Sample Research proposal with notes

The QuestionSome comments to clarifyThe core question I’d like to explore is one that has long puzzled me:  how does The Awakening fit into the literary history of the period?  In some ways, it feels modernist to me, but in others, it’s clearly Realist and even local color.  I find this uncertainty intriguing, in part  because it reflects not only the richness of this individual text, but also the complexities of these literary movements.  We talk about them as if they were definitive and clearly separate, and in some ways they are.  But I also see overlaps.  I think exploring where this novel fits might help me clarify both my own understanding of these movements (both as they were and as they have been discussed by critics) and my understanding of the novel (by forcing me to read more of the criticism beyond the material on gender and class).  Note that I start with the main question and take some time to try to explain what it’s about and why I think it matters.  In this case, I’m drawing on years of experience.  For you, the source of “significance” may be your reading journal, or something from class discussion, or your future teaching plans, or some long-held personal interest in a particular theme.  This question involves several key subquestions, including what is the best way to define Realism and Modernism, and how does this novel reflect the qualities of each?  There’s also, of course, a sort of value subquestion:  how does thinking of this novel as representing one movement or the other affect the way we read it?  In other words, on some level, I will always be asking why this question matters – and being me, I’ll always partially doubt that it does matter.  I think that doubt is good, though it may create a challenge as I pursue this inquiry.  If I’m not sure the question really matters, will my interest hold?Next, I’ve identified the main subquestions – more focused things that I will need to know in order to pursue the bigger question.  

I think it’s useful here, too, to consider not only intellectual issues but also my own attitude – if nothing else, it helps to remind myself of my own doubts.This question feels generative because it will allow me to look deeper into this text and will require me to explore the multiple meanings of realism, modernism, and local color.  If nothing else, I’ll learn from it, but I will also be better able to teach about these issues.  I think it is definitely a question to which there is no one answer; witness all the articles in which critics argue about this very question.  But understanding those multiple answers better will help me teach the book and the period better.  It’s an exciting question because I find it personally challenging and significant in understanding the text itself.  Maybe it’s my rebellious streak, but I’m always a little skeptical about all these labels, so exploring them more deeply makes me curious.  I have to teach them (as a responsible professor), but my own work always leans more toward the cultural than the literary history.  It’s a relevant question, because I teach this novel regularly and because I expect to continue teaching this course.  If I’m going to teach about the relationship between realism and modernism, I need to understand it as fully as possible.  I was deliberate here in explaining how this question meets those three criteria – generative, exciting, and relevant.  Please do this in your proposal, too.The ResearchI need to start with the first of the subquestions:  what’s the best way to define the qualities of the two big movements?  The most useful source for that, I think, will be all of the various definitions of Realism and Modernism that I can get my hands on.  Happily, many of these live in handbooks on my shelves or online, but I should also look for one or two fairly recent critical articles that reflect on these movements.  I know that our understanding of literary history keeps changing, as scholars join and complicate the discussion, and I need to know what the most recent versions look like.  These pieces need not be about Chopin, and it may even be more useful to me it they were not.  I’ve broken this section down into 4 discreet research tasks.  You may not yet feel confident in doing this, but try to figure out the kinds of information you need.

Note, too – and this is the most important thing – that I’ve been as descriptive as I can about what kind of articles and contextual materials I’m looking for.  I didn’t say “I need critical articles”; instead I said that I would need “fairly recent critical articles that reflect on these movements.”  That makes it a much more concrete plan, which will make it easier for me to get started.At the same time, it will help to review articles that specifically explore these issues.  I know I’m not the first person to ask this question, and other scholars have made arguments that we should read this book as representative of realism, naturalism, and modernism.  I should get a sense of what their arguments are and consider what I find persuasive.  Those articles will also help me clarify the definition of the two movements I’m focusing on.  It might also help to look at contextual material on how this book was read.  What I know already, from the responses in the Norton anthology, suggests that people didn’t notice a big difference in literary style, in part because they were more interested in the book’s content.  But what did Howells say about it?  What about other reviewers who were involved in the literary discussion?  Also, did Chopin write anything during her lifetime about realism, about art, about perception, that might shed light on how she saw her work?For this section, you’ll probably have to speculate.  We don’t know yet exactly what kind of materials exist.  But imagine what would be useful if it DID exist.  If a folder of letters, diaries, reviews, interviews, or other material from 1890-1910 landed on your desk, what would you hope to find inside?Once I’m armed with all of that, I will return to the text itself, to reread in light of all of these ideas.  Will I notice different things, or read the same things differently, when I do that?  I suspect I will.  In the end, though, the text itself – Chopin’s way of representing consciousness, her use of detail, what she includes and what she obfuscates – all of that will help me figure out where I think she fits, or how she fits into multiple categories.  Please include some comments on how your project will lead you to look again at the text.  What will you look for?  And at what point in the process do you think this would be most helpful?  For some people, the text may be the main source, while others may only have to review it briefly at the beginning.  Consider your own needs.