Planning, Drafting, and Developing
See sections A and B in the Quick Research Guide for advice on finding a few sources.
Start with Your Proposal and Your Thesis. A basic approach is to state your proposal in a sentence that can act as your thesis.
See more on stating a thesis.
| PROPOSAL | Let people get divorced without having to go to court. |
| WORKING THESIS | The legislature should pass a law allowing couples to divorce without the problem of going to court. |
From such a statement, the rest of the argument may start to unfold, often falling naturally into a simple two-part shape:
For practice developing and supporting effective thesis statements, visit bedfordstmartins.com/ bedguide.
- A claim that a problem exists. This part explains the problem and supplies evidence of its significance — for example, the costs, adversarial process, and stress of divorce court for a couple and their family.
- A claim that something ought to be done about it. This part proposes a solution to the problem — for example, legislative action to authorize other options such as mediation.
See more on outlines.
These two parts can grow naturally into an informal outline.
- Introduction
Overview of the situation
Working thesis stating your proposal
- Problem
Explanation of its nature
Evidence of its significance
- Solution
Explanation of its nature
Evidence of its effectiveness and practicality
- Conclusion
You can then expand your outline and make your proposal more persuasive by including some or all of the following elements:
- Knowledge or experience that qualifies you to propose a solution (your experience as a player or a coach, for example, that establishes your credibility as an authority on Little League or soccer clubs)
- Values, beliefs, or assumptions that have caused you to feel strongly about the need for action
- An estimate of the resources — money, people, skills, material — and the time required to implement the solution (perhaps including what is available now and what needs to be obtained)
- Step-by-step actions needed to achieve your solution
- Controls or quality checks to monitor implementation
- Possible obstacles or difficulties that may need to be overcome
- Reasons your solution is better than others proposed or tried already
- Any other evidence that shows that your suggestion is practical, reasonable in cost, and likely to be effective
Imagine Possible Objections of Your Audience. You can increase the likelihood that readers will accept your proposal in two ways. First, start your proposal by showing that a problem exists. Then, when you turn to your claim that something should be done, begin with a simple and inviting suggestion. For example, a claim that national parks need better care might suggest that readers head for a park and personally size up the situation. Besides drawing readers into the problem and the solution, you may think of objections they might raise — reservations about the high cost, complexity, or workability of your plan, for instance. Persuade readers by anticipating and laying to rest their likely objections.
For pointers on integrating and documenting sources, see Ch. 12 and D6 and E1–E2 in the Quick Research Guide.
Cite Sources Carefully. When you collect ideas and evidence from outside sources, you need to document your evidence — that is, tell where you found everything. Follow the documentation method your instructor wants you to use. You may also want to identify sources as you introduce them to assure a reader that they are authoritative.
According to Newsweek correspondent Josie Fair, …
In his biography FDR: The New Deal Years, Davis reports …
While working as a Senate page in the summer of 2013, I observed …
For more about integrating visuals, see section B in the Quick Format Guide.
Introduce visual evidence (table, graph, drawing, map, photo), too.
As the 2010 census figures in Table 1 indicate, …
The photograph showing the run-down condition of the dog park (see Fig. 2) …