Rhe 306Q: Rhetoric and Composition
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Proposal Argument
For the last paper, you will construct a proposal argument on a controversial
issue of your choice. Your central claim must be a proposal claim, and it must
be arguable.
Building a Proposal Argument
A proposal argument answers the question, "What should we do?" You will probably argue for an action that a group or person should take, but you might also argue against taking a particular action. To prepare for this paper, you will first identify a problem.
- Does something at UT or in your hometown need to change?
- Does a group that you belong to need to figure out how to get more members?
- Has someone proposed a solution that you think won't solve a problem?
After you've identified a problem, you'll want to think about a solution. Is it something we can live with? Or do we need to address it immediately? You'll need to consider a variety of solutions, including steps that might already have been taken.
Once you've examined several options, you'll want to propose the solution that you think is best and give good reasons. Things you should take into consideration:
- Would it be a good idea to do nothing? Why or why not?
- Does your proposal do the best job of correcting the problem?
- Is your solution feasible--is it doable, practical, and affordable?
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Finding a Topic
- Consider the topic of your earlier papers (particularly your causal argument)
and find a proposal angle on it. If we understand the causes of binge drinking,
what can we do at UT to address those causes and solve the problem? If the
Top Ten Percent law has bad effects, what can we do to solve the problems
the law creates?
- Consider a topic related to Fast Food Nation. The book explores
many causes and effects related to the fast food industry. If you take a problematic
aspect of fast food consumption, for example, what should we do to solve that
problem?
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Developing Your Content
- To write an effective proposal, you'll need an effective problem statement.
You have to argue to establish (or deny) the existence of a problem, its significance,
and its major causes.
- You'll also need to make it clear that you are arguing for a particular
solution (even if that solution is not opting for one that someone else has
suggested). You will argue that a solution will or will not reduce or eliminate
a problem and that the solution will or will not be desirable, affordable,
and feasible to implement.
- Remember that your solution doesn't have to solve the world's problems.
Your proposal should solve your problem, but don't get carried away with the
idea that your solution might solve all problems.
- You'll need to have fair consideration of alternative positions on the problem
and on the solution, with responses in the form of concession and rebuttal.
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Choosing an Audience
For this paper you will choose the best audience for your proposal. This audience
might be an individual or group with the authority to enact your proposal. (You
may need to do some research to determine who this is.) Or, you might choose
an audience that is indirectly involved with the actual decision making. For
example, you could aim to persuade a relevant group to attend a particular event
or write their own letters to an authority suggesting a particular course of
action. Be sure to write this essay so that this specific audience will find
it persuasive. Along these lines, you'll need to choose an appropriate forum
for reaching this audience (in our case the forum will be a website) and choose
appropriate appeals, style, and tone.
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Choosing a Format
Your choice of audience will determine your writing style. For instance, proposals directed to a business might have a cover letter and use headings for different sections. A web site proposal might include links to other pages and an introductory e-mail encouraging your audience to visit the site.
You might try breaking your argument into sections with clear headings and
subheadings. Likewise, you might experiment with using bulleted lists, tables,
and charts as appropriate in this paper.
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Additional Requirements
Your paper should be four to six pages long, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. You should use MLA guidelines loosely to guide you in creating a Works Cited page as part of your website.
You must use a sufficient number of appropriate sources to make your argument
persuasive-at least two but probably more. Use outside sources to support virtually
any part of your argument and to provide alternative positions that you will
respond to.
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Deadlines
Topic Proposal: Wednesday, November 12
Research Report: Monday, November 17
Rough Draft: Monday, November 24
Final Draft: Wednesday, December 3
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Grading Criteria
I will evaluate your essay according to these criteria:
- Demonstrated ability to construct a proposal argument.
- Choice of a significant and arguable claim.
- Demonstrated ability to use well-chosen, fair and sufficient appeals to ethos, logos and pathos to support your claims (including appropriate graphics)
- Serious consideration of alternative solutions, with appropriate use of concessions and rebuttals.
- Effective and fair use of other authors as allies or as opponents.
- Confident but civil advocacy of your own position.
- Proper use, citation, and documentation of source material.
- Effective essay organization to create a clear line of argument.
- Clear and precise sentence-level rhetoric (grammar and style).