Enc4313 research week 1 writing assignment: proposal

Each week you will build towards the Final Project, an extended research-based argumentative essay.  You should review the requirements below so you can begin planning and developing your topic.  During Week 1, you will complete a proposal.  As one of the main goals of this course is to develop an appropriate and organized research topic through all stages of the writing process, the proposal is a first step.  While the proposal is meant to guide your exploration, it is not a final blueprint.  Throughout the upcoming weeks, you will engage in the research process by evaluating sources, asking questions, applying the knowledge that you gather and synthesizing evidence and ideas from various sources.  This is the beginning of an academic journey and you are not expected to have all the answers. You are expected to embrace the path laid out before you by completing the assignments, discussions and learning activities to the best of your abilities. To do so, follow the instructions carefully,

Purpose:
This assignment will help you to

• Explore your chosen topic
• Identify a controversy related to the topic
• Develop and organize a research topic through all stages of development
• Create a path to the successful completion of the final Argumentative Research Essay

Task:
For this assignment, respond to each of the following prompts fully and thoughtfully.  Questions  5 – 8 should be answered in fully developed paragraphs ( 5 – 7 sentences).  See below for sample proposal.

1.TOPIC TO BE RESEARCHED AND HOW IT RELATES TO YOUR CAREER OR FIELD OF STUDY

2. RESEARCH QUESTION: [Look to Table 3.2 on p. 44 of The Bedford Researcher for examples.

3. SUPPORTING ELEMENTS: [What examples, evidences, and supporting details help substantiate your argument on your topic?]

4. THESIS STATEMENT: [What are you arguing about your topic and what helps prove your argument? Make sure to weave your three supporting elements from above into the thesis statement. Put your argument in bold font and underline your three supporting elements.]

5. AUDIENCE: [Who are your readers? What might your readers want or need to know about your topic? What knowledge or biases might your readers already have on this topic?]

6. POTENTIAL SOURCES: [What types of sources will be helpful to support your stance? What will these sources reveal about your topic?]

7. CHALLENGES TO THE RESEARCH: [What might make your argument difficult to prove?]

8. GOALS FOR THE PROJECT: [What do you want to accomplish within your Formal Research Assignment? What do you want the reader to feel after reading your essay?]

SAMPLE PROPOSAL

TOPIC TO BE RESEARCHED: Limerence. This related directly to my studies in Psychology

RESEARCH QUESTION: In what ways is limerence, defined as an involuntary obsession with another person, similar to the mental health disorders included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)? [Look to Table 3.2 on p. 44 of The Bedford Researcher for examples]

SUPPORTING ELEMENTS: [What examples, evidences, and supporting details help substantiate your argument on your topic?]

• Limerence is involuntary and persistent, much like mental disorders.
• Limerence disrupts the limerent’s sense of well-being and life balance.
• Limerence often leads to serious crimes, such as stalking.

THESIS STATEMENT: [What are you arguing about your topic and what helps prove your argument? Make sure to weave your three supporting elements from above into the thesis statement. Put your argument in bold font and underline your three supporting elements.]

Limerence needs to be included as a mental disorder in the DSM since it is involuntary and persistent, disrupts the limerent’s sense of well-being and life balance, and often leads to serious crimes, such as stalking.

AUDIENCE: [Who are your readers? What might your readers want or need to know about your topic? What knowledge or biases might your readers already have on this topic?]

Instructor and classmates for Research Writing serve as readers. Readers may want to understand how the symptoms of limerence differ from a standard crush, especially when popular culture touts the idea that it is normal and desirable to be “crazy-in-love.” Readers may have some personal experience with romantic obsession and feel offended at the suggestion that they experienced a mental disorder.

POTENTIAL SOURCES: [What types of sources will be helpful to support your stance? What will these sources reveal about your topic?]

Articles in academic journals that emphasize the potential for violence in limerents, such as Harasankar Adhikari’s 2017 essay “Limerence (Being In Love) and Violence Among Teens/Adults’ Relation” from the Innovare Journal of Social Sciences found on Google Scholar. Academic articles linking limerence to depression would also be helpful in proving how similar the effects of limerence are to mental disorders included in the DSM.

CHALLENGES TO THE RESEARCH: [What might make your argument difficult to prove?]

The concept of limerence is relatively new; the term “limerence” was first used  in 1979 by psychologist Dorothy Tennov. Most modern ideas about limerence rest upon her founding principles. This might make it difficult to accumulate a variety of perspectives.

GOALS FOR THE PROJECT: [What do you want to accomplish within your Formal Research Assignment? What do you want the reader to feel after reading your essay?]

Ideally, the Formal Research Assignment will be persuasive and compassionate. The reader will feel sympathy for the experience of limerents and believe that mental health advocates can offer limerents more support than the criminal justice system can.