Proposals

A proposal for a paper is a planning document for yourself, in which you map out your audience, purpose, argumentative strategies, appeals, and maybe even your outline. It should not be longer than about half a page (unless you use an outline as well).

A proposal for Adrienne Rich's "Claiming an Education" essay, for instance, would have looked something like this:

Audience: women students (primary--mostly naive; some feminist); faculty (secondary; partially male and "old-fashioned; some female, but tentative).
Purpose: to get the naive female student body "going" and hopefully to make the faculty think.
Appeals: Mostly ethos and pathos. Ethos via my own authority as a woman and writer/poet/professor. Pathos via trying to empower them and making them realize that they have a responsibility to themselves (rather than just "bashing" men and portraying them as victims). Hopefully it will work with the naive student body. Faculty will think I am male-bashing, but I don't care.

As you can see, proposals are pretty short and are merely designed to help you think through your approach to the paper. They will also help me comment on your final paper, should there be audience problems--I will be able to refer back to your proposal.

Keep in mind, though, that your own target audience will, of course, not read your proposals.



	*Proposals* A proposal for a paper is a planning document for yourself, in which you map out your audience, purpose, argumentative strategies, appeals, and maybe even your outline. It should not be longer than about half a page (unless you use an outline as well). A proposal for Adrienne Rich's "Claiming an Education" essay, for instance, would have looked something like this: Audience: women students (primary--mostly naive; some feminist); faculty (secondary; partially male and "old-fashioned; some female, but tentative). Purpose: to get the naive female student body "going" and hopefully to make the faculty think. Appeals: Mostly ethos and pathos. Ethos via my own authority as a woman and writer/poet/professor. Pathos via trying to empower them and making them realize that they have a responsibility to themselves (rather than just "bashing" men and portraying them as victims). Hopefully it will work with the naive student body. Faculty will think I am male-bashing, but I don't care. As you can see, proposals are pretty short and are merely designed to help you think through your approach to the paper. They will also help me comment on your final paper, should there be audience problems--I will be able to refer back to your proposal. Keep in mind, though, that your own target audience will, of course, not read your proposals.