policy proposal to help obesity in America

Policy Proposals

Policy Proposals When you realistically cannot solve a problem on your own.

Call to action.

Raising awareness and persuading others to get involved.

Listeners/viewers (audience) has the choice of doing nothing.

You must be persuasive.

You must write efficiently.

Details Matter Show us numbers. - Avoid generic statements, such as, "Many statistics show that x is better than y."

What are those statistics? How much is "many"? "In a study conducted with 2,000 participants, 1,405 concluded that x was better than y."

"Attempts have been made in the past to rectify the situation, but they have failed." What attempts? When? Why and how did they fail?

Give Yourself Options You may have more than one idea as to how to solve a problem. If that is the case, then make a quick checklist to see which is the best idea.

Example: What should our town do to improve voter participation?

Come Up With Detailed Plan You must have a detailed plan include who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Who will be in charge of the campaign? Who is your target?

What exactly are you planning? An event? A party? A social media video campaign? (These are just a few ideas)

When and where will this take place?

How will you actually plan this out? Who do you need to contact? How much is it going to cost? How many people do you need to recruit to help?

Why is it important? Why is this the best way to raise awareness?

Persuasion - Rhetorical Appeals Use ALL appeals when possible in your proposal.

Ethos - what makes you the authority, what makes others in this same conversation the authority

Logos - Logic that includes specific statistics, specific numbers

Pathos - emotions

Exercise 1 - Effective Use of Logos For each of the following, explain if the line of reasoning is effective or not.

Logos “All men and women will die. You are a man. Therefore, you will die one day.”

Logos “Everyone has children. Therefore, everyone needs to think about the schooling of his or her children.”

Logos “You don’t need to jump in front of a train to know it’s a bad idea; so why do you need to try drugs to know if they’re damaging?”

Logos “Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. So why start smoking?”

Exercise 2 For each of the following snippets of advertising, explain how the appeals are being used.

1. All True Make-Up... because you deserve the best

2. Macaronni Cheese - just the way mom makes it

3. Butterly's Knives - The professional choice.

4. 4 out of 5 people choose Vitalise for effective pain relief.

Persuasion - Mirrors and Windows Mirrors and Windows

How can you make people relate to the situation as it is right now and then envision a future where this situation is better if you do XYZ or worse if you don't do XYZ?

Organizing Your Proposal 1. Description of the problem 2. Proposal for a solution 3. Justification

First - Introduction - Describes the problem. Gives background including previous attempts to solve the problem. Argues that the problem is in fact solvable.

Second - Present the proposed solution. Explains the specifics.

Third - Justification. Persuades readers that the proposal should be implemented. Presents and develops reasons.

Fourth - Summary and Rebuttal. Presents and rebuts opposing views (argues why you should not just "do nothing")

Final - Conclusion. Asks readers to act