Description of Assignment
A proposal must be WORKABLE solution to a problem. That solution cannot involve an influx of money! It is fairly simple to “improve” situations with increased cash flow — if school districts had more money they could afford to improve their campuses, modernize their technology, maintain programs in arts and athletics, but the problem is FINDING that income. For this reason, students must find solutions that are not based on increasing a budget, or raising money or getting donations.
A proposal, as workable solution to a problem, is also a form of process analysis. The proposal may be a method to solve a problem you have identified at your workplace. If you choose not to write about your workplace, then create a proposal to find a problem you have identified at SUNY Erie or in your specific community.
The proposal MUST BE SPECIFIC and CANNOT be based on spending more money or investing more money. For example, a proposal cannot be that we build more homeless shelters in Buffalo to keep the homeless from suffering hypothermia and other health issues in harsh WNY weather. That would require money: purchase of land, hiring of contractor, building, hiring staff, buying furniture, paying utilities, purchasing and preparing food. BUT a student could write about how to address the homeless in their neighborhood by creating a volunteer neighborhood watch that rotates checking on the homeless, bringing them food and taking them to the nearest shelter. That proposal would require explaining how to encourage people to volunteer, who would organize the schedule for volunteers, how much the volunteers would be responsible for, how they would raise funds if needed to purchase food and clothes for the homeless and how to arrange transportation to the shelters.
Objectives:
1. Identify a problem, offer a workable and logical, step-by-step solution that does not require an increased budget.
2. Display an awareness of the audience’s needs: what does the audience know about this issue, what does the audience need to know, how might the audience question the efficacy of the solution.
3. Create a thesis that clearly offers the general process of the proposal.
4. Attract audience interest within the first paragraph by appealing to common ground and making the issue pertinent to them.
5. Develop an argument that is logical as well as creative, using analogies, descriptions, analysis and examples.
6. Indicate a thorough awareness of all potential problems and outcomes with each step in the proposal.
7. Construct paragraphs that are unified and coherent.
8. Construct sentences that are complete, clear and varied (simple, compound and complex sentences within the essay; no overuse of any one form)
9. Correctly use punctuation.
10. Correctly spell the words.
11. Improve upon any weaknesses identified in earlier essays. Consider problems that arise in your workplace, at school or in your neighborhood. List these, no matter how minor nor how serious.
2. For each item on that list pre-write about common solutions that are suggested and how/why they have failed.
3. Take 1-3 of these problems that you are most familiar with, and try to consider creative solutions that have not been attempted yet.
4. Of the 1-3 you have been working on, select ONE and now identify all the weaknesses in your solution.
5. Now take these weaknesses and see how they might be corrected.
Once you have followed the above steps you should have created a fairly solid solution to the problem and can begin working on the outline or rough draft of the proposal.
Remember that (1) it cannot require $ as part of the solution, and (2) it must be something that can be implemented rather easily. Imagine your audience is whoever has power over this situation: a manager at work, a college administrator or professor at school, or a government agency or official in your neighborhood. Treat the essay as if you will eventually send it to this person or agency and you will produce a stronger argument.
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