Instructions
Independent Study Documents Project
and Proposal
The following instructions provide a blueprint to fulfill two writing requirements in Writing 3160:
· Independent Study Documents Project;
· Proposal for Independent Study Documents Project.
1. First, you will plan an Independent Study Documents Project.
2. Second, when you figure out what you want to do for this project, you will propose to carry out the actual drafting of these documents.
3. This proposal will detail your ideas and ask permission to carry out the Independent Study Documents Project.
4. When I grant permission, you will then write those documents that comprise your Independent Study Documents Project.
Independent Study Documents Project:
You will write or compose a series of text like those composed by professionals in the career you plan to enter. The interview you conducted with a professional has given you some idea of what types of documents this individual writes. First comes the planning.
You are encouraged to select a variety of texts to compose that are interrelated and of sufficient complexity to challenge you. Also consider the amount of time you have to complete these texts.
Below are some examples of interrelated sets of texts you might want to think about before you design a set appropriate for you. You are encouraged to work from expertise you already possess, using that expertise to produce documents for a variety of audiences and purposes.
In almost all cases listed below, you can choose actual subjects/events to write about. However, in some cases you may wish to develop your own fictitious scenario. One example would be criminology students who devise a crime scene, investigation, arrest, trial, etc. In any event, interrelating the documents usually makes it easier for you to think of the types of documents you can produce and furnishes you with more subject matter to think about.
Of course, an option for every student is to write an extended research paper. This eliminates the need to “figure out” types of texts and levels of difficulty.
History: A critique or review of an article in a journal, an annotated bibliography, a newspaper article, a literature review, a research paper.
Sociology: Critiques of several articles in the field, a text summarizing several articles on single or related subjects, a newsletter piece or handout for parents or professionals, written materials for a public presentation, lecture copy.
Political Science: A set of campaign documents, including candidate biography, news releases, public letters, speeches. If your bent is towards practicing politics, you may want to compose legislation or documents written by politicians to constituents, fellow politicians, or lobbyists.
Anthropology: An annotated bibliography of materials related to local site study, literature reviews, newsletter, proposal for site study, journal article resulting from site study.
Psychology: A case study done from written case materials, letters related to case study; critique of journal article; notes and written materials for a public education lecture you might do, reports to a course, client, treatment center, etc.
Criminology: Establish a fictitious “scenario” like an accident or crime scene. Complete a serious of documents related to this scenario; investigative notes, witness reports, policy officer reports, follow-up investigations, reports to the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney, recommendations to a court or probation officer.
For more ideas, read Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of Writing in the Social Sciences. These chapters provide excellent ideas while explaining the relevance of each document. Especially consult the “Suggestions or Writing” section at the end of each chapter for further ideas.
Guidelines:
1. Twenty pages of edited, finished text.
2. Double spaced.
3. Two of the texts must be 4-5 pages of continuous written text.
4. The documents you compose must also have the level of difficulty assessed. For example, documents considered “easy”, like fill-in-forms, handouts or notes, must comprise no more than 10% of work submitted. The two documents of continuous texts must be in the medium to medium/difficult range, and one document should be in the difficult range. Below is a partial list of what some texts would be considered in the level of difficulty range:
Type of Text / Level of DifficultyHandouts/notes / Easy
Fill-in forms of all types / Easy
Pre-formatted letters/legal forms / Easy
Interviews / Easy/medium
Witness reports / Easy/medium
Newspaper releases / Easy/medium
Letters or memos / Easy/medium
Classroom lectures or lesson plans / Medium
Newspaper article / Medium
Annotated Bibliography / Medium/difficult
Magazine article / Medium/difficult
Reports/research paper / Difficult/medium
Case Studies / Difficult/medium
Professional Journal Article / Difficult
Workshops/demonstrations / Difficult
Proposal / Difficult
Biography / Difficult
Historical Text / Difficult
Literature Review / Difficult
Note that there are many considerations for your Independent Study Documents Project. That is why planning is vital, which brings us to the proposal, a document that will help you plan your
Independent Study Documents Project and gain permission to proceed.
Proposal:
The proposal is actually fairly easy to write, for it contains little writing. However, because it forms the basis of your Independent Study Documents Project, you should give it much consideration. Follow these instructions carefully. Refer to them during the composing process and as a final checklist to be certain your proposal contains all the necessary elements.
Carefully read Chapter 10 of Writing in the Social Sciences to get a clear idea of the general aspects and reasons for crafting proposals.
To be effective, your proposal must accomplish the following:
1. Provide an introduction that explains why composing the texts for the Independent Study Documents Project will be valuable to you as a Social Sciences writing student;
2. List the texts you will then complete for your independent study;
3. Identify the purpose of each document or an overview of what it is used for;
4. Identify the intended audience of each document;
5. List the number of pages; List the level of difficulty.
6. Request permission to undertake it.
Refer to the attached worksheet to help you plan and organize your ideas.
The deadline for submitting your proposal is stated on the syllabus schedule. Once I have granted you permission to proceed with your Independent Study Documents Project, you can begin work on it.
Research Paper Option:
If you decide that you would like to do one large research paper to fulfill your independent study requirement, then you can do the following:
1. Read Chapter 10: Proposals and Prospectuses in your textbook.
2. Starting on page 167, there is a detailed account of what a research prospectus contains. Read it carefully.
3. Starting on page 174, there is an example of what a research prospectus will look like. You can follow this example in creating your own proposal. This prospectus will be done instead of the proposal assignment given above.
4. As always, ask questions if you are not clear or sure of what you want to do.
Proposal/ Independent Study Documents Project
Worksheet
· State the field in which you wish to write:
· List the written documents a person in this field may produce:
Name of document Purpose Audience #Pages & Difficulty
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6.
7.
8.
· Mark the above texts that will satisfy the Independent Study Documents Project requirement.
· State what you hope to accomplish by producing each of these texts.
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5.
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