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Write a three-to-four page Internal Proposal Argument in which you try to persuade the appropriate audience to accept your solution to a real-life problem.
This problem could be connected to where you work or connected to any organization for which you work either for pay, as a volunteer, or as a member (present or recent
past). This could include clubs, fraternities, sororities, or sports teams to which you belong. Remember, your audience must be the decision maker or decision makers
who have the power to enact your proposed solution.
Carefully follow the plan below, as adapted from your text:
Start your proposal by following the Memo Format and Headings as shown on pages 330-334 of your text.
Then use the following four headings for each section of your proposal: Proposal, Problem, Solution, Conclusion.
PROPOSAL: (on page one, two spaces beneath the memo format)
Tell your audience specifically what you propose they should do in one or two sentences only. This means clearly summing up your solution in one to two sentences. The
solution is the proposal. Get to the point. Be specific.
PROBLEM: Start on first page, two spaces below the Proposal Section, one to two pages long)
1. Explain and Describe the precise nature of the problem in specific detail as needed for your particular audience.
2. Persuade your audience that the problem is real and has consequences for them, not just you.
3. Provide reasoning why your audience should be concerned about this problem.
Solution: (start on the second or third page depending on the overall length of your document, two spaces below the Problem Section, one to two pages)
1. Describe your solution in a convincing, clear, and detailed way.
2. Persuade your audience that your solution is feasible and will solve the major parts of the problem as you presented it above.
3. Persuade your audience that your solution is better than the possible alternative solutions.
4. Present all the likely costs to your proposal in a convincing manner.
5. Persuade your audience that the overall benefits of your solution will outweigh the costs.
Conclusion: (two spaces below the Solution Section, short paragraph of 3-5 sentences)
1. Leave your readers with a sense of real confidence and optimism about the future if your proposal is accepted.
Research: Where it makes sense in your argument, you must also use and cite at least two sources to help your argument. Put your in-text citation of a source in a
signal phrase or phrase of attribution like the following: According to the Journal of Safety Training, "thousands of employees a year miss work due to work-place
accidents." Or, for another pattern: "Good training is essential to the success of any organization," according to the Journal of Business Management.
Write your proposal using standard one-inch margins, twelve-point- type, New Times Roman or Calibri typeface, single spaced, and with all lines flush left.
sources guide:
Set up the source as being credible by describing the authoritative nature of the source:
According to the July 2013 edition of the Nation’s Restaurant News, a business trade journal for restaurant owners and managers, many restaurants have invested in a
web-based scheduling system such as ScheduleFly. Such systems “can significantly reduce the amount of time managers spend putting schedules together and increase
employee satisfaction with their shift assignments.”
Use a signal phrase or tag of attribution, to identify the source. To improve readability, vary the pattern of attribution. Consider placing this signal phrase before,
in the middle, or at the end of your summary or quote.
According to the April 2009 Journal of Business Management, “managers who include employees in some policy decisions see a dramatic increase in worker motivation.”
“ Managers who include employees in some policy decisions,” according to the April 2009 Journal of Business Management, “see a dramatic increase in worker motivation.”
“ Managers who include employees in some policy decisions see a dramatic increase in worker motivation,” says the Journal of Business Management in its April 2009
issue.
Once you’ve identified the source, just use the source’s name if you summarize or quote from it again:
In addition, the Nation’s Restaurant News estimates Web-based scheduling can save managers up to 47 percent of the time they formerly spent on “pen-and-paper”
scheduling.
Sum up important ideas from the source in your own words unless the source says something dramatic, controversial, or articulate enough to justify quoting:
According to the August 2010 Human Resource Management Journal, companies should put more resources into worker training.
As the August 2010 Human Resource Management Journal says “ Companies who don’t invest in high-quality employee training are headed for a train wreck. They absolutely
deserve to go out of business.”
