Proposal Assignment
Audience and Purpose
The audience for this assignment will be your English 150 instructor and other members of the class. The purpose of this assignment is for you to examine a problem within your field of study and propose a feasible solution.
Assignment
Readings
- Read Chapter 6: “Proposals” in Writing in a Visual Age, especially noting the examples of proposals: “From America’s Front Line against Crime,” “Applying to College, Made Easy,” “Barriers to College,” “Fixing Airport Security,” “Cameras in the Station House,” “A Green Ground Zero,” student paper on student ID cards.
Inventing
- Brainstorm a possible list of problems connected to your field of study. This could be the same topic as your report paper or a different topic. Since you must devise a feasible solution, the problem needs to be very specific. (see page 377)
- For instance, if you are in restaurant management or food science, perhaps the problem is the amount of wasted food at the Union Drive Marketplace. Maybe your solution is to educate students through table tents and posters.
- Perhaps you desire a specific change here on campus (maybe the addition or deletion of specific courses required in your major) or a change in your part-time job that is related to your major.
- Once you’ve decided upon a problem, determine a solution that is practical and feasible. Discuss this solution with one or more class members. (For instance, proposing that ISU give every incoming freshman a laptop computer might be a fabulous idea and might be feasible for a small private college but would likely be far too expensive for a large university such as ISU.)
- Look at the questions on page 337 of your text. Test your solution with these questions.
- Determine the format for your assignment. Do you want to write a letter to the editor (e.g., Iowa State Daily, Ames Tribune, Des Moines Register), a letter to a departmental committee, a memo to your part-time boss, etc.
- Analyze your potential audience (see pp. 378-383).
- Research the topic using primary sources (interviews, observations, surveys) and/or secondary sources (print and electronic materials).
- Submit a proposed topic to your instructor.
Drafting
- Determine how you will organize your paper (see page 385-390) by defining the problem and proving that it exists and demonstrating feasibility and desirability of your solution.
- Decide whether you should use logos (logical appeals), pathos (emotional appeals), and/or ethos (ethical appeals). These appeals are described on pages 396-398 and will be discussed in class. (This will be a taste of what you can expect in English 105, which largely centers around argumentation and logos, pathos, and ethos appeals.)
- Consider whether you will need to discuss availability of resources, finances, usefulness, popularity of the proposal, etc.
- Determine an appropriate introduction which explicitly states the problem (see page 393), an organized body with transitions (see page 401-403), and an appropriate conclusion which reiterates your basic argument and restates your recommendation (see pages 403-404).
- Decide which type of visuals (subheadings, graphs, charts, etc.) might enhance your proposal.
- Attach a Works Cited page showing your primary and/or secondary sources.
Revising
- Use the Checklist for Final Review (page 407) as a way to revise specific portions of your proposal.
- Have classmates peer review your proposal.
Editing
- Look at former papers and see what types of convention errors you made. Proofread your paper separately for each type of error. If you don’t know how to locate or correct that type of error, ask for help (classmate, teacher, Writing and Media Help Center, etc.).
- Turn in the polished draft with notes, drafts, and copies of materials used with quotes and statistics highlighted.
Some Evaluation Criteria
- involves a narrowed topic related to the field of study and includes a problem and feasible, practical solution.
- uses primary and/or secondary sources.
- features an attention-getting introduction.
- includes parallel subheadings (other visuals are optional but may enhance the paper).
- provides a thesis sentence and a recognizable organizational pattern with transitions.
- includes a variety of paraphrasing, partial quotes (phrases) and full quotes (sentence quotes).
- concludes with a reiteration of the basic argument and a restatement of your recommendation for change.
- uses appropriate conventions so the sentences is not confusing or distracting to the reader.
- uses correct MLA in-text citations and Works Cited page.