Project Proposals

n The purpose of an essay proposal is to convince the reader that the project is sustainable, that the sources selected are sufficient and useful, and that a persuasive argument can or has been formulated. Proposals are normally between two and four pages long, and must be accompanied by an annotated bibliography of sources. The proposal must be written in prose, not point form.

Proposal Questions

n What is your topic and how is it defined (biographical narrative, historiography)?

n What is/are your principal research question(s) and why?

n What is your hypothesis or preliminary answer to research question(s)?

n Why is your project interesting and important?

n What sources are you going to use? Why are these the best sources?

n What preliminary conclusions have you formed?

Source: University of Calgary, The History Student’s Handbook

Preparing an Outline

n Preparing an outline will help to ensure that the paper is highly organized, focused on the thesis statement, and contains all the evidence necessary to prove your argument.

Annotated Bibliographies

n Each entry is accompanied by a brief statement summarizing the source and showing why it is being used in the paper. Annotations should be approximately 25-50 words in length. For example:

P. Whitney Lackenbauer, ed. An Inside Look at External Affairs During the Trudeau Years: The Memoirs of Mark MacGuigan. Foreword by Paul Martin. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2002.

This autobiography of Mark MacGuigan, former Secretary of State for External Affairs, deals with Pierre Trudeau’s approach to foreign policy. It also reveals his personality, approach to politics, and the global issues with which Trudeau grappled as PM in the early 1980s.