Proposal Essay

1. Proposal Essay Essay #5

2. Syllabus Description • Essay 5: Proposal: Using the format described in class, write a concise, detailed, clear, organized, and engaging proposal arguing for some action regarding a problem or social issue. Your argument will deal with a contemporary issue and focus on the future. This essay should contain a clear claim stating a proposal, a strong rebuttal, and supporting evidence drawn from at least ten sources, including a mixture of primary and secondary sources.  (Length: 2,000-3,000 words (5-7 pages). Sources: 10. Due: April 27, 2012. Value: 200 points.) (This will also be your final exam grade!)

3. Advice… • Don’t panic. • Don’t procrastinate. • Keep up with small class deadlines. • Organize, organize, organize before you start writing. • START NOW!

4. Proposals • Proposal essays imply that some action should take place and suggests that there are sound reasons why it should occur. • Thesis formula… • A should do B because of C. • Ex: The student government should endorse the Academic Bill of Rights, because students should not be punished in their courses for their reasonable political view.

5. Proposals that focus on Practices • Examples: • The college should allow students to pay tuition on a month-by-month basis. • The NCAA should implement a playoff system to determine its Division I football championship. • San Francisco should erect a more effective suicide prevention barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge.

6. Proposals that focus on Policies • Examples: • The college should adopt a policy guaranteeing a “living wage” to all campus workers. • The state should repeal all English-only legislation. • The police department should institute a policy to train officials in intercultural communication.

7. Proposal Characteristics… • They call for action or response, often in response to a problem. • They focus on the future. • They center on the audience.

8. Call for Action • Proposals always call for some kind of action. • They aim at getting something done or sometimes preventing something from being done. • Use evidence and arguments to persuade people to choose a course of action. • They must appeal to more than good sense; they must be highly credible to create movement.

9. Focus on the Future • Proposal arguments focus on the future – what people, institutions, or governments should do over the upcoming weeks, months, or even decades. • Use the best evidence available to suggest that recommended actions will achieve what they promise.

10. Center on the Audience • Focus on a particular audience, especially on people who can get something done. • General audience proposals can usually be found in the newspaper regarding small, local issues. • Grand proposals need to influence individuals (such as financiers, developers, public officials, and legislators) who have the power to make change happen. • Identifying your potential audiences is critical to the success of your proposal. • The proposal must also be compatible with the audiences values.

11. Developing Proposals • Define a Need or Problem • Make a Strong and Clear Claim • Show that the Proposal Addresses the Need or Problem • Show that the Proposal is Feasible • Back it up the Experiences of Those Effected • Consider Design and Visuals

12. Defining a Need or Problem • Be sure the need/problem is not a result of a larger issue. • Establish the need or problem… • Paint a picture of the need/problem in concrete and memorable ways • Show how the need/problem affects the audience for the argument as well as the larger society • Explain why the need or problem is significant • Explain why other attempts to address the issue may have failed (warning: some problems grow worse each time someone tinkers with them!)

13. Make a Strong and Clear Claim • Thesis: A should do B because of C. • Claim: X or Y should ____ followed by the reason(s) that X or Y should act and the effects of adopting the proposal.

14. Show that the Proposal Addresses the Need or Problem • An important but tricky part of making a successful proposal is relating the claim to the need or problem that it addresses. • Sometimes a proposal calls for audience to dream about how it fulfills a need or solves a problem that might not be immediately recognizable.

15. Show that the Proposal is Feasible • Feasible – The action proposed can be carried out in a reasonable way. • Present evidence from similar cases, personal experience of those involved, from observational data, from interview or survey data, from internet research, or other sources. • Must show that what you propose can be done with the resources available. • Calls for funds, personnel or skills beyond reason are easily rejected!

16. Use Experiences • Is the experience directly related to the need/problem that you seek to address or to your proposal about it? • Will the experience be appropriate and speak convincingly to the audience? Will the audience immediately understand its significance, or will it require explanation? • Does the experience fit logically with the other reasons that you’re using to support your claim? • BE CAREFUL! The proposal must NOT look like you are trying to serve your own interests!

17. Consider Design and Visuals • Format? Letter, memo, webpage, feasibility report, brochure, or prospectus • Each design may add to or detract from your effectiveness • Essay form: headings, subheadings, type form, white space, margins • Can guide readers and enhance persuasiveness

18. Make sure you include… • A description of a problem that needs a solution • A claim that proposes a practice or policy that addresses a problem or need, is oriented toward action, is directed at the future, and is appropriate to your audience • Statements that clearly relate the claim to the problem or need • Evidence that the proposal will effectively address the need or solve the problem and that it’s workable

19. For Tomorrow… • Come with three or four possible topic ideas. • Be sure topic ideas are narrow. • Ex: Pollution – Water Pollution – Water Pollution from farmland runoff