The following assignment sheets give you two different examples for writing a proposal for a research project. Following these assignment sheets, you’ll see samples of proposals students have written: one from English and two from Philosophy.
TO DO: Read the guidelines with attention to commonalities between them: what’s their purpose, what are they asking students/scholars to do, etc. As you read, think also about you might extend these ideas to projects that are not “research papers”: what “conversation” are you joining when you work in creative modes? Are creative and scholarly projects really so different?
No matter how detailed a thesis or project proposal is, they are meant to explain what the student is going to present, why they are presenting it, and oftentimes how they plan to present it. The proposal is a format for the student to express the details of their project in order for the professor to check on their progress and how they plan to proceed, which can make or break many projects. In the same vein, it’s also for the student to check in with themselves and actually think about and plan what they need, what they have, and ideas they could investigate further. You can see this in the requirements for the different proposals, but also that the proposal is necessary and assigned in the first place.
I believe “creative modes” is referring to the student or the “you” actually making a creative piece. Thus, it would make sense that the conversation is between the artist and whatever is inspiring them to make their piece, whether that’s other art they draw from or concepts they see, encounter, and/or feel in their life. In this sense, I don’t think creative and scholarly pieces are really so different except through their methodology. Both draw on ideas and expand on how the author connects them together. This would likely look different based on the subject, but both engage in critical thinking. The only difference, as far as I can think of it, is whether evidence for the argument is included, but even that could be debated since what counts as evidence differs within these distinct subjects.
