Your research proposal is not a draft of your essay, but it is a plan for what you’re going to write about and what you hope readers to better understand after reading the essay you plan to write. Your proposal should adhere to APA formatting guidelines and address the points outlined below in 1-2 double-spaced pages:
Introduction: Describe your topic and explain why you chose the topic. Talk about any previous research or writing you have done on this or a related topic. If you have any personal experience with the topic, explain your experiences as well. Explain your overarching purpose in writing on this topic. Since your topic is expected to be debatable, what side are on and why?
Discussion: Describe where you plan to find sources for this essay. Remember that sources must be authoritative and respectable. If you have already found sources, describe them without worrying about creating APA citations for them until your Annotated Bibliography. This is a preliminary working paper, so treat this part as a source brainstorm.
Conclusion: Considering your audience consists of your classmates and me, describe what we should get from reading your Solution Essay. I have successfully used the following template from Wayne C. Booth’s to formulate my research ideas. You may want to use it as well to organize your ideas: I am trying to learn about __________ in order to know __________ so that I might help my readers understand __________.