Paper #3: Proposal
In this assignment, you may stay with the same issue or you may choose another topic.
You will either advocate that something be done or some procedure be changed or you may argue for or against a policy proposal that has actually been made. The goal of the assignment is to convince an audience that some action should or should not be taken in response to a particular situation or problem.

Composing Schedule:
Drafts: 7/9
Complete Draft Due: 7/13

Background to Understanding Proposals
In the world of work, proposals are one of the most common forms of writing. For example, if you want to purchase some new software, you would write a proposal for your manager arguing for buying that software, showing him how the software will improve the workplace. Similarly, in the world of government, people propose new policies for things like welfare reform, tax reform, and so on. In the world of academia, professors propose new courses. All of these proposals are unsolicited (that is the writer proposes the idea). There are also solicited proposals. An organization like the National Science Foundation puts out a call for proposals for something. This is called a “Request for Proposals” or RFP. Writers then respond with a proposal. These can include proposals to study a problem. As you can see, there are many types of proposals that are written on a daily basis, so practicing this kind of writing is very useful. All proposals share one thing in common: they attempt to solve a problem.

Your Assignment
You are going to write either a proposal to change a practice or a policy proposal. You will choose. Your goal is to write a proposal that would persuade your audience to act.

In the preceding assignment, you were asked to evaluate an issue. This assignment asks you now to do something even more difficult: you are asked advocate that
something be done (or not be done) or to argue that some procedure be changed. You can argue for or against specific policy proposals that have actually been made or you can propose (and argue for) a policy suggestion of your own.

Again, your goal as a writer is to try to convince an audience that a certain action should or should not be taken in response to a situation or set of circumstances. Your starting point might well be something that bothers you and that you feel should be changed. Of course, you might have to convince your readers that it is a problem for them too, if that is not obvious. Here are some suggestions:

• Propose an improvement relating to a department, a service, living quarters, an organization at ASU or in your workplace.
• Propose a method of improving writing/communication skills here at ASU or at an organization for which you work.
• Propose improvements to dorm policies, admissions policies, or testing policies at ASU.
• Propose a change in an existing policy or procedure at ASU or at work.

As you work out the rhetorical situation for this assignment, pay particular attention to the audience for your proposal. You should specify an actual audience and forum for which you would present the proposal. Consider what your purpose is---to take action or to create grass roots support for an action that someone other than the audience would take.  Your audience should be asked either to undertake the action proposed or to support the action proposed.

Composition
The audience for this paper is the person or people to whom you plan to make your proposal.

• Your completed response to this assignment should clearly articulate the policy or practice you are recommending.
• It should review the reasons why change is necessary and demonstrate what will happen, and to whom, if your recommended policy or practice is adopted.
• It should also demonstrate what would happen, and to whom, if your recommendation is not adopted.
• It should discuss means of implementation and enforcement of the policy or procedure you are recommending, as well.
• To be persuasive, you will need research that supports your claims about the problem, the solution, and the implementation of the solution.  At times, you will be able to find articles that deal with the problem and solution.  At other times, you may have to draw on articles that deal with analogous problems and solutions.

• statement and discussion of the problem (includes background and purpose statement) with a clear and strong proposal claim that connects to the problem
• demonstration of ways in which the proposal addresses the need or problem by listing long-term and short-term objectives; that is a discussion of what any solution must do to solve the problem statement and discussion of the solution, including:
1. a full description of the solution
2. an explanation showing how your particular solution solves the problem;
3. reasons and evidence to show why the solution will work or be effective
4. evidence to show that the solution is feasible, that is the solution can be carried out given the resources available (funds, personnel, equipment)
• Discussion of opponent’s objections to the solution and refutation
• Discussion of alternative solutions and why those will not work or will be less effective
• Persuasive conclusion that restates benefits and calls readers to action

Invention

1. If you are recommending that a policy be implemented, you must compose it. Find out how similar policies are enacted in similar situations, and compose a plan for implementing your suggested policy. You should also determine how the policy you recommend can be enforced.

If you are recommending that some practice be changed, you must first compose your recommendation. Then find out who can make the changes you suggest, and find out what procedures must be followed in order to make the recommended change. Try to find out how your recommended change can be implemented and enforced, and offer suggestions for achieving this in your proposal.
2. Conduct research using the ASU databases. Find at least 3 articles through EBSCO or LexusNexus that will help you define the problem and generate solutions to the problem. Each source must have originally been printed in a magazine, newspaper, or journal. You may also want to find additional sources from more scholarly databases (depending on your topic). You may also use other sources, but be sure to articulate why they are important and how they help make your point.
3. Now you must consider why this problem has not been solved before now and how your audience will react to your solution.  What objections to your solution will they raise? Will they consider that your solution is unnecessary, too expensive, too difficult to implement, or not feasible?
4. Now you are going to write a full description of the problem that includes relevant background and has a clear and strong proposal claim that connects to the problem. You must also discuss short and long term objectives (that is what any solution must do to solve the problem). When you have written this description of the problem, write 3 different introductions that would work with your description of the problem.
5. Now you are going to write a complete description of your solution including:
• a full description of the solution
• an explanation showing how your particular solution solves the problem;
• reasons and evidence to show why the solution will work or be effective
• evidence to show that the solution is feasible, that is the solution can be carried out given the resources available (funds, personnel, equipment)
6. Ask the following policy questions of the proposal you will defend:
• Should some action be taken?
• How will proposed actions change the current state of affairs? Or should the current state affairs remain unchanged?
• How will the proposed changes make things better? Worse? How? In what ways? For whom?
• Should some state of affairs be regulated (or not) by some formalized procedure?
• Which procedures can be implemented? Which cannot?
• What are the merits of competing proposals? What are their defects?
• How is my proposal better than others? Worse?
7. Now write out your answers to the following questions: Given the audience, time, place, and situation, what actions can I recommend? Will my audience be receptive to me and to my arguments? Are my recommendations possible to implement? desirable? Can only part of my recommendation be implemented? If so, what are my priorities?

This paper prompt was constructed by Katherine Heenan and Janice Norton.
 

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