my research? What is the basis of those differences? How does
each particular source defend its perspective? Which sources seem more reliable and why?
This second section of your paper should be approximately 2-3 pages in length.
The third section of your exploratory paper should describe your findings in depth,
including your conclusions regarding the subject and how you arrived at those conclusions.
Transitions in your perspective should be analyzed in depth. The third section of your
paper should answer questions such as: How did my perspective shift during the course of
this exploration? How has my perspective changed upon completing this exploration?
What answers, if any, did I find? What was the most unusual or surprising aspect of this
exploration? Why did I reach this particular conclusion? What influenced my thinking the
most? How will this affect my life in the future? The third section of your paper should be
approximately 1-2 pages in length.