Preparing for the Synthesis Paper: Research Paper Proposal

The assignment:

In a brief memo addressed to your instructor propose a topic for your research/synthesis paper and include a brief discussion of how you might approach this topic.

Please discuss the following (in numbered paragraphs):

1. What is your thesis or research question (the thing about your topic you want to find out)? Your topic must be well-phrased and formulated. Aim at a topic which makes a claim you will defend, rather than a simple statement of fact.
2. What two or three outside scholarly sources do you plan on using? You don't have to have read all of them yet, but try to have at least 3 good sources ready by the time you turn in the proposal. Such an approach attempts to ensure that you don't go about getting sources at the last minute. It also ensures that you steer clear of topics for which you cannot find adequate resources.
3. What's the whole point of this topic? What motivated you to pursue this topic? So what? Why do you care about this topic? Why should your readers? (Don't be fooled by how short this question is—it's of vital importance!)

Topics which will probably get rejected:

• Topics which are so broad or so recent that you cannot cover them in the time and space we have. (Example: All the effects of the Covid virus on our economy.)
• Topics which are primarily opinion and/or prejudice. (Examples: Why this particular race or religion is ruining America; why my political party is the only valid one.)
• Topics which are based on conspiracy theory or unsupported Internet hoaxes. (Examples: Space aliens built the Egyptian pyramids; Hillary Clinton is the head of a cannibalistic Satanic cult.)
• Topics which you intend to support with lite entertainment sources. (Facebook posts, supermarket tabloids, Breitbart, Infowars, Fox "News" and the like.)
• Shallow topics appropriate to a middle-school report. (Examples: Why you should change your oil, how to swim, why I like cereal.)

Mechanical Details:

• Length: About a page should do it. This is a very brief, concise assignment.
• The final copy of this assignment will be submitted through the Blackboard drop box. To submit your assignment, open the Course Essentials folder at the top of our Blackboard page and find this essay’s drop box in the Written Assignment Drop Boxes folder.

Due date:

• Monday, November 2
• No credit for memos submitted after Friday, November 6, 2026.

This assignment is worth 25 points.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Ashland University.

Revised 8/6/26 • Page author: Curtis Allen • e-mail: callen@ashland.edu.