Proposal Essay

ENG101

Proposal Essay

Introduction

For Essay 3, you chose an issue and looked at either what caused it or what the effects of it were. For Essay 4, you will continue to explore that issue with a proposal essay. According to your textbook, Everything’s an Argument, proposal arguments “provide thoughtful reasons for supporting or sometimes resisting change,” and they can be quite difficult because while we can often convince people that an issue is evident, it is sometimes much harder to persuade them to act. In fact, proposals imply “that some action should take place and suggests that there are sound reasons why it should” (273). In this essay, you will explore those actions which should take place.

Directions

In 1000-1300 words (please do not go over 1300 words), write an argumentative proposal essay in which you first identify a problem relevant to your topic and then propose an actionable solution. Your topic will be the same as what you chose to discuss for Essay 3.

You are encouraged to use your sources and information from Essay 3. As you lay out the background/history of the problem, what you learned and wrote for Essay 3 will be relevant. Please make sure that you address any feedback from Essay 3 (like grammar errors or development issues).

For this essay, you will also be required to create an annotated bibliography, which is simply a works cited page that also includes a summary and evaluation of your sources. A separate prompt for the annotated bibliography can be found in Content under Module 3.

Support

· Minimum of four direct quotes from four sources (at least one quote per source).

· Two of your sources may come from appropriate web sources, including online newspapers, magazines, or university websites. Anything from Wikipedia, Ask.com, ProCon.org, Quora, etc. will not count as a required source (web sources should be approved by the instructor)

· All other sources must be from the databases (database sources do not require prior approval). If you would like, all sources may be from the databases. The YTC database Opposing Viewpoints would be an excellent resource for this assignment.

· One of your four sources should support the counterargument (the other side’s perspective).

· The essay is your opinion of the problem and you develop your own solution. Therefore, the majority of the essay must be your ideas and not source material. Typically, an academic paper will consist of approximately 10% - 20% of source information. However, there may be a few exceptions for topics that are more science based. Please check with me if you question whether your paper is more research and not enough of your own ideas.

Suggested Outline

· Section 1: Introduction with an interesting hook and thesis statement

· Section 2: Explanation of the problem, background/history information to establish the importance of the problem. This section will come from the information you presented in paper 3.

· Section 3: Proposal as to how to fix the problem

· Section 4: Counterargument and refutation: acknowledgement and rejection of the opposition’s point of view. What will others object to concerning your proposed solution?

· Section 5: Conclusion to reinforce your solution and the importance /need for addressing the problem

While there are five sections outlined above, this essay will be considerably longer than five paragraphs as sections 2 and 3 will each have more than one paragraph. Your thesis should come at the end of your introductory paragraph.

MLA Format

Your essay should be properly formatted according to the most up-to-date MLA standards found in the supplement provided with your textbook. If you do not have access to that supplement, please follow the guidelines found at the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Proper formatting includes the following criteria:

· MLA General Format

· In-text citations

· Works Cited page that follows all MLA guidelines

Please note: since you will have already completed the annotated bibliography, you can simple copy and paste the citations only (not the annotations) into your works cited page for this essay.

Submission Guidelines

Your essay should be submitted as a .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf file via the D2L Dropbox before the date and time listed in the course calendar.

Rough Drafts

You are required to produce a rough draft for this essay. A draft is due for in-class writing workshop.

If you would like to have your draft read for specific grammatical errors, please see a face-to-face tutor in the ACT Center (located in the library) or utilize the Upswing online tutoring system (https://yorktech.upswing.io/).