The Function of Criticism paper asks you to provide a general defense of literary scholarship in the present age. The Grant Proposal “grants” you the opportunity to make a particular case for the funding of literary arts and education.
Like Just the Minutes, this exercise will be a creative application of professional writing skills. Here you will apply for a grant (of up to $5,000) modeled on Morehead’s own Summer Fellowship program.
While every proposal will follow the same format, the strategies for completion will differ depending on the type of proposal. Proposals to fund individual research or creative productions should stress the public benefits of these projects. Proposals to fund an educational initiative should demonstrate that the initiatives are not the responsibility of another public agency. In each instance, the grant writer will have to “sell” MSU on their project, making a case that it is in the institution’s best interest to fund the proposal.
 Research and creative production |  Educational initiatives |
| Examples: analyzing the representation of motherhood in Anne Bradstreet’s verse; exploring early examples of the graphic novel; publishing a chapbook of poetry; researching a libretto through study abroad; adapting “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to modern vernacular | Examples: instituting a departmental social media presence for recruitment; using gaming to build community in FYS; formulating rules for proper AI use; “Leveling Up” the Library with co-curricular experiences for students; proposing new educational technology |
Note: our Grant Proposal will support projects that would not be funded by MSU’s Summer Fellowship program. You may submit proposals for “academic degree work, institutional research (research that represents a self- study of a department, college or an academic program), curriculum development, [or] proposals which emphasize recruiting as a primary focus.”
Final drafts of Grant Proposals must combine all four portions of the proposal form into one readable pdf. This pdf should be uploaded to our BlackBoard site on or before the scheduled due date.
The four components of the Grant Proposal:
- The Cover Page (click on the link to access the fillable form)
- A current Vita (an outline of your academic work that will significantly overlap with your resume, but will not be coterminous with it—click on the link for an easy to follow cv format)
- The Budget Request Form with an attached one-page itemized budgetary description (click on the link to access the fillable form)
- A Narrative (see the description of the Narrative below)
The structure of the Grant Proposal’s Narrative:
A. Background and Significance.
- Major Objectives. List the major objectives of the project, phrasing each in clearly measurable terms. (Concretely outline the purpose and final outcome of your project).
- Rationale or Background. Provide a brief justification or sense of need for this project. Rationales for research and creative productions should include literature reviews that demonstrate a familiarity with current scholarship or artistic trends (or markets). Rationales for educational initiatives may include literature reviews, or they may document need using public records.
- Articulation of Significance. Describe the significance of the project in relation to Morehead State’s Mission Statement.
B. Project Design and Methods
- Project Description. Offer a detailed description of the project, including the equipment, materials, and resources necessary for its completion.
- Evaluation. Define a method of evaluation that gauges the success of the project. Methods do not need to be formulated as a rubric, but they should function as one.
- Management. Include a timeline that provides a detailed breakdown of the sequence of the project. This timeline should note how equipment, materials, and resources will be managed.
- Value statement for MSU. Provide a “value statement” for MSU. This statement may include the use or exchange value of project. The primary focus of this section, though, should be the guiding principles that animate the project—the “values” it encodes. (Note: this section may overlap with the “Articulation of Significance” in Part A).
- Expertise. Identify all the persons involved in the project and describe their expertise (i.e., what makes each person “the right person” to work on this project).
C. References. Cite all materials referenced in properly formatted MLA Works Cited page (9th edition MLA).
Compositional particulars: Narratives must be structured in the order above, using the same headings and numberings. Entries for sections A and B should be single spaced. Spaces between numbered elements and major sections should be double spaced. Section C will follow MLA’s format for Works Cited pages.
The Narrative section of the Grant Proposal should not exceed 6 pages in length.
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