Julia
9/25/03
ENWR 380
Project Proposal Revision
Few people realize that about half of the world’s population lives in poverty. Forty
percent of America’s poor live in the inner city. This past summer, some of the people that this
statistic is based on became my neighbors and friends. Along with six other college-aged
people, I moved into a neighborhood in the inner city of Boston, Massachusetts.
Amidst the drugs and violence of the community that I lived in, there is an inspirational,
older woman that everyone calls Ma Siss. Ma Siss bought an old, abandoned garage in the
neighborhood and transformed it into a place where low-income people can receive food and
clothing during the week, and breakfast and church on Saturdays. I spent my days helping out at
the garage and developing relationships with the people there.
As the people in the neighborhood shared their lives with me, I learned a lot about the
daily hardships and sufferings that people endure in the urban culture and how my faith in Christ
calls me to respond to the reality of suffering in the world. I want to communicate what I learned
this summer to a larger audience who may be unaware of issues that their lower income
neighbors face in the city. Therefore, I will write and submit a magazine article for publication.
By writing an article, I can give a voice to people that our society so often ignores.
As an English major in my fourth year, I have a love for literature and for writing, but I
have not pursued writing to the extent that I had always hoped to. I would like to build a base of
published writing material before I graduate so that I will have more freedom and more
opportunities to write after college.
Task Breakdown
10/6
10/13
10/27
11/3
11/10
11/17
11/24
12/1
Study the style of a chosen magazine. Develop an understanding of the
magazine’s purposes and observe editorial preferences.
Complete manuscript outline
Complete manuscript draft
Complete query letter draft
Revise manuscript and query letter
Research job market for writers
Complete descriptive list of positions of interest
Complete final project