P&O
Proposal
My article stated that a research proposal was a 1 to 2 page overview or your research. The article also said that the proposal must be written in common language that a non specialist would be able to understand easily. My proposal will tell the reader what I’m researching, why I’m researching it, and how I’m researching it. My proposal will also should offer an introduction to allow a reading with no background in the topic of the research to gain some necessary understanding before reading my research. Next, my proposal would include a design of my research, where I would explain the methods I was going to use to conduct my research. The proposal would also include and analysis of the results of my research, where I would interpret my research’s results.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~cbls/research%20proposal%20format.htm
When high school english teachers are writing the curriculum for their students, what influences their decisions? They are not allowed to teach books that have offensive content. I believe that the values that dictate what is right for high school literature are values that a derived from Christianity. It appears as though students are deliberately being sheltered from non-Christian literature in high school english classes. I believe it is hurtful to students to deny them different points of view on the world. Students should be exposed to a variety of ideas, as opposed to just the predominantly accepted views. I believe that being exposed to more than just Christian literature would serve to give students more self-awareness in the world. I would like to investigate this phenomena, and see if christian values are forced on high school english reading lists. I will be taking advantage of the wealth of minds around me to complete my research. I’m going to interview english faculty members at IUP, about Christian values being imposed into high school english classes. This research is a significant because to truly teach students as effectively as possible, instructors must understand every facet of what is being taught. So naturally, understanding how Christianity influences what is taught in english classrooms, and the implications of that, is significant.
When I begin my research, I will send out e-mails to english professors I have had at IUP. I will come up with a list of questions that I will ask every professor to get a feelings for the different opinions that are out there. However, the list of english professors I have had is limited, so will have to go outside of instructors that I have had, and arrange interviews with professors I have never met. I believe that this is the best method for research for my specific topic because I will be able to get to meet with instructors who are dealing with this issue. I believe an interview would be more effective than doing other forms of research because it will give me the opportunity to understand how different professionals feel about the issue. I expect to receive mixed answers and different reactions from different professors, and I expect that will be a good way to understand both sides of the issue and get a crystal clear vision of the topic.
I will cite Martha McCarthy’s “Beyond the wall of separation” from Phi Delta Kappan. She will provide me with examples and information about the separation between church and state. This type of information will be useful in describing religion’s impact of public high schools.
I will also cite Passe and Willox’s “Teaching Religion in America’s Public Schools: A Necessary Disruption” from the journal of social studies. This resource will allow me to show my readers the other side of the arguement from what I will being trying to prove. I think that in order for a reader to totally understand an issue they will need to read opposing points of view.
I will present my results in the form of a research essay. In my essay I will go into depth about interviews and research I have done, while offering my conclusion to the issue. I will also see how the results that I have found are connected to what is actually going on in english classrooms.
My research will also include a cover page with all of my person information on it, and a works cited page where I will note all the resources I used to do my research.
New Proposal
When asked, most people are not able to describe what Straight Edge is. Straight Edge is a life long pledge to abstain from smoking, drinking, and promiscuous sex. The reason so little is known about straight edge is because of its close ties to the hardcore punk subculture. Many people do not ever get to see the lives that straight edge individuals lead. Little is truly known about Straight edge and its sociological impact. How does straight edge effect which social circles edgers fit into. However, I want to know what exactly influences a person into claiming sxe. I would like to know this because I personally have a friend who despite being very similar in interest and background to myself, chose to claim edge where I did not.
To research this phenomena I plan on doing a very detailed, specific case study. I would like to have my friend write me an account of his personal story. I would like to have him relate everything that was going through his mind as he made his decision, so as to get a better insight into the mind of a youth who is claiming edge. I will then take his account, and use personal experiences that I have gathered at hardcore shows and hanging out with straight edge kids to write a short story about a kid deciding to claim edge.
I think this research is important because straight edge tends to go unnoticed by most people. It is a movement and a lifestyle that not a lot is known about. If the purpose of this assignment is to go out and do research on something that no one else has done, I picked a topic that is wide open!
I will present my research in the form of a short story. This approach is most appropriate because I think that telling a story about sxe in a personal way is a good way to shed light on a misunderstood or not understood subject. Giving a personal touch allows readers to relate to the writing and hopefully be more effective.
There is not a lot of research out there on sxe, however, I do plan on citing American Hardcore, Boston Beatdown vol: 2, and Straight edge youth, by Robert T. Wood. American Hardcore will provide a history of the hardcore punk and straight edge movement, tracing it from the early 1980’s. Boston Beatdown provides examples of straight edge kids lives, and hardcore shows. Wood’s book Straight Edge Youth will provide in depth research on how being straight edge effects the lives of the individuals who claim it.
Outline
This article comes from the University of Washington, and defines an outline as a formal approach to organizing a paper. The outline allows a writer to have a structured series of ideas on hand when he starts his writing. This article says that there are two forms of outlines; topic outlines and sentence outlines. In the outline, the writer break his paper down into a far more condensed plan of what he will write and when. Whenever I would papers in high school, I would never make an outline. It wasn’t until my college writing class at IUP that I really started to use outlines to make my work easier. I was glad to read that the outline is meant to be flexible. It was good to hear the outlines don’t have to be set in stone, and that if the paper starts to take a change its ok. I get some validation in reading that because my papers often wander from my outline, and it’s always good to know you’re not a freak show.
http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/outline.pdf
I. Introduction
Area of focus: The infuence of Christianity on what literature is taught in high school classrooms, and the implications of that.
a) Does Christianity influence what literature is taught?
b) Does being exposed to non-Christian literature give students a wider view of the world, and more self awareness?
c) Does being exposed to Christian literature make students more likely to claim Christianity?
Thesis: Christian values influence what literature is taught in high schools, and as a result students miss out on an opportunity to see the world from a wider perspective and lose self-awareness.
II. Area of focus #1 – Does Christianity influence what literature is taught in high school english classes?
topic sentence 1) Do Christian values effect what parents allow their child to be exposed to?
topic sentence 2) connection between Christian and appropriateness of the content of literature being taught.
topic sentence 3) does literature get thrown out as “not appropriate” for school students if it doesnt follow Christian values?
III Area of focus # 2- Effect of non-Christian literature on students
topic sentence 1) non-Christian literature will make people more self-aware
topic sentence 2) non-Christian literature will allow students to more easily relate with other cultures, which will create a more cohesive society.
topic sentence 3) If Christian values are showcased in the literature selections made by english teachers, are the same values showing up in the students?
IV area of focus 3 – Does being exposed to Christian literature impose Christianity on students?
Topic sentence 1) What percentage of high school students claim some affiliation to Christianity?
Topic sentence 2) What percentage of high school student’s parents claim some affiliation to Christianity?
Topic sentence 3) to what do high school students account their affiliations to?
Topic sentence 4) can a Christian message push students away from Christianity?
v conclusion - restated thesis – Christian values influence what type of literature high school students are exposed to in their english classes.
Summary of areas of focus – Does Christian messages effect what literature is taught, and does it have an effect on the students themselves?
conclusion - Students need to be exposed to everything possible, not just Christian values, to become self-aware, cohesive, functioning members of society.
