Hi Dennis, This is a good start because you've already identified a specific genre (computer code),

research question, and analytical frames (activity theory, multimodality) that you want to apply to your
textual/genre analyses. You already have access to some of the code you plan on analyzing, too, which is
necessary. There are a few sections of your proposal which could be improved by more elaboration. The
main reason for this elaboration is to establish the specific context and parameters of your particular
project and narrow your focus to a) make your project more manageable and b) improve your reader's
understanding of your plans. For the "situatedness of genre" section, could you choose a specific
example of a coding activity--for instance, creating code for one of the Computer Science courses you're
part of--and provide specific examples of all the questions in that part of the assignment sheet? For
example, how are the visual and spatial modes used in that coding activity? For your research question, I
think we can narrow your focus by including your framing concepts in the question itself to show your
readers which aspects of the code you will be focusing on. What about something like: How does
computer code--more specifically, the multimodal design and content of the comments, spacing, and
output of the code--differ based on the level of experience of the coder? In other words, how are
multimodal "tools" of coding used differently by "subjects" with different levels of expertise, and how
does the "outcome" of this coding differ? The section of your proposal that requires the most revision is
your "Primary Research Methods," since you have not currently included your textual analysis questions.
Please add them. Since you're applying the frame of multimodality, you can ask: How is the linguistic
mode being used? How is the visual mode being used? How is the audio mode being used? How is the
gestural mode being used? How is the spatial mode being used? ...and so on. For your access section, I
see that you've included the link to the leaked code for Counter Strike Global Offensive, but I don't see a
copy of the cody from the Computer Science class you plan on analyzing. Please include a screenshot of
that, too, so that I know you have access to this genre. Last, for your timeline, please be sure to look at
the Course Calendar to see the upcoming deadlines for all the stages of your research project (including
the Annotated Bib, Research Paper, etc.) and add in your own personal due dates for things like
analyzing your genres, collecting your secondary research sources, drafting your Research Paper, and so
on. You have started to do this, but your process assumes that you are starting with a thesis, which
should not be the case. You won't arrive at full answers to your questions until after you've completed
the Annotated Bib. Those are my main suggestions at this point. I look forward to reading the "final
portfolio" draft of your Research Proposal. Remember: if you have any questions about my comments,
you can always visit me during office hours!