The proposal PAPER (PROJECT 5) must be 3 pages minimum of your writing, plus a one-page Appendix that offers information using non-print elements (budget table, chart, diagram, photos, etc.). Because this paper is short and strategic in asking for a feasible solution, YOUR TOPIC MUST BE GEARED TO THOSE GOALS! You cannot take on ISIS in Syria or removing plastics in all the oceans (we wish a 3-page paper could do that). But you CAN work hard to come up with a NARROW TOPIC that has real decision-makers (agents of change) who could take your awesome idea and implement it! For example, if you think Texas Wesleyan University should develop a plan for improving orientation activities, you would be the "dreamer" who comes up with a plan that others could fund and take forward! You would have to do research on other universities and on what matters to new students and their families entering college!
Envision yourself as the hired consultant who is WRITING on behalf of someone/or some group/or some place (THE BENEFICIARY) to IMPROVE something.
If you are a computer science major, for example, and you want to propose that a new course be offered and required of all computer science majors at Texas Wesleyan University, you could research other programs, look at industry expectations of graduates in computer science, see what might strengthen the program, and write a proposal for an existing course to be optional, with a new course REQUIRED in its place. THINK PRACTICAL, STRATEGIC, PROBLEM-SOLVING, AND VISIONARY!
The best way to find a successful topic for P5 is to study the 5 required sections (in blue) inside the assignment sheet. 9 topics of out 10 will not work, especially considering #5--where you must explain HOW it is POSSIBLE/DOABLE/FEASIBLE.
3 pp double=spaced MINIMUM (not counting appendix), 12- point font, with subheadings in bold
3 cited sources MINIMUM required + Separate page as Appendix
Learning objective: students will use logic and persuasion to propose a specific solution to a specific problem, framing argument through transferable best practices in proposal- writing that can be applied in several disciplines.
Assignment: Write a proposal in which you offer a specific solution to a specific problem within one of your communities and/or realms of influence (THINK—could be your athletic team, your church, a place you volunteer, your campus, your major at Texas Wesleyan, your workplace, your party place, your favorite restaurant or night club, even your home!)
Remember your THREE positions or perspectives to consider ethically and rhetorically:
1) the writer (you)
2) the beneficiary (who will benefit if proposal is acted on)
3) agents of change/donors/decision-makers/stakeholders with
power to help.
WARNING: DO NOT USE “YOU” unless you literally mean the “approver/decision-maker” and unless you can MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY in that use!
Guidelines: Your proposal paper must incorporate the following sections:
1) Introduction to the Problem (attention-getter & background)
2) Causes & Consequences of the Problem (DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!)
3) Proposed Solution
4) Benefits of the Solution (discuss both obvious and unforeseen perks!)
5) Feasibility & Implementation Analysis (casebuilding to show how your solution is “doable”)
Sample Solution