Writing a Proposal
What is a Proposal?
 It is the explanation of what you intend to do in your
paper.
 It is your argument in favor of doing the proposed
topic.
 It is your demonstration that you know what you are
doing and should be allowed to proceed.
Your Proposal Should:
 Define your topic and your planned approach
 Explain your research to date and your expected
research in the future
 Provide preliminary (and thus tentative) conclusions
Your Proposal Should Also:
 Demonstrate that you have found a workable topic
(one that has limits, one that has adequate sources
(both primary and secondary), one that you can enjoy
and manage)
 Seek to convince the reader that you understand your
topic, its variations, and what will be necessary to turn it
into a paper, including the problems it seems likely to
entail
Thesis
 Remember that the thesis of your proposal is your term
paper, its need/ significance, manageability, etc.
 The PROPOSAL IS NOT A SHORT VERSION OF YOUR
TERM PAPER. It is an argument for being allowed to DO
the term paper.
Organization/ Content
 Your paper can be organized in various ways, but be
sure to write an essay (i.e., with introduction, etc.) that
includes:
Organization/ Content (Con’t)
 1. What is your proposed topic/ problem is (explaining
as clearly as possible the specific angle you expect to
take and possible questions, issues, or directions you
see as necessary to your topic)
 2. Your expected plan of action (i.e., how your effort will
proceed, its organization, its parts, its current state)
Organization/ Content (Con’t)
 3. Your preliminary thesis/ conclusion about the results
of your research, and
 4. the research sources you have found (and expect to
find or not find) that will be integral to your paper, with
explanations.
Research
 To write your proposal you must have done some
research and given thought to the information you have
found. Your research to this point should allow YOU to
conclude that you have a manageable, significant, and
interesting topic/ problem; the proposal should convince
OTHERS that your conclusion is correct.
Research (Con’t)
 In presenting this material, do more than list. While you
have only just begun your research and your thinking,
you should have reached some conclusions and have
decided why you are planning to use certain sources (as
well as why you are planning to find and use other
ones).
Bibliography
 Rather than footnoting each source you cite, attach a
bibliography to your proposal. It helps convince readers
that the topic is significant, that you are ell on your way,
and that you know what you are doing.
 Establish credibility.
Outline of a Potential
Proposal
 The proposal might include all or several of the folloing
sections:
I. Introduction
-Introduces the problem or topic.
-Establishes the purpose of and need for the
investigation.
-May state a thesis for the projected project. (The
thesis of the proposal is the author’s statement of the
purpose and need for the project).
Outline of a Potential
Proposal (Con’t)
II. Plan of Action
-Explains how the investigation ill proceed
(organization) and what its parts will be.
-Describes the current state of the project: what work
on it has the investigator done so far? What especially
useful sources has he/she discovered and consulted so
far? (In what way are they useful?)
Outline of a Potential
Proposal (Con’t)
III. Tentative Conclusions
-On the basis of research done so far, what conclusions
does the proposer expect to draw by the end of the
project?
Outline of a Potential
Proposal (Con’t)
IV. Detailed Bibliography
-A detailed bibliography in itself should help convince
the reader that the topic (or problem/ issue) is real and
that the researcher has the project competently under
way.
For Additional Assistance
 Contact one of the UMW Writing Centers:
 Fredericksburg Campus Writing Center
Phone: 540.654-1036
Trinkle Hall 107A, South Building
 Stafford Campus Writing Center
Phone: 540.286.8109
South Building Lobby, Room 124