Class, please email me the prospectus of your final project by Friday, April 1.

These guidelines in writing a prospectus may be useful as a guide. You do not need to follow them to the letter, as they are for a specific class. But the overall advice is useful. This online guide is also useful in writing a prospectus and abstract.

Your prospectus should be approximately one typed page, single-spaced or 1.5-spaced — two or three meaty paragraphs. Your prospectus should: 1. Sketch your topic and argument, including a provisional thesis or research question; 2. Identify the primary texts and secondary literature you will discuss — and how you will use them to support your argument; and 3. Include a short bibliography, in MLA style. (If you quote a text,- you should also cite the page number in MLA style.)

I’ve uploaded a friend’s prospectus for a dissertation to the Sample Writings folder on Dropbox. (It’s for a longer project and contains only a draft bibliography, but gives you some sense of writing at the graduate level.)