WP2 Topic Proposal Assignment

10% of your WP2 Grade

Due before Monday, 2/22/16
Submit to Digication
Please remember: No late homework will be accepted in this class
1. Identify the issue you will be looking at. You need to be specific. For example, don't just say
religion; say the practice of eastern religions like Buddhism in the U.S.
2. Explain the attitude that society used to have toward this issue. Instead of just referring to a
general past, I want you to say exactly which time period you are referring to.
3. Explain the attitude that society has toward this issue now.
4. Provide a list of AT LEAST THREE plausible reasons for this change in attitude. For each
reason, say how you generated the idea.
For example:
Plausible reason: In the 90's, American tv shows began to explore LGBT issues. This gave visibility to
the LGBT community and made society in general more sympathy and (even effective in changing
minds) empathy toward it.
Origin of idea: this comes from my own personal experience (I often feel more empathetic toward
people I don't know much about when I can see or read about their real lives). I've also read lots of
cultural critique and academic scholarship that suggests that pop culture can influence people's thinking
about marginalized groups.
5. Identify which reason you will FOCUS on for this essay. Say why you picked this one.
6. Let's call the influence you picked X. In the body of your essay, you need to answer this
question: what did X actually do that would influence society's attitude? For question six, I
want you to list AT LEAST TWO possible concrete, visible actions that X took. For each one
of these, I want you to identify a possible source of SOURCE MATERIAL that you will be able
to investigate to find out what X produced, did, said, etc.
7. In the body of your essay, you need to answer this question: to what extent did X's actions
influence society? I want you to write your best guess at the answer to this question. Then, I
want you to say exactly how you plan to find the answer to this question. What will you look
for? What kind of research is this?
8. In the body of your essay, you will need to answer this question: how exactly did X's actions
influence society's attitude? I want you to write your TWO BEST GUESSES at the answer to
this question. Then, I want you to say exactly how you plan to find the answer to this question.
What will you look for? What kind of research is this?
9. Double-check your research plan. In this essay, you need to use three different kinds of
research. I want you to say exactly how you will use each of these kinds of research.
9A. Interview. What research question(s) will you use your interview to answer? Who will you
interview?
9B. Primary research into source material: what research question(s) will you try to answer by
analyzing this source material? Where will you find the source material?
9C. Secondary research: what research question(s) will you try to answer with secondary
research? What would your ideal secondary research results look like?