FIRST-YEAR RESEARCH SEMINAR

STRATEGIC PLAN/PROPOSAL
The Strategic Plan/Proposal is the assignment that you will hand in soon after you complete the Annotated
Bibliography and not long before you present your research to the class and submit a draft of the paper. There are
two goals of this assignment: to help you synthesize and organize your research in the service of a clear thesis
statement, and to formulate a plan for writing the final paper. These steps apply not only to this class, but will also
prove useful when you write academic papers in the future.
The Strategic Plan/Proposal is not a mini-first draft of your research paper, but rather an assignment which asks
you to step back and describe your project at this point and your plans for its completion.
Accordingly, your Strategic Plan/Proposal should reflect on and write about the following features of your
research paper:
1

The introductory paragraph (or paragraphs) and statement of thesis. Specifically, you should write a
working draft of the opening of your paper which culminates in a strong statement of thesis. Keep in mind
that the opening of the paper should provide a framework for the entire argument; therefore, it will
probably need to be revised as the writing of the argument progresses. Be sure to re-read the introduction
after you complete the rest of this assignment and revise it then, if appropriate.
See A Writers Resource, Chapter 11 (Arguments) and particularly 11c.3 (Compose a thesis that states
your position) for information regarding effective thesis statements. See also 11c.7 (Emphasizing your
commitment to dialogue in the introduction) for commentary on appropriate openings for argumentative
essays.

Central claims and proposed support. Describe the central claims you plan to make in support of your
thesis and the sources and evidence you will use to do so. You do not need to include all the exact
quotations, statistics, etc. you will use in the research paper (remember, this is not a mini-first draft) but
you should refer to the specific sources from which this evidence will come. If there are selected pieces of
information and/or quotations you would like to include in the strategic plan/proposal you may do so, but
resist the impulse to include everything.
In other words, when presenting the evidence you have uncovered, don't feel obligated to include all of the
information you have in handor even to list all information you plan to use. Instead, discuss how and
where you plan to use the various sources.

Counter-arguments/complicating factors and relevant evidence. What positions seem to contradict

your thesis and complicate the issue? These counter-positions must be acknowledged in the paper, so be
sure to describe them here. Also, refer to the sources you plan to use when developing and, if appropriate,
refuting the counter-arguments. (See 2 above for appropriate use of evidence in the Strategic
Plan/Proposal.)

Organizational Strategy. How would you describe the plan for your writing? Do you plan to present
opposing claims followed by supporting ones? To refute opposing claims one by one? To discuss various
issues associated with the argument sequentially? Create a map for yourself. You may end up detouring
from this map, or you may find the proposed route to be the most direct one in the end.

Remaining Questions. Articulate any questions of areas of vagueness in your own understanding of the
issue under discussion. Doing so will help you clarify the areas needing work in order for you to give a
good presentation and write a solid first draft. Ill also provide feedback on this section.

Some general guidelines:

Don't do the easy parts of this assignment and hope the tough ones will go away. It is essential that you
address all five of the above features. Don't write extensively about feature #2 (claims and evidence) and
give feature #3 (counter-arguments and support) only cursory attention. The purpose of this assignment is
to help you pull back from the task you are currently engaged in and to get perspective.

Although the strategic plan should address all five of the features outlined above, it does not need to
address them all at equal length. Some papers will include more supporting claims than counter claims, for
instance. The strategic plan can acknowledge this.

The strategic plan can also combine the discussion of central claims, counter claims, and organizational
strategy if appropriate. For instance, a paper might say the final essay will open with the following central
claim and then present an opposing counter claim (supplying, of course, specific information about the
claims and counter claims). This approach would address claims, counter claims, and organization strategy
simultaneously. Other papers might begin by supplying background information. Adapt the strategic plan
assignment to meet the demands of particular papers.

The moves you make in writing your Strategic Plan will help prepare the way to later stages in the writing.
This is your chance to explain (to your professor, to your classmates, and to yourself) where you are at the
moment and to move forward in the process.

Feel free to use the first person point of view in writing this assignment ("I," "me," "my"). Think of
yourself as telling/showing us where you are at this pointand what you plan to do next. However, if you
feel more comfortable with conventional academic prose, thats fine, too.

Once again: Your strategic plan is not a "mini" first draft of your essay. It is an essay describing your
project. Think of it as a kind of outline in prose for the final paper.
Due Date: Friday, March 6. Submit as an e-mail attachment.
Format: Formal Essay Format, using MLA format; include a full list of works cited! The strategic plan
should include sources located since the completion of the annotated bibliography.
Length: 5-7 pages
Grading: 10% of final grade