writing proposal

  
Write proposal 
Looking at the three topics for Essay, write a two paragraph proposal on the topic you plan to write about (or are most considering).   This proposal should explain your topic and show what you expect to write about within your topic, such as what areas you will be exploring or expect to.  You should also mention what research you believe you need to do to fully grasp your topic, what questions do you have that need answering?
A good topic is often a narrow one, but not too narrow.  You may not be able to write about all of racism in sports, but you might write about the history of racism in Golf, and some of the major changes that came about due to players like Tiger Woods.  Some topics that seem small may be larger than you thought as well, like with Artificial Intelligence.  One could easily focus an essay on AI in the military, or taking over jobs, or the moral dilemma of human rights–at what point would an AI deserve them?  Be on the lookout for these topics within topics: ways you can narrow down your topic into something more manageable and interesting.
Prompt 1 
Sports Related Controversy
Examine a major sport related issue, past or present.  For example, you may look at gender issues in high school football.  You might look at drug use within baseball and how it’s addressed.  You might look at the many controversies that have surrounded the Olympics, such as the recycling of the facilities of past Olympic villages.  The amount college athletes are paid has received a lot of attention as well, along with various player treatment concerns across almost all sports. 
Avoid focusing purely on a single individual within a sport.  You might choose to write about how a sport handles misconduct in its players, but you should not focus on a single players misconduct.  The person may be used as an example, but they should not be the focus. 
In addition, avoid writing about controversies that have only occurred in the last three years, as it is unlikely that you will find enough scholarly articles for your topic.
You may write on any example I gave, or a controversy of your own choosing.  Your goal for this paper is to explain the problem for a reader who is uninformed.  The reader should leave your paper feeling they understand the full controversy and the various sides that surround it.  For this paper, avoid making an argument or your own.  You are the passive informer, teaching the reader, not persuading them.  

 
For this paper, you must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is, books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.
Prompt 2 
Future Concerns
Consider dilemmas or conflicts that will likely be occur within the coming century.  One’s that are not problematic now, or are not severe enough to be addressed now, but will likely create controversy down the road due to technological, economic, or social growth.
For example, if and when space colonization comes to pass, how does the world decide what country owns other planets and resources?  What laws and ethical quandaries may arise from issues such as cloning and artificial intelligence?  What may be done in response to the rising issues of overpopulation, global warming, waning natural resources like gasoline?  
The essay is expository.  Your goal is to outline the problem that may arise, why it is a problem and the effects the problem will have, and the many methods that may be taken by the people of the future to respond to the problem.   The reader should leave your paper with a better understanding of your future controversies and perhaps the options that may be taken to solve it, but you are not arguing for one point over another.
This is a research essay.  Even if the problem is hypothetical, there will likely be many resources discussing the same or similar problems.  You must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is, books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.
Prompt 3 
Choose Your Own Topic:
You may choose your own topic that can be used both for the expository and the argumentative research essay.  Topics of your own choosing must be approved via the proposal.
The following topics I am setting as off limits: Current Politics, Abortion, Marijuana legalization, gun control.  I am not trying to censor, I’ve simply read too many papers on some of these, and others I read about all day whether I like to or not.  

 
When choosing a topic, it’s best to be specific.  Broad topics are often weak topics, and will actually be more difficult to write about.  Remember, this topic will first be a expository essay, than later an argumentative essay.  Be sure your topic can fit into both of these ideas.
Your goal for this first paper is to inform an uninformed reader, to teach them about your topic and all the various sides that surround it.  Do not take a side–you are not trying to persuade the reader of anything, but you will have to explain the various sides at play.  You must remain unbiased.
For this paper, you must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is, books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.