Your first paper will be a informal proposal essay, in which you explore the topic that you want to research and explain why you have chosen it. Your aim here is to take a position on a current issue, particular point of view, etc. and to explain/justify that issue or point of view to your readers. Your mini-paper needs to be clear, sharply focused and convincing. Your aim will be to help the reader understand why you have taken this position and to outline a few of the complex issues that surround it. You need not use outside sources or documentation, but this mini-paper should have a strong stand or position that is clear and that is supported with relevant, credible evidence.

TIPS:

• Pick a topic that is arguable (avoid arguments of fact).
• Pick a topic that is relevant to the Bahamas in some way.
• Pick a topic in which you have some personal interest.
• Explore the topic:
  • which side are you going to take?
  • why?
  • what sorts of reasons can you find?
  • where do you think you will find information about the topic?
  • what sorts of evidence do you think you will be able to provide?
  • what are the broader issues that the topic raises?
  • what kind of claim do you think you will make - causal, value, policy?

REMEMBER: this essay is as much about exploration of your topic as it is about making a firm and formal proposal. You may well discover, in the course of writing this essay, that the topic you picked is unworkable; that's okay, and it's part of the process.