To help you prepare for your final paper of 15-20 pages (due on Monday, 12/4), you need to submit a paper topic proposal for Professor Leshkowich's approval. Please write it in the form of a 1-2 page memo that addresses the following questions:

1) What topic have you chosen?

2) What position will you take on your topic?
You may choose to write a tentative thesis, or you may define the major issue(s) or question(s) that your paper will explore.

3) Why, in your opinion, is this topic worth investigating? How does it relate to the themes of the course?

4) Briefly, how do you plan to investigate your topic? What sources will you use?
Please attach a preliminary bibliography.

5) What problems do you envision in conducting this research or writing the paper?

This proposal has several purposes:
(1) to inform Professor Leshkowich of your plans for the paper
(2) to help you refine and narrow your subject
(3) to convince a reader that the project is worth doing
(4) to spot potential problems in advance

I will return your proposal, with comments and suggestions, during meetings which I will schedule with you in my office. On November 8, you will be required to submit a 200-250 word abstract of the paper. Sample abstracts will be distributed in class ahead of this deadline.

Reminder: You can write your paper on any topic you like, so long as it provides either an extended treatment of one of the topics raised in the seminar (with additional outside reading) or a research paper relating the issues explored in the course to a topic in which you are particularly interested.

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu