| Due Dates: | Requirements: |
| Working draft: February 8, 2000 Final draft: February 15, 2000 |
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Write a research proposal that identifies your topic for research, explains the purpose of research, shows its feasibility, and presents your qualifications for carrying it out. Make a case that an individual artist or specific event or monument in the history of the arts has made a significant contribution to culture.
Follow the following format:
Purpose—One paragraph outlining your topic and what specifically you hope to research
Introduction—A longer, more in-depth description of the artwork of the artist or artform in question. Include a statement of the problem that you are researching or questions related to your topic. Also, mention anything from your own experience that explains your interest in this project. This section will be two to four paragraphs long.
Procedure—One paragraph explaining the procedure you will follow in order to carry out the research you will be doing for this proposal
Budget (optional)—Any costs you anticipate in carrying out this research.
Request—A very brief, formal statement of your request.
After the memo, include an . . .
. . . Appendix—A list of 4 to 5 works addressing the problem you have spelled out in your proposal in MLA format.
Now that you have written an analysis of an artform, you can narrow that down to a specific artist within that artform for the purpose of this assignment. If you want to change artforms, you may do that as well. Either way, you will want to make a clear case in this assignment for the importance of your chosen topic and for what you will add to it in this research project.
The proposal is traditionally the first step in a large research project, because this is how scholars often acquire support for their work (monetary support, supplies, travel expenses, or time to conduct the research). In many cases, the research proposal comes before you really know exactly what you will be studying, but it is nonetheless crucial that you express yourself with confidence and be as specific as possible about what you will be doing.
In class on February 3, I handed out a sample research proposal that might be helpful to you as you write this.