Term essay and proposal

For the term essay, you are required to write a well-written critical study about some aspect of the theme of the course: the representation of digital worlds. The essay should be between eight (full) and twelve pages in length (using double space lineation, a twelve-point Roman font, and one-inch margins). Essays that are shorter than eight full pages will be returned unread. Essays that are longer than fifteen pages may be returned unread. The essay must include a list of works cited (that does not count towards the total page count). Please do not submit the essay in a binder or folder. I am not fond of title pages.

Your essay should focus on treating one or more of the texts from our course list. You are free to study any of the texts, regardless of the subjects of your other assignments for this course. If you write on the same text as for your short analysis essay, you should ensure that your take a sufficiently different direction in your term essay. Your focus can also be more theoretical, where you do not study one or more texts but use as many texts as you want to theorize about digital worlds and their representations.

Your essay should have a “research” component. That is, your essay should respond in some way to at least two academic, critical studies directly related to your essay’s topic. Note that the studies need to be related to your topic, not necessarily to the text(s) you are studying in the essay. The academic, critical studies will usually be peer-reviewed essays, chapters, or books. Note that you are not being asked to review or critique a critical study; you are being asked to respond to and/or extend the work/theories of the studies. You may use more than two critical studies for your essay, but your essay should respond with some depth to at least two critical essays. (Your use of other critical essays could be more superficial.) In addition, you are welcome to base your own study on any theoretical approach you wish, drawing upon theoretical essays from our course list or from elsewhere.

You are required to submit a formal essay proposal. It should be at least one (full) page in length and no more than two pages. Include a bibliography (as an additional page) that lists the primary texts, critical essays, and other sources you plan to use in your essay.

An essay proposal will propose your essay topic to the instructor. It will describe what you plan to do, what you hope to find (or what you hope to prove), and what texts you will look at. It is not unusual for a term essay to depart somewhat from its proposal, but the direction of your essay should not depart significantly from what you propose, without at least first consulting the instructor.

Your proposal will be graded mainly on how well it achieves the goal of the proposal. That is, it should discuss your essay’s topic with a sufficient amount of depth. A proposal has an important rhetorical function: it serves to convince your instructor that you know what you’re doing and that what you’re doing is entirely appropriate to the assignment (and will eventually earn a high grade). A proposal that does not go into sufficient detail is usually not worth as much as one that elaborates with details on the proposed topic.

Please feel free to discuss your ideas for your term essay with the instructor, at any stage of the planning/writing process.

The essay proposal is due no later than November 20th. The term essay is due December 4th. Consult the course syllabus for information about extensions and lateness penalties.