Overview
The essay proposal is the first mandatory step towards the FINAL essay. It provides an opportunity to identify a topic and seek input from the instructor. Students will select a particular issue or case, by researching and preparing an essay proposal, related to environment and development issues. In terms of strategy for selecting your topic, it’s usually wise not to commit to a specific topic until you have found sufficient sources (use specific databases and search engines for journals). The process of refining your topic or formulating your thesis argument should be guided by key scholarly sources you have collected. Following details should be included in your essay proposal (assignment). • Topic: Should be clear, concise, relevant, and interesting., a topic for research essay should be broad; however, it should not be too broad or general which makes difficult to focus and conclude specific arguments. The topic should allow inquiry involving natural and social sciences representing multiple stakeholders (including nature itself as an agency!). Introduction: Introduce your topic with a brief explanation of the theoretical and empirical context of your topic (1 paragraph). • Issues and major arguments: Describe major issues or themes to be covered (3-4 paragraphs). Include a brief description of your draft thesis statement or key arguments. • Major resources: Provide the most important 12-15 scholarly references (books, journal articles, mainstream media, and reports). There should not be more than 20 % popular on-line website based resources. Please note that articles accessed from on-line scholarly journals are not considered as popular web based resources. Important Notes: 2. Format: The proposal should be written in an essay format. Include a cover page with name and student ID# of all group members. 3. Total Length of the assignment (essay proposal): 2 pages (typed, 1.5 spaced). 4. Bibliography: Follow any consistent style for reference citation. Make sure that your bibliography provides complete details (name of author, year, title, volume and page number, publisher and place, etc.)