English 201 | Research Paper Proposal
The capstone to English 201 is writing an extensive, well-documented research paper around a topic to some degree of your choosing. First, of course, you must explore and find a topic that interests you enough to write a lengthy research paper and about which you can form questions to research. The topic must be complex, with multiple sides, and it must be timely or appropriate to some historical context that you name.
I have compiled a list of potential topics you may choose from, depending on your personal interests. If you have a topic idea different from what appears on this page, discuss it with me for approval.
These are general topic ideas that must be specified; one way to do this is by forming good questions about the general topics. Questions will lead you to a specific purpose for your research. It is essential that you specify your topic so that your paper is focused and does not generalize and wander. You could write hundreds of thousands of pages on each of the topics below and still not exhaust the subject; honing your research into some very specific questions you’d like to investigate will help you to form a clear path of investigation and argument.
Potential topic ideas:
Income inequality/social stratification
Universal basic income (UBI)
Job automation/the benefits and drawbacks of automation
Universal healthcare
College tuition/free higher education
Standardized tests and college admissions
The American Dream/Poverty in America
The influence of the food industry on consumer choices and health
Fad diets & the diet industry
The ethics of eating animals (consider animal ethics and planet health)
Social media benefits & drawbacks
Police force/brutality and reform
The American incarceration system
Drug legalization
The cultural and social construction of race and race identities/racisms
(Social) Media, culture, and body image/body dysmorphia/eating disorders/masculinity and femininity
Political correctness & free inquiry/free expression in society and the academy
Cancel culture, fragility/anti-fragility, and free speech
Gender identity and gender roles
Masculinity (hypo- and hypermasculinity), race, gender, and/or culture
Sex and sexuality (LGBTQIA+ issues)
Media bias
Other topics you propose
Your research proposal should take the following format:
A working title (you may change this later)
An introduction paragraph that identifies your topic, why you see it as important, and your purpose for working on this topic
A paragraph or two discussing components of your topic that particularly interest you (e.g., instead of “I plan to research the effects of the food industry on consumers,” perhaps more specifically, “I am interested in how pre-language toddlers are branded by the fast-food industry.”) You do not have to research all of the areas you list in this section, but this is an opportunity to list all of the areas you’d like to consider for your paper—you will need eventually to hone them for the final paper topic
A paragraph explaining some currently held ideas on multiple sides of the topic you’ve chosen and the side you may be leaning toward (this is called a “review of literature” section)
A paragraph listing possible research questions about your topic you would like to investigate and answer (these will need to be refined later as well for a more focused paper)
A paragraph explaining how you plan to collect your information and what types of sources you are considering using
A paragraph explaining how your readers will benefit from your project
A paragraph that discusses key challenges, biases, or limitations you may face (including your own limitations/biases)
A paragraph that explains a proposed project timeline as you work through different stages of your paper (collecting information, logging sources, forming a thesis and research questions, drafting, editing and revising, submitting the final work, etc.)
You may examine the sample student research proposal on Canvas as a guide to what you are expected to do. Do not in any way copy this student example, but feel free to use it as a guide.
Research Proposal Sample & Info (1).pdf
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