I teach only online classes, and so you will
find my lecture notes for
each of our major assignments throughout the class posted in the Discussion
Board Forum Lecture Notes section of the classroom.
For clarity on the overview of proposal argument
writing, see the information
below.
For content specific to the assigned writing
prompt for our class, go
to the Lecture Notes in the Discussion Board forum for suggestions and clarifications
for getting started.
For a proposal argument, you need to know two main
things:
1. you will be proposing a solution to
an existing problem—meaning you will need to do research to understand the
history and statistics surrounding the issue—and
2. you will need to think of logical
ways to argue that your solution to this problem will be effective in
eradicating the issue.
Finding out as much as you can about your topic
not only allows you to support your argument properly, but it also allows you
to write in a voice of authority. Whoever reads your essay
will pick up on your sense of self-confidence in the writing, and your essays
will become more convincing as a result.
UNDERSTANDING
THE PROPOSAL ARGUMENT
The proposal
argument essay requires you to assess the issue and propose
specific solutions that you will argue in the paper What needs to be done to reform public education in
the United States.
The Topic: American Public Education Reform
Prompt: Write a proposal essay using the Classical Model of the argument in which you address the question, “What needs
to be done to reform public education in the United States?”
Based
on these key terms, you will need to focus on these aspects for your outline
and the essay:
- ·
America
- ·
Public Education
- ·
Reform
- ·
The Classical Model
of argument
- ·
Steps for change
These are the key concepts you
must continually be focused on as you begin working on this topic.
ASK
YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
BRAINSTORMING
· Why is the problem a problem?
· For whom is the problem a problem?
· How will people suffer if
the problem is not solved? (Give specific details)
· Who benefits from the problem?
· Who is responsible for issues with public education in
America? Meaning…who has the power to solve this problem? Are there
multiple people/groups responsible for solving the problem?
· Why hasn’t the problem been solved up to this point?
GATHERING IDEAS
· How can the problem be solved? (Do you have any initial ideas?)
· What are the possible benefits of
acting on your proposed solutions to alleviate the issue(s)?
· What costs are
associated with your proposed changes?
· Who will bear these costs?
CONSIDERING OPPOSITION
· Why should this proposal be implemented?
· Why is it better than alternative proposals?
|
CONSIDER…what
can be modified from current policies or what new
policies/programs could be implemented to alleviate
the issues in public education? |
VISITING
THE WRITING PROMPT
As
you have seen, the assignment calls for you to Write
a proposal essay using the Classical Model of argument in which you address the
question, “What needs to be done to reform public education in the United
States?”
You will argue ‘steps’ to take, changes to make, groups to
involve, or even laws to pass that will alleviate the need for
reforming public education in America.
Whatever YOU propose, it must be something
that can be defended based on research on the issue,
previous ideas suggested by experts, or your own
Christian Worldview on involving the church in family/education/spiritual
matters. Each student’s paper will be slightly different depending on how
he/she approaches the ISSUE and the STEPS FOR CHANGING THE PROBLEM.
MAKE
YOUR OWN ARGUMENT
Always keep in mind, though, that YOU are making proposed changes
and you will only use sources to DEFEND the proposed changes that you are suggesting.
Do not use other people’s
proposed changes and list them in your body paragraphs to make your argument
for you. This is an argument paper, which means that YOU must establish
YOUR ARGUMENT. This is a PROPOSAL, and so you must establish YOUR PROPOSED
SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGE to fix this social issue. Your ideas and arguments
will lead the paper. Sources will be there to support your ideas, but
they will never MAJE the argument for you. Visit the 80/20 rule
handout HERE for more information about making an argument your own.
· 80/20 Content Rules: https://learnessaystrategies.blogspot.com/2019/02/8020-and-eliminating-direct-quotes.html
· Moving from 60/40 to 80/20 (a sample visual of
the progression): https://fgc-enc1101.blogspot.com/2020/06/visualizing-8020-argument.html
BASICS
FOR PROPOSAL ARGUMENTS
A proposal argument requires you
to (1) research a the social issue, (2) learn
about current steps being taken to alleviate the issue, and then (3) form your own opinion on what
needs to be done to eliminate the issue—since the current strategies are
not showing signs of relief on the issue yet.
· Do you know much about the social issue?
· What are the current strategies?
· What do you think might be good new strategies
to help fix the issue?
Make a brief list of the current strategies and
a list of your new ideas.
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CURRENT STRATEGIES |
NEW
STRATEGIES |
|
|
While some of the current strategies to fix an
issue may seem plausible—if given enough time to work—you will only
propose to continue using existing strategies as part of your proposal if you are able to fully explain steps of the strategy that
would make it fool-proof if they were slightly modified (I know…nothing is fool-proof,
but be as fool-proof as you can).
CHOOSING
THREE STRATEGIES TO PROPOSE TO REFORM PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AMERICA
Once you have decided on at least three
strategies (A, B, and C) that you believe will alleviate the current issue, you
need to (4) think
through who would be in charge of handling such reform. (5) How much would it
cost? (6) How
long would it take to implement the strategy and see positive
effects? (7) What
community resources could you use—or reach out to—for assistance with your
proposal to eliminate the social issue? (8) How
would your Biblical Worldview assist in identifying changes and strategies to
help those needing intervention?
For example, are there current church, school,
or community programs in place that you could use, ask for assistance
inclusion of, or work into your proposal? Are there funds for
remedying such a social issue through current government departments?
STUMPED
ON NEW STRATEGIES?
Consider that reforming public schools will
require financial support.
· Who/what could financially support your new
strategies?
· Who benefits right now in our society from the
current public school policies?
Who would benefit from proposed changes to public school policies?
LOOKING
FOR NEW LAWS OR GROUP INTERVENTION?
Consider the current guidelines for public
schools. Ask whether there are regulations in place. Ask if there are
enough (or too many) regulations in place. Are there groups who would help with
people trying to transition out of traditional public schools and into virtual
public schools or even homeschooling?
SAMPLE
PROPOSAL PROCESS
After gathering your ideas, looking at current
strategies, working on strategies you believe will benefit eliminating the
issue, you need to think through what you want to argue as your proposal to the
issue. Let's say the issue for a paper you’ve been assigned is feral
cats across America. After researching what is currently being
done to alleviate this issue, you might decide that
your preliminary thesis is...
To eliminate the feral cat population growth in
America, all cat food manufacturers must support the spaying/neutering of feral
cats (by local animal control centers) through a 1% taxation program.
I would have to conduct much research on the
manufacture and sales of cat food in the United States, the current cost and
budget approved for spaying/neutering feral cats by animal control, and the
cat-lovers of America's willingness to possibly incur this 1% tax in the hope
of helping to keep feral cats healthy and pregnancy-free (resulting in less
feral cats in America). Which will--in turn--keep their own fur-babies
safer from male-cat encounters and pregnant female cats showing up to share
meals with their own pets. The proposal argument requires much
research, thought, and creativity.
Your assigned proposal topic will be much more
controversial than my sample about feral cats across America; however, the
point of a proposal argument is to:
1.
Assess the current
situation,
2.
Research the
current strategies being used to curb the issue,
3.
Figure out your own
ideas for fixing the social issue, and
4.
Consider the
current social programs that might benefit your proposal for
reform.
5.
Craft a thesis that
argues a proposal for the social issue.
WHAT DOES
IT MEAN TO WRITE A CLASSICAL ARGUMENT?
Classical ARGUMENT is both an approach to argument
writing as well as a flow for the argument.
See your textbook readings for Week 1 and 2 to understand how to
properly think through your Classically structured proposal argument. Keep in mind that you are being asked to do
two things in this argument:
1.
Create a proposal
argument (for change)
2.
Structure that argument
through the Classical viewpoint.
USING
APPEALS IN A PROPOSAL ARGUMENT
When arguing for change, you must realize
that a standard already exists regarding the topic: apathy,
confusion, anger, shame. As a writer, it is your job to identify the
current policy on the topic, analyze what works and what doesn’t, and focus on
how to approach the issue based on how the public currently feels about
it. Using emotions to persuade a reader is perfectly acceptable if they
are logical and straight-forward.
In the end, an argument is asking the audience
(readers) to act in a certain way or to believe a certain viewpoint.
· For your proposal argument, you are telling the
audience that something specific should be done based on the information you
provide and the argument that you make.
· The claims in your paper will be stated as
“should/should not” statements.
· The “reasons” in your argument will justify WHY
the proposed steps/changes/action should be taken.
APPEAL TO
EMOTION: PATHOS
Should you choose to use an appeal to emotion,
consider limiting it to your introduction or conclusion paragraphs. For
help with INTRODUCTIONS or CONCLUSIONS, click these links.
While pathos, if done well,
can be used to persuade an audience, if done incorrectly, it
is a logical fallacy: meaning that the logic has errors in it, and the audience
will not believe the argument.
You want to persuade your readers with logical
emotional appeals. Afterall, when a reader feels his emotions being
tugged at, the first response is to turn off that guilt, shame, sympathy, and
so on. However, if your emotional appeal is logical, the reader will have
to accept his part in the issue and come to terms with how this makes him feel.
Pathos represents an appeal to the emotions of
an audience.
If an emotional
appeal uses the manipulation of the emotions rather than valid logic to win an argument, then it is fallacious:
logically flawed.
This improper use of an emotional
appeal is a logical fallacy, whereby a debater attempts to win an
argument by trying to get an emotional reaction from the
opponent and audience without logically asserting that these emotions are
valid. Be certain to review your textbook for help with appeals. You will
want to use appeals properly, not fallaciously.
|
Rhetorical
Appeals (from the Purdue Online Writing Lab)
To
understand how argument works in On Rhetoric, you must first
understand the major appeals associated with rhetoric. Aristotle identifies
four major rhetorical appeals: ethos (credibility), logos (logic), pathos
(emotion), and Kairos(time).
An
easy way to conceptualize the rhetorical appeals is through advertisements, particularly
infomercials or commercials. We are constantly being exposed to the types of
rhetoric above, whether it be while watching television or movies, browsing
the internet, or watching videos on YouTube.
Imagine
a commercial for a new car. The commercial opens with images of a family
driving a brand-new car through rugged, forested terrain, over large rocks,
past waterfalls, and finally to a serene camping spot near a tranquil lake
surrounded by giant redwood trees. The scene cuts to shots of the interior of
the car, showing off its technological capacities and its impressive
spaciousness. A voiceover announces that not only has this car won numerous
awards over its competitors but that it is also priced considerably lower
than comparable models, while getting better gas mileage. “But don’t wait,”
the voiceover says excitedly, “current lessees pay 0% APR financing for 12
months.” In
just a few moments, this commercial has shown masterful use of all four
appeals. The commercial utilizes pathos by appealing to our romantic notions
of family, escape, and the great outdoors. The commercial develops ethos by
listing its awards, and it appeals to our logical tendencies by pointing out
we will save money immediately because the car is priced lower than its
competitors, as well as in the long run because of its higher MPG rate.
Finally, the commercial provides an opportune and propitious moment for its
targeted audience to purchase a car immediately.
Depending
on the nature of the text, argument, or conversation, one appeal will likely
become most dominant, but rhetoric is generally most effective when the
speaker or writer draws on multiple appeals to work in conjunction with one
another. To learn more about Aristotle's
rhetorical appeals, click here. |
Visit the Lecture Notes for more information relating to
the essay assignment.
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