Prospectus & Final Paper

For your final project, you will be required to write and present on a topic of your choice that is related to a major theme/issue discussed in the context of women’s literature. This is an opportunity to synthesize the readings and discussions we’ve had over the last several weeks and focus on an element you find particularly intriguing and worthy of your exploration.

Some ideas

“Then and Now” - The easiest way to approach this final project is a “Then and Now.” You can look at a specific issue related to women’s issue that we’ve explored through the readings and connect that to what has or has not changed today. Your thesis statement will need to explicitly state whether you believe something has or hasn’t changed; negative/positive impact or implications, etc.

Book Report - An up-close, in-depth exploration of one of the readings and the author. Keep in mind that your presentation would have to address things that we have not discussed yet so as to avoid repetition. Teach us something new; give us additional historical context and insight, reviews of the work when it was first published, interesting information on the author, etc.

There are three major components to this final project:

·         Prospectus – this is your working proposal for what you would like your final project to be on.

o   Rough draft for peer review: two hard copies due in class.

o   Final version: upload onto Canvas.

·         Final Presentation – 10-15 minute oral presentation of your final project

o   Due: All presentations will be given on the last day of class

·         Final Paper – 5 double spaced pages of your reflection and research

Requirements

Prospectus

·         2 pages (bulleted outline format is ok)

o   Include your area of focus; why you picked this, what you hope to discover. This should be the most substantive part of this prospectus and tell me how and to what degree you’ve been thinking thoughtfully about the readings and discussions.

o   Working thesis statement – this is your specific, arguable statement that will be the foundation of your entire project

o   Sources – include the assigned reading(s) that align with this topic and other sources you plan to utilize in the paper to support your thesis (must be acceptable academic sources)

Please include specific questions for me, challenges you’re anticipating or already running into