Paper #2 (Proposal) Assignment and Research Paper Info

Paper #2 (Proposal for Research Paper) due via email (sulmer@wcupa.ed) October 30 at midnight

Your proposal is an informal two-page, double-spaced letter to me (Professor Spring Ulmer) in which you present your case for why you want to write on a certain photographer’s—or on several photographers’—works. You will include what draws you to (or inspires you or makes you sick about) this work, and you will attempt to isolate a thesis argument (main question about these photographic works).

Information about the Research Paper

Your research paper must be between 2,500 – 3,000 words. Eight to 10 annotated sources (analyzing photographs and/or articles) will be required for the paper. You may use the annotated bibliographies you have already written only if they apply to your thesis. Should you decide to focus on only one or two photographer’s works, you may write several annotated bibliographies on the same photograph, provided your research changes your perspective enough to justify repeated bibliographies.

Your research paper will be an original scholarly in-depth essay on either:

A) the works of one photographer studied in this class, or

B) the works of two (or more) photographers studied in this class.

C) A well-argued proposal will justify an individual, creative approach to what your paper will cover. Be sure to be in touch with me before the proposal due date, should you choose this option.

You will:

1)   describe and analyze several specific photographs, and

2)   place them both within scholarly contexts (quoting other scholars who have analyzed these works before you), and

3)   place them within appropriate political and cultural frameworks.

Ultimately, your voice should be reflected in your argument. This means that you should be striving to say something original in a voice that sounds like your own, rather than some scholar you are mimicking.

Your research paper should

1)   further the scholarship of either or both African and/or African American photography, and

2)   demonstrate theoretical understanding of at least two of the following: photographic studio, documentary, art, and neocolonial and feminist theories.