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(This is a pre-formatted MLA document for your use. Immediately click SAVE AS and rename this with you name in document title Malcolm Campbell Topic Proposal, for example and then read this paragraph before deleting it. The explicit directions for what goes where in this document are under each header. Keep the headers and replace the directions with your material. If you double click the header above, it will open and you can replace Last Name with your name.)

Your Name Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 Insert Date Topic Proposal: Insert an engaging Title here Introduction/Overview In this section, please define the topic that interests you. Address the following information: Give an overview of the topic by answering the five Ws: Who? What? Where? When? Why? Help your reader understand the big picture information about your subject. Be specific. Usually, most students present their first topic ideas as too broad. Instead of writing, I will be doing my project on Facebook, Try: I will be examining the potential increased risk of clinical depression amongst teens who are heavy users of Facebook. See how being more specific will create a focused topic AND make your work easier? Once you announce your topic, give the overview. While time spent on Facebook might appear harmless, a recent study by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte suggests that teens who spend more than 20 hours a week on the popular social network are 85 percent more likely to suffer clinical depression. According to lead study author, Malcumbr Campbelloni, the findings

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are important. We no wanna have people be sad when zey could be appy, he says. But Campbelloni may have detractors within his own university. This man is nuts, says Chancellor James Hardin. Im not sure how he got a job here, but rest assured, Ill look into it tomorrow or Friday. Share what specific preliminary research you did to learn more about your topic? Did you read information online, and if so, from what specific websites? Did you use the librarys databases to find more in-depth publications (scholarly or academic journals) that cover the topic? Did you seek a librarians help? Did you talk about the topic with your peers, parents, or co-workers? Did you ask initial questions of anyone involved in the field/topic? Did you blog about it or post ideas/questions in our Facebook group or on your Facebook? Did this process lead you to a more focused understanding of your initial idea? Describe the complexity of your topic. In other words, summarize what different positions or opinions people have about the topic? (If everyone agrees about your topic, then it may not be complex enough to support a semesters worth of research. For example, a topic like: You can make friends with people on Facebook aint gonna go far.) Who are the major different groups/individuals contributing to the conversations and where do they have some of these conversations? List publications, websites, conferences, broadcast channels, etc. For this assignment, you DO NOT have to use MLA in-text parenthetical citation OR a Works Cited; however, I do want you to name specific sources for any information you use.

Initial Inquiry Question(s) In this section, do your best to state one initial inquiry question. Examples: Do frequent users of Facebook run a heightened risk of depression? Or, what are some of the negative effects of too much time spent on Facebook and other social media? Or, does Twitter affect my ability

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to communicate complex thoughts or is it causing me to think more simply? Or, why dont more college professors use technology that their students are using if they wish to understand us better? Or, how has digital communication changed the way my generation dates compared to how my parents generation dated? It is fine to list several questions you have at this time, but think through which question most intrigues you now. Pose one, and in the section below, Next Steps, you can elaborate on other areas of inquiry you may pursue. Chances are, you will.

My Interest in this Topic Explain why youre interested in researching this subject. What is its significance to you? Freewrite various prompts like, Im interested in ______ because______ until you generate some potentially meaningful answers. (You might also decide you need another topic that you have more interest in.) The most successful EIPs are most often by students who have some form of personal connection to the topic. Be forewarned: If you THINK youll be happy as an accountant, so you THINK this connection will help you select a topic combining digital identity and accounting for the semester based on your major, please THINK again. Also, answer these questions about your interest in your topic: 1. What do you already know? 2. What do you hope to learn?

Next Steps In this last section, state where you will go next to find more research on your topic. Rather than stating, I will use the Internet (too broad), write, I will be visiting Facebooks corporate PR page for statistics and various privacy watchdog websites for balance,

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plus examining such reliable journalistic sources as The New York Times (and other papers), Wired magazines website, and the librarys database to search for peer-reviewed sources that cover the issues. Remember that, through the library, you have access to just about every major newspaper, magazine, and academic journal on the planet. We will visit the library to learn more; however, during the week we are in conferences, you would be wise to go to the library and ask for help from the FREE reference librarians (ask the information desk right up front where to find them). They are paid to help students find sources for assignments just like this one. For free.