COMMON PROBLEMS IN THE PROSPECTUS

1.     CHOOSE WORDS WISELY:

Literally, but yet, lots of, stepped up to the plate

2.     RUN-ON SENTENCES:

3.     HOW CAN A COLON MAKE A FRAGMENT?

The subjects I will study will be: art, history, and music.

                                                (fragment)

The subjects I will study will include: art, history, and music.

                                                (fragment)

            The subjects I will study will include the following: art, history, and music.

4.     EDIT MORE THOROUGHLY:

Silly errors on final drafts are not acceptable.

            Two ideas may help you edit more carefully:

A.     Read your essays aloud;

B.     Bring me a draft.

           

5.     TOPIC FOCUS:

The topics are far too broad. You cannot write a good ten page paper on all of World War Two, for instance. There was not enough evidence that research had begun in earnest.

How do you narrow your research focus?

            …History of Medicine

…Medicine in the 19^th century

…Medicine in Europe in the 19^th Century

--ALL OF THE FOLLOWING, HOWEVER, WOULD WORK…

…Birth of the germ theory

…Pasteur and the Role of Invention in Medicine

…Mesmer and Medical Abuse in 19^th Century Vienna

…relationship between Industrialization and Medicine

History of Middle East

History of Islam

Medicine in Early Islam

--ALL OF THE FOLLOWING, HOWEVER, WOULD WORK…

…Bedside Manner and Al Razi

…Recent Scholarship on Ibn Sina

…Role of Zakat in Establishing Hospitals in the 9^th Century Muslim World

…Educating Doctors in Early Islam