reate a 1 ½,  page, MLA formatted proposal for your final research essay.  By now you should know what your topic is going to be, and you should have the beginnings of an argument in mind.  You should also be able to discuss the things you need to do for your essay.

Here is a document explaining what I am looking for: 

Creating a Research Proposal.docx 

Here is an example from a student in a previous semester:

Student Research Proposal 1.docx

Use this checklist to review each research proposal. 

You need a sufficiently narrow topic that  can reasonably be completed in a 6-8 page essay given the amount of time left in the semester.

You need to make a compelling argument for why your research is important, interesting or relevant. 

You may identify a theoretical framework you will be using in your essay (i.e. Marxism, critical race theory, psychoanalysis, reader-response theory, queer theory, gender theory, structuralism, feminist theory, archetypal criticism, eco-criticism, post-colonial criticism, etc).  Alternately, you may use traditional literary analysis, involving the specific literary aspects of the work (such as theme, characterization, symbolism, and the like).

You need to show that you have a good understanding of the literature that has already been written on your topic.