to writing a proposal
Who wouldn’t support a building that looked great and helped clean the air?
• Finding a Topic or Identifying a Problem
You’re entering a proposal argument when you:
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make a claim that supports a change in practice: Bottled water should carry a warning label describing the environmental impact of plastic.
make a claim that supports a change in policy: Government workers, especially legislators and administrative officials, should never be exempt from laws or programs imposed on other citizens.
make a claim that resists suggested changes in practice or policy: The surest way to guarantee that HOV lanes on freeways improve traffic flow is not to build any.
explore options for addressing existing issues or investigate opportunities for change: Urban planners need to examine the long-term impact digital technologies may have on transportation, work habits, housing patterns, power usage, and entertainment opportunities in cities of the future.
Since your everyday experience often calls on you to consider problems and to make proposals, begin your brainstorming for topics with practical topics related to your life, education, major, or job. Or make an informal list of proposals that you would like to explore in broader academic or cultural areas — problems you see in your field or in the society around you. Or do some freewriting on a subject of political concern, and see if it leads to a call for action.
• Researching Your Topic
For many proposals, you can begin your research by consulting the following types of sources:
newspapers, magazines, reviews, and journals (online and print)
television or radio news reports
online databases
government documents and reports
Web sites, blogs, social networking sites, listservs, or newsgroups
books
experts in the field, some of whom might be right on your campus
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Consider doing some field research, if appropriate — a survey of student opinions on Internet accessibility, for example, or interviews with people who have experienced the problem you are trying to fix.
Finally, remember that your proposal’s success can depend on the credibility of the sources you use to support it, so evaluate each source carefully (see Chapter 19).
• Formulating a Claim
As you think about and explore your topic, begin formulating a claim about it. To do so, come up with a clear thesis that makes a proposal and states the reasons that this proposal should be adopted. To start formulating a claim, explore and respond to the following questions:
What do I know about the proposal that I’m making?
What reasons can I offer to support my proposal?
What evidence do I have that implementing my proposal will lead to the results I want?
Rather than make a specific proposal, you may sometimes want to explore the range of possibilities for addressing a particular situation or circumstance. In that case, a set of open-ended questions might be a more productive starting point than a focused thesis, suggesting, for instance, what goals any plausible proposal might have to meet.
• Examples of Proposal Claims
Because lowering the amount of fuel required to be blended with ethanol would lower greenhouse gas emissions by millions of tons and decrease land use that is releasing unhealthy amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, the EPA proposal to reduce ethanol produced from corn should be adopted.
Every home should be equipped with a well-stocked emergency kit that can sustain inhabitants for at least three days in a natural disaster.
Congress should repeal the Copyright Extension Act, since it disrupts the balance between incentives for creators and the right of the public to information as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.
To simplify the lives of consumers and eliminate redundant products, industries that manufacture rechargeable batteries should agree on a design for a universal power adapter.
People from different economic classes, age groups, political philosophies, and power groups (government, Main Street, Wall Street) all have a stake in reforming current budget and tax policies. But how do we get them to speak and to listen to each other? That is the challenge we face if we hope to solve our national economic problems.
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• Preparing a Proposal
If your instructor asks you to prepare a proposal for your project, here’s a format that may help:
State the thesis of your proposal completely. If you’re having trouble doing so, try outlining it in Toulmin terms:
Claim:
Reason(s):
Warrant(s):
Alternatively, you might describe your intention to explore a particular problem in your project, with the actual proposal (and thesis) coming later.
Explain why this issue deserves attention. What’s at stake?
Identify and describe those readers whom you hope to reach with your proposal. Why is this group of readers appropriate? Can you identify individuals who can actually fix a problem?
Briefly discuss the major difficulties that you foresee for your proposal. How will you demonstrate that the action you propose is necessary and workable? Persuade the audience to act? Pay for the proposal?
Determine what research strategies you’ll use. What sources do you expect to consult?
• Considering Format and Media
Your instructor may specify that you use a particular format and/or medium. If not, ask yourself these questions to help you make a good choice:
What format is most appropriate for your proposal? Does it call for an academic essay, a report, an infographic, a brochure, or something else?
What medium is most appropriate for your argument? Would it be best delivered orally to a live audience? Presented as an audio essay or podcast? Presented in print only or in print with illustrations?
Will you need visuals, such as moving or still images, maps, graphs, charts — and what function will they play in your argument? Make sure they are not just “added on” but are necessary components of the argument.
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• Thinking about Organization
Proposals can take many different forms but generally include the following elements:
a description of the problem you intend to address or the state of affairs that leads you to propose the action
a strong and specific proposal, identifying the key reasons for taking the proposed action and the effects that taking this action will have
a clear connection between the proposal and a significant need or problem
a demonstration of ways in which the proposal addresses the need
evidence that the proposal will achieve the desired outcome
a consideration of alternative ways to achieve the desired outcome and a discussion of why these may not be feasible
a demonstration that the proposal is feasible and an explanation of how it may be implemented
• Getting and Giving Response: Questions for Peer Response
Your instructor may assign you to a group for the purpose of reading and responding to each other’s drafts. If not, ask for responses from serious readers or consultants at a writing center. Use the following questions to evaluate a colleague’s draft. Since specific comments help more than general observations, be sure to illustrate your comments with examples. Some of the questions below assume a conventional, thesis-driven project, but more exploratory, open-ended proposal arguments also need to be clearly phrased, organized, and supported with evidence.
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The Claim
Does the claim clearly call for action? Is the proposal as clear and specific as possible? Is it realistic or possible to accomplish?
Is the proposal too sweeping? Does it need to be qualified? If so, how?
Does the proposal clearly address the problem that it intends to solve? If not, how could the connection be strengthened?
Is the claim likely to get the audience to act rather than just to agree? If not, how could it be revised to do so?
Evidence for the Claim
Is enough evidence furnished to get the audience to support the proposal? If not, what kind of additional evidence is needed? Does any of the evidence provided seem inappropriate or otherwise ineffective? Why?
Is the evidence in support of the claim simply announced, or are its significance and appropriateness analyzed? Is a more detailed discussion needed?
Are objections that readers might have to the claim or evidence adequately and fairly addressed?
What kinds of sources are cited? How credible and persuasive will they be to readers? What other kinds of sources might work better?
Are all quotations introduced with appropriate signal phrases (such as “As Tyson argues, . . .”) and blended smoothly into the writer’s sentences?
Are all visual sources labeled, introduced, and commented upon?
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Organization and Style
How are the parts of the argument organized? Is this organization effective?
Will readers understand the relationships among the claims, supporting reasons, warrants, and evidence? If not, how might those connections be clearer? Is the function of every visual clear? Are more transitions needed? Would headings or graphic devices help?
Are the transitions or links from point to point, sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph clear and effective? If not, how could they be improved?
Are all visuals carefully integrated into the text? Is each visual introduced and commented on to point out its significance? Is each visual labeled as a figure or a table and given a caption as well as a citation?
Is the style suited to the subject? Is it too formal, casual, or technical? Can it be improved?
Which sentences seem effective? Which ones seem weaker, and how could they be improved? Should short sentences be combined, and any longer ones be broken up?
How effective are the paragraphs? Too short or too long? How can they be improved?
Which words or phrases seem effective? Do any seem vague or inappropriate for the audience or the writer’s purpose? Are technical or unfamiliar terms defined?
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Spelling, Punctuation, Mechanics, Documentation, and Format
Are there any errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and the like?
Is the documentation appropriate and consistent? (See Chapter 22.)
Does the paper or project follow an appropriate format? Is it appropriately designed and attractively presented?