ENGLISH Assignment

Project 1 Directions

Research Proposal Assignment Sheet

One of the most important things you do this semester is pick a field site for your final paper. Most of the assignments we work on this semester will either contribute directly to your final paper or give you strategies and skills that will be useful for the final project. Because of this, it is very important that you pick a field site and subculture to study that you will find interesting and that is rich enough to build your final project around.

It is important that you follow the guidelines we established in class for choosing a field site. You must pick a site in your local area that you can access easily, because you will need to visit this site numerous times over the course of the semester. You also must pick the site where the people of the subculture you wish to study will give you permission to hang around, take pictures, conduct interviews, make observations, etc. You MUST visit your field site and/or talk to them on the phone before you finish your proposal. You should not choose a site that is dangerous, difficult to access, too familiar to you, or too upsetting for you. Remember—you need to pick a field site AND a subculture!

For this assignment, you will write up a proposal for your research project, and the field site you choose will be approved by me. Requests to change topics during the semester due to outstanding circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis. However, because all of our work throughout the term will lead up to your final ethnographic essay, a topic change will necessitate rewriting all of the papers we have done to that point. For this reason, you should think carefully about the field site and subculture you propose.

Goals for This Assignment

• To gain practice in writing a research proposal
• To analyze your preconceptions and biases about a subculture
• To practice giving and receiving feedback on your writing and the writing of your classmates
• To initiate contact with your subculture

The Document

Write a 3-4-page proposal on the field site and subculture you wish to study this semester. This paper MUST include:

• A description of the field site and subculture you wish to study
• The reasons you wish to study this field site and subculture
• The preconceptions, assumptions, biases, and prior knowledge you have about this subculture and field site
• The issues, problems, or larger concerns involved in this subculture and field site
• The people you think would be “key informants” for your paper
• Describe your first encounter with the people at your field site, whether it is by phone or in person
• You MUST attach the permission form to your final Proposal (or email/mail in the form before the due date), or I will not grade it.