Proposals...

24 March 2022: Today I met separately with three students in my seminar to talk about their critical essay proposals (due tomorrow). Each of them was hung up on an exact thesis, but they don't need that yet--and the assignment sheet is clear about this--just a kind of tentative thesis or even just the critical question they will try to answer. 

So I talked about what a tentative thesis can look like for the proposal--a bit vague, a kind of placeholder--but that that's okay because it's just a proposal and they haven't yet done all of the research, critical thinking, and writing that will flesh out that eventual final thesis. I told them, "When I give this back to you and I have written, 'This will need to be more specific,' that's true, but it isn't a criticism of what you have written here at this moment. It makes sense that it's this way now." 

I will tinker with the proposal prompt for future semesters, making this part a bit clearer and, more importantly, make sure we talk about it in person.