AMH 4935: The Fifties

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS ASSIGNMENT

Due 10/8 in class

 

Overview of Assignment:

 

Your research prospectus is a proposal for research.  In it, you should identify what subject you are researching, what sources you are using, and what ideas you are exploring.  The prospectus should contain the following:

 

The prospectus should contain the following:

 

Working Title: 

This should describe as precisely and specifically as possible the topic of your paper.  If it is constrained chronologically that should be indicated as well. 

 

  • Examples:  “Eisenhower’s Thinking on Nuclear War, 1953-1954” or “The American Legion’s Attack on Comic Books in the Fifties” or “Press Reaction to the Emmett Till Murder of 1955” or “How Anti-communism Appeared in 1950s Films”… etc. 
  • Examples of topics that are too general might be “The Civil Rights Movement” or “Women in the 1950s”…

 

Background of Topic:

Here you should provide a very short summary of the historical background to your particular topic that generally surveys the historical context of your issue.  Think of it as a sort of “textbook” summary of the overall issue you are investigating.

 

Discussion of your topic and the historical problem at hand:

Here is where you explain precisely what you are going to focus on, as best you can.  This may come in the form of a hypothesis or provisional thesis, or it may specify what kinds of questions you are going to ask. “What messages did children’s books convey about gender roles?” Or, “Did Eisenhower seriously consider nuclear war?” Or, “what impact did the Cold War have on the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama.” 

 

In short, you say what you know you are going to look into, what you think you might find, and what questions remain.  Although I don’t expect this to be the final word on your topic or your paper’s focus, I do expect you to be very specific in identifying your research focus and problems.  Again, “The Civil Rights Movement” is way too broad, and would be unacceptable, as would “McCarthyism.”  But, “The Implementation of the Brown Decision in South Florida,” or “Ronald Reagan and HUAC’s Investigations of Hollywood” would be sufficiently narrow.

 

Working Bibliography: 

This identifies relevant primary and secondary sources, and accordingly should be broken into two sections. 

 

  • The first section should be headed “primary sources,” and should specify specific primary sources you should consult.  And I mean specific.  So, you wouldn’t say “I will consult newspapers and magazines”; instead you will list the newspapers and magazines you intend to consult.  If you are using an FRUS volume, you would cite that, or memoirs, or presidential papers (e.g. The Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

 

  • The second section should be headed “secondary sources”, and should identify secondary sources that you will consult.  It should be formatted appropriately, according to the Chicago Manual of Style (as identified in A Pocket Guide to Writing History).

 

Optional:  Add a section on questions that you have and problems that you are wrestling with.

 

Presentation of prospectus:

 

You will present your prospectus to the class on 10/8.  In your presentation, you should summarize the main elements of your project as outlined in your prospectus.  You should plan on speaking for 5-10 minutes.

 

 

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