You have turned in your prospectus: this means that you have decided on a subject for your term paper, have defined a few questions that will be discussed in the paper, and have done some research on where to find information so that you can document your paper. This progress report is the second stage that tracks your progress towards finalizing your paper. At this stage, we still do not expect a full “perfect draft”. Rather, we expect that you have made progress and refined the outline of your paper, as well as furthered your research on documents/books/web pages that will prove useful for writing your paper. Eventually, your paper will have the following format: First page: A separate page with the title of your paper, your name, student ID, email address, and other identifying information (course, quarter, instructor, and date) Introduction: Introduce the topic as well as define your analytical question/statement Description: Present the results of your research in detail Discussion: What is the significance of your research to the question or problem? Answer: Answer the question or problem you posed Conclusion: Summarize the main points (and maybe more, e.g. explain the significance) References: All of the sources you use should be documented here The progress report should contain two parts: a “research progress” that describes what you have found so far in your research, and an “advanced outline” showing that the outline of your paper is shaping up and that you are getting ready to generate the first rough draft of your paper. Research progress In this part, you should list the elements that you will need for your paper. In particular, we would like to see: A list of at least 5 sources you will use. It should include at least two recent articles and one book; the others can be web pages. Mention if you have found a published review of the literature that is pertinent to your topic. An assessment of the validity of your sources. Note that this is still work-in-progress: it is perfectly alright for you add more references later or to eventually not use some of the references that are in your progress report. An advanced outline In this part, you will describe the current state of your term paper. Most of it can still be in the form of bullet points, but the outline should have the same shape as the final format of the paper. This outline should include: Title of your term paper Introduction: Introduce the analytical question(s) you will discuss. This part can already be organized in one or two paragraphs, in which you state your questions. Remember that “how” and “why” questions are more informative than “what” questions. List the subjects you want to describe, with in-line citations to your references: This will probably still be in bullet points at this stage. Discussion: List the points that need to be discussed with regard to the subjects included in your description. Again, this will still be bullet points. Answer and Conclusion: You might not have reached this stage yet. If you have, briefly present your current thoughts on what will be in your final paper. References: A full description of the current sources for your research. Warning: The use of references without proper citation is plagiarism, and amounts to academic misconduct. Students who use references or quotations without proper citations can be referred to Student Judicial Affairs for possible sanctions. Please review and follow the guidelines for citations available here. File Submission Your progress report should not be longer than 3 pages (2 pages is perfectly alright), excluding the References section. Please upload your progress report to Canvas (you can name this document as you want, but do keep the .pdf extension).
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