Culminating Project Topic Proposal Assignment Sheet

The culminating project topic proposal describes the scope of your project and how it will be completed. A
proposal is a common and important document used to get suggestions and feedback on your detailed plan
from an instructor or boss, a stakeholder, or a client and to gain approval for moving forward with your project.
Putting together your proposal will also be helpful with designing your artifact and completing your project; it is
a chance to make sure that you have a solid plan, that you have all the materials you’ll need, that you know how
to use the tools you want to use (or have a good plan for learning how to use them), and that you have a
realistic schedule for getting everything done.

Proposals can take many forms, such as business plans, cover letters for a job application, scholarship
applications, and even party invitations. Different genres of proposals have their own conventions, so when
you’re asked to put together a proposal for a particular situation, always research what kind of proposal will be
appropriate and what sorts of information you’ll need to include.

Details
This particular document is very straightforward and should answer the questions in the following sections,
separated by the following headings:
● 1 Introduction. State your topic and your research question. These can be included as headings in this
section. Then, write an overview of intersecting disciplines and how you will approach your
topic/question.
● 2 Background. How did you arrive at this question? Why does it matter to you? If you can
communicate your curiosity and interest as well as the topic’s intellectual appeal and sophistication
both clearly and enthusiastically, others will be compelled by your topic as well.
● 3 Context. Other fields sometimes call this section the literature review (you can google it). What is the
state of the scholarly conversations related to your topic? Who are the most prominent voices? Which
voices are most important to you and the development of your ideas for this project?
● 4 Annotated Bibliography (5 entries). You began this work at the end of your QFT, but as a refresher, an
annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of the scholarly resources (journal articles, monograph
chapters, monographs, etc.) you have gathered together and relied upon as you have developed your
project idea. Its purpose is to support you in your later stages of this project, helping you remember the
importance of each source and distinguish each from the rest. Select the five scholarly resources that
seem most important at this point, and craft an accurate MLA bibliographic entry for each. Then, write
an annotation for each source. Each annotation should include one brief paragraph (a few sentences)
that thoroughly and succinctly summarizes the source and one paragraph (a few sentences) that
evaluates it, explaining its importance to your project. Feel free to label each paragraph as “summary”
and “evaluation.”
● 5 Working Bibliography. For the remaining sources you have consulted in your research, craft accurate
MLA records for each, compile each record, and alphabetize them in an in-process bibliography without
annotations. Each time you consult an additional scholarly resource, make an MLA record and add it to
your bibliography.

Logistics
Turn your proposal in on Canvas and upload your file using the google form found in the assignment as well. Be
sure that you have arranged your settings so that I can access your document.

DUE 22 March by 11:59pm

Black Holes, the Deep Sea, and the Sublime

How does the sublime drive us to want to explore the unknown?

In this project, the topics discussed will cover the disciples of science, philosophy, and english

and literary studies. I plan on approaching my question by first doing research on black holes, the deep

sea, and any other interesting and unknown aspect of nature and our universe. Additionally, I will begin

to investigate the sublime from both a literary and philosophical angle, and try to draw parallels between

how that might influence our human fascination with the unknown natural world. In the end, by

summarizing and pulling together everything I have noticed about the two different areas, I should be

able to discern what aspects of the unknown in our universe make us want to know more, and how all of

this ties back in sublimity and transcendent emotions.

Background

When brainstorming for my original ideas, I was originally very drawn to both the topics of

black holes and the deep sea. I hadn’t been able to form a working research question yet, but I knew that

I wanted to do something related to at least one of those topics. Ever since I was younger, my late night

comfort shows and documentaries had always included Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Into the Wormhole with

Morgan Freeman, The Blue Planet, and others of the same sort. For as long as I can remember, I have

always been drawn towards the unfamiliar and more mysterious aspects of the universe, but I have never

been able to put my finger on why. It practically seemed like an alternate universe: these things were

seemingly so far away and almost unfathomable to me that it felt unreal to exist in the same world as

them. Upon realizing how I had chosen these two topics to research for essentially the same reasons, the

idea of tying it all back into sublimity was introduced to me. Through this, I am not only able to look

further into topics that have interested me for my entire life, but I can look into what about these ideas

are so awe inspiring and why that leads me, as well as other scientists, to want to learn more.
Context

The scholarly conversation related to my specific area of interest is fairly underdeveloped. From

the research that I’ve done so far, the particular aspects of science and exploration and the aspects of

literature and philosophy that I want to do research on didn’t yield many concrete answers. Many

scientists all over the world are tackling the question of “What’s out there?” in terms of space and deep

sea exploration, and there has been a lot of valuable conversation around what we do know, what we

don’t know, and what could possibly be. On the other hand, the conversation as it pertains to the sublime

is primarily contained to literature, art, and culture. Any discussion (that I have encountered) that had

anything to do with nature was more focused on nature appearing in art, and why we may be drawn to

certain images and atmospheric depictions. Originally, ideas of the sublime have been defined and

expanded on by philosophers Edmund Burke and Emannuel Kant. Since then, a great number of other

thinkers have done work thinking about this idea: Remo Bodei, an italian philosopher, specifically

comes to mind as he explored how the distinct atmospheres that different sceneries of nature inspire can

stimulate certain emotions and feelings of sublimity and transcendent emotions. However, although the

connection between my two distinct intersections disciplines may not be clear or thoroughly researched,

through the sources I have gathered, I should be able to jump into the conversation and identify that

relationship for myself.

Annotated Bibliography (5)

Interview." African American Review, vol. 50, no. 3, 2017, pp. 251-57,

www.jstor.org/stable/26444100. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

This source is generally about how individuals experience the sublime through their

culture and relationships, and it interviews a black woman who describes the influence

that race and gender have on this. This interview goes into depth about why individuals

find some things more compelling than others, and how that may contribute to something

being sublime. Whereas my other source discussing the sublime is a very broad overview

that makes generalizations about the sublime and the emotions experienced with it, this is

more about the individual and how our experiences shape what we find enticing and

perhaps sublime. It discusses how people often define the sublime as a delightful horror,

with more emphasis placed on the negative emotions associated with it. In reality, the

exciting and positive emotions associated with the sublime are equally as important

because this has the power to restore and bring satisfaction. This is important in my

research because it explores why the sublime is so enticing to us as humans. It also talks

about how humans, as individuals, grow to find certain things more enticing than others,

and why some people are drawn to things and others aren't.

Cochrane, Tom. "The emotional experience of the sublime." Canadian Journal of Philosophy,

vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 125-48. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43297871. Accessed 23

Mar. 2022.

This source is a general overview of what the sublime is and how it is defined. It

approaches this topic from both a casual, everyday angle, as well as from a literary angle.

It goes on to describe the emotional experience of sublimity itself and attempts to explain

how the feelings associated with sublime things/experiences are aroused. It discusses

many different things that we find sublime and draws parallels between all of them to see
 what actually makes something sublime. This is important to my research because it will

partially help me answer my questions concerning my what's and how's about sublimity.

The source provides a good background for my project from the literary and

philosophical side as I can understand exactly what makes something sublime and how

we experience it, and draw that back into my topic of the unknowns in nature.

Howard, Sethanne. "Black Holes Can Dance." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences,

vol. 97, no. 2, 2011, pp. 1-28. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24536519. Accessed 23 Mar.

2022.

This source, so far, is probably the most helpful and interesting journal when it comes to

black holes. Not only does it describe what black holes are, what they do, and a

simplified version of how they work, but it gives little scenarios of what would

theoretically happen if a human got too close to a black hole and got sucked in. It

describes things like the event horizon, spaghettification, time dilation, gravitational

redshift, loss of information, different paradoxes, etc. Since all of these things aren't

everyday phenomena on earth, they are incredibly foreign to us and seem almost

impossible. I think that this source will be helpful in my research because it does a great

job putting black hole ideas and topics into perspective and makes it easy for everyday

people to imagine something so complex. Additionally, the unknown aspect when it

comes to all the paradoxes is a big part of my research and it does a good job of

explaining all of that.

Ruth G. McKay. "Adaptations for Deep-Sea Life." Bios, vol. 9, no. 3, 1938, pp. 125-31. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/4604316. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

This article discusses the large range of plant and animal diversity found in the oceans,

and how these are so different from what we have on land. It briefly touches on the

marine life that is more accessible for humans to study, and the diversity found here, and
 then it dives into the animals that live in the deep and the certain adaptations that they

have had to make to their environments in order to survive. Translucent skin, extremely

reduced eyesight, and fluorescent skin are a few examples. This source is important to my

research because it explores the parts of marine life which seem so removed from our

everyday life on land. Animals that have fluorescent or clear skin ( and many other

adaptations) seems so alien and foreign to us, which is the reason why I was interested in

this in the first place. This source does a good job of exploring and describing all of that.

Witten, Edward. "Quantum Mechanics of Black Holes." Science, vol. 337, no. 6094, 2012, pp.

538-40. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23267645. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

This text is one of my sources on black holes that goes into black holes as we understand

them, as well as the many things that we don't understand and what could possibly be

true. It discusses how aspects of black holes as we know them cause conflicts with some

current physics and black hole theories, as well as how scientists are working around that.

Certain parts go way more into depth than I'd ever need, but the general explanation of

the paradigms and theories are really interesting because it provides an elementary

background to the very "unknown" aspect of black holes that I was originally interested

in. This is important to my project as it not only provides a basic understanding of black

holes, but the problems that we are running into today when it comes to understanding

them and the steps that humans are taking towards new discoveries.

Additional Sources

Brett, Guy. "Being Drawn to an Image." Oxford Art Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, 1991, pp. 3-9.

JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1360273. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

Style, vol. 36, no. 4, 2002, pp. 718-36. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.36.4.718. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

Scharf, Caleb. "THE BENEVOLENCE of BLACK HOLES." Scientific American, vol. 307, no.

2, 2012, pp. 34-39. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26016034. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

Staver, Frederick. "'Sublime' as Applied to Nature." Modern Language Notes, vol. 70, no. 7,

1955, pp. 484-87. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3039639. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.