For section this Thursday

What to bring for Thursday:

An extraordinarily brief “prospectus”, 250 words or less,  that includes (4 copies):

• 1.      Your thesis
• 2.      Potential theoretical conceptual frame
• 3.      The literature that you plan to use/integrate

This may be in the form of an outline, or in as a more traditional (mini)prospectus.

Here’s an example of an introduction to a prospectus:

        Lev Vygotsky (1931) defines the Zone of Proximal Development (henceforth, ZPD) as the space in which a novice learner’s development can be improved through interaction with a relative expert (pp.99).This conception is consistent with my own literate awakening:  It wasn’t until my brother, who is two years my senior, decided to read with me that I was then able to begin reading at grade-level.

There is nothing particularly outstanding about this introduction; however, do take note that it is framed by a particular theory. This theoretical frame, in this case ZPD, would help to guide the rest of this paper (were it a real, as opposed to hypothetical, paper). You also want to workshop other readings that you feel are germane to your paper, i.e., readings that you plan to integrate. For example, sticking with the hypothetical paper above, I may write something like this:

        In his autobiography, Fredrick Douglass tells of his literate awakening and the effect that it had on him psychologically and even materially. His learning to read was, though it predated the concept,  also consistent with Vygotsky’s conception of ZPD. He offers the example of trading bread for literacy instruction…