Sarah's Prospectus

I would like to argue that the images shown by the fashion and advertising industries have a negative affect in young women’s views of themselves with a focus on the particular focus on the aspect of their weight. Also, because all cultures have their own depictions of ideal beauty, I would like to research the media’s effect on different cultures within America; including Asian, Mexican, and American itself. In researching this, I would like to look at the lengths that these targeted women go to in order to fit these roles that the media portrays; such as eating disorders, and how/if these differ between the different American cultures.

Pat's Abstract

The topic that I have chosen for the research paper is if offshore oil drilling and oil drilling in ANWR would be helpful to our economy and reducing our dependency on foreign energy sources. First, I will define offshore oil drilling and examine the positive and negative consequences of drilling and not drilling. I will argue that finding new places for drilling for oil will not help the United States to become energy independent, because eventually those oil reserves will run out and we will back in the same place that we are now. I will research the effects that drilling would have for our economy and against the environment. Then, I will discuss other options that are available to the United States for becoming energy independent, instead of drilling for more oil on our own land.

Nick's Abstract

My research paper will be pertaining to rhetoric used by the Republican Party in the late 1990’s to today through analysis of text, speeches, legislation and other expert opinion. The reason I am pursuing this topic is because I wanted to see what method of argument the party most falls in line with whether it be logos, ethos or pathos. I will make the argument that, although contrary to popular belief, that the Republican Party mainly uses logos with subtleties of ethos and pathos. Also, I wanted follow the rapid conservative rising of the 1990’s through the congressional majority being achieved for the first time in 40 years and so quickly losing that majority, 10 years later and show the change in the rhetoric used. I will also incorporate the ideas of the Democratic Party and how the Republican’s tried to refute them, and by what means. I am not limiting this paper to just what language is being used but how the Republicans communicates that language through media and other outlets. I will demonstrate the drastic change in rhetoric used by the party after the 9-11 attacks and language used with the current energy and economic crisis.

Lee's Abstract

In this paper, I will explore the influence that smoking in movies has on culture and the public image of smoking. I will explain the prevalence of smoking in movies and how cigarette companies use movies in advertisements. I will then show how successful these companies are and how the movies effect the public image of smoking. I will also explain how successful smoking in movies is in getting young people to smoke compared to older people. I will do this by exploring smoking in movies influence in the past and in other nations. My research and information will conclude that smoking in movies keeps the positive image of smoking alive and successfully encourages young people to smoke.

Sam's Abstract

With a path paved by its big brother MySpace, the online social networking site, Facebook, has been growing rapidly among high school as well as my fellow college students everywhere. The site demands attention and time from the adolescent to young adult generation in an unavoidable way; Facebook creates an entirely new environment in which users can exist. The site is has reached into almost every aspect of life, and I plan to look at its impact, positive and negative. I want to put special focus on communication: with friends, on a college campus, and now, even with relatives. After all, the best way to make sure an event is noticed among a group of college kids is, arguably, creating an event on Facebook. Of all the environments in which my generation exists, it seems that Facebook has become the most demanding. Is Facebook defining my generation?

Tiffany's Prospectus

As I teenage college student, I can not imagine life without a cell phone. So for my research topic, I am studying the ways that cell phones have shaped our society. I will include information about the types of person to person relationships that cell phones both support and dampen. I will also include a section on how communication has changed with technological advancements. I will give reasons for how cell phones have improved communication and how they have hurt it. Many people don’t realize the impact cell phones have on them, so I want the reader to become aware of the ways these machines have changed their lives. The paper will not be simply positives and negatives, but the impact those positives and negatives have. My thesis will be along the lines of “Cell phones have played a big role in shaping American society and the ways in which individuals interact with one another.”

Elizabeth's Abstract

For my research paper I am going to do NAFTA’s chapter 11 and it’s implication for the average American person. I would really like to focus on the laws and policies that have been challenged by foreign corporations that could threaten the health of the people. I would also like to focus on the reasons why chapter 11 was included into NAFTA in the first place.
Chapter 11 is a section of NAFTA that allows foreign corporations of NAFTA countries to sue NAFTA governments that threaten them or their profits. There is a tribunal meeting held to determine the outcome of these cases but these meetings are closed to the public. The tribunal cannot force the governments to change their policies, but they can award huge uncapped financial compensations to the corporations.
I am going to research the reasons why big corporations need chapter 11 to protect themselves from governments. I want to research the situations in the past where governments have directly tried to cut the profits of corporations without a just reason. I want to research all the ways in which chapter 11 helps businesses to make a profit. I also would like to look at the results of chapter 11 for the average American consumer, who is not involved in the Tribunal meetings to determine the outcome of their own government’s policies. I am going to look into the cases that have already been brought against the government and the implications of the results.

Laura's Abstract

The divorce rate is now one in two, and one in eight Americans opt never to marry. I am studying the attitudes of Americans towards dating and marriage and how they have changed in recent years because I am trying to find out why the divorce rate is so high to help my reader better understand the nature of the modern marriage. In my paper, I would like to argue that the modern attitudes about dating and hooking up have led to the deterioration of marriage in our society. Because we live in a “hook up” society, and people often have pre-marital sex, people are more likely to have affairs once they are married. In addition, couples are now more likely to live together before they are married. When people don’t reserve this bond for marriage, they are likely to not value marriage as much. They seem to say, “let’s give this a test run.” Therefore this attitude is carried over to marriage, and couples don’t take their commitment as seriously. In addition, when people live together and then break up, the emotional effects can be as devastating as an actual divorce. As a generation, who lived through many more divorces than any other in American history, many of us are choosing to opt out.

Kelly's Abstract

Jon Katz said that by using the internet we will be forming a new kind of libertarianism. From that idea i decided that my topic will be based on the idea of free expression in using the internet. I plan to argue that this idea of free expression enables anyone to become who they want to be on the internet. It allows people to say what they need to say without bias. The internet helps people to challenge the norms of everday life and allow us to speak about what people believe to be the truth.
I would also like to focus on how the enitre world does not have free expression on the internet. I want to show what kind of progress is being made in the world to get people their rights of free expression on the internet. I would like to learn more about this topic and help those who read my essay to learn just how much free expression affects society and the world.
So. I would like to focus on freee expression, what it is, who has it, who doesn't, and how people are helping those who dont have it to get it.

Carl's Prospectus

My topic is on the study of how writing history through narrative affects the interpretation of that history. I am trying to find out exactly how narrative writing distorts reality, to what degree, and how to discern truth from fiction. Possibly to narrow down the topic I will use what I learn in an example and analyze parts of a narrative on Genghis Khan. The idea is to help my reader understand the complexity of history and how history cannot be taken at face value, especially the narrative, even when it is written as “fact” like Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Although I focus on narrative writing in history, I want the paper to show how much there is in regards to how history is written so that the reader goes away thinking more critically of historic sources and so that they know in the end, they are the ones that must decide which historic interpretation they wish to accept. Other ways to narrow down the topic might be to take a specific event that is told in multiple narratives and analyze that, or to look at one part of the historic narrative that is especially significant in the telling of history.