1234 Oak Street Comment by Author: Good letter format that follows the sample. Tyler, Texas 75703 October 6, 2015 Mayor Martin Heines City of Tyler P.O. Box 2039 Tyler, TX, 75710 Dear Mayor Haynes: The continuance of America’s heritage hinges on the involvement of each generation in the political and civic spheres of society. Today, this hinge is rusty and in need of repair. Richard Fry, a senior researcher for Pew Research Center, writes that “this year, the ‘Millennial’ generation is projected to surpass the outsized Baby Boom generation as the nation’s largest living generation.” Yet the Millennial generation, aged eighteen to thirty-four years old this year, is cynical towards government and apathetic towards voting and civic involvement. In a study released April 29th by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics entitled “Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service,” only 21% of young Americans view themselves as “politically engaged” and 34% “volunteer in community service.” These facts are troubling. As of this year, an overwhelming majority of this new largest generation of Americans is not politically involved and does not volunteer in the local community. It is time for local government to step in and do what it can to engage its new constituent majority. I suggest that a new city-wide initiative be adopted, targeted toward the Millennial generation’s age group as potential members, for which the City of Tyler may provide an executive committee, office and staff structure, and financial grants, with the mission of providing a way to bring together, activate, and empower Tyler’s young adults to become increasingly involved in their community and participate in the political sphere. In order to achieve this proposal, the Tyler City Council must adopt an initiative to attract young leaders in the community and engage their involvement. This would include setting up an organizational structure consisting of an executive committee with a Tyler City Council member as chair. It might also be helpful to install you as an honorary co-chair in this committee. There would be standing committees governing specific departments necessary to the project such as a marketing committee, membership committee, and events committee. Temporary committees may be formed as needed. Full-time staff would be necessary to put the committee’s decisions into action, establishing partnerships within the community such as nonprofits and elected officials, and sponsoring education initiatives for political involvement. The staff would take full advantage of social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—favorite outlets and sources of information for Millennials. These networks can be used to further spread the word about events and opportunities made available. Memberships would be granted free of charge to Tyler residents, and others who have a vested interest in Tyler. They must be willing to sign a pledge to be ...

1. 1234 Oak Street Comment by Author: Good letter format
that follows the sample.
Tyler, Texas 75703
October 6, 2015
Mayor Martin Heines
City of Tyler
P.O. Box 2039
Tyler, TX, 75710
Dear Mayor Haynes:
The continuance of America’s heritage hinges on the
involvement of each generation in the political and civic
spheres of society. Today, this hinge is rusty and in need of
repair. Richard Fry, a senior researcher for Pew Research
Center, writes that “this year, the ‘Millennial’ generation is
projected to surpass the outsized Baby Boom generation as the
nation’s largest living generation.” Yet the Millennial
generation, aged eighteen to thirty-four years old this year, is
cynical towards government and apathetic towards voting and
civic involvement.
In a study released April 29th by Harvard University’s Institute
of Politics entitled “Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes
Toward Politics and Public Service,” only 21% of young

2. Americans view themselves as “politically engaged” and 34%
“volunteer in community service.” These facts are troubling. As
of this year, an overwhelming majority of this new largest
generation of Americans is not politically involved and does not
volunteer in the local community. It is time for local
government to step in and do what it can to engage its new
constituent majority. I suggest that a new city-wide initiative be
adopted, targeted toward the Millennial generation’s age group
as potential members, for which the City of Tyler may provide
an executive committee, office and staff structure, and financial
grants, with the mission of providing a way to bring together,
activate, and empower Tyler’s young adults to become
increasingly involved in their community and participate in the
political sphere.
In order to achieve this proposal, the Tyler City Council must
adopt an initiative to attract young leaders in the community
and engage their involvement. This would include setting up an
organizational structure consisting of an executive committee
with a Tyler City Council member as chair. It might also be
helpful to install you as an honorary co-chair in this committee.
There would be standing committees governing specific
departments necessary to the project such as a marketing
committee, membership committee, and events committee.
Temporary committees may be formed as needed. Full-time staff
would be necessary to put the committee’s decisions into action,
establishing partnerships within the community such as
nonprofits and elected officials, and sponsoring education
initiatives for political involvement. The staff would take full
advantage of social media including Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram—favorite outlets and sources of information for
Millennials. These networks can be used to further spread the
word about events and opportunities made available.
Memberships would be granted free of charge to Tyler
residents, and others who have a vested interest in Tyler. They
must be willing to sign a pledge to be an enthusiastic citizen,

3. participate in local elections, and fulfill certain other civic
duties that fit with their interests, such as attending city council
meetings, joining one of the program’s committees, or attending
one of the program’s forums within their first year. Once pl enty
of passionate young leaders are inducted into the program, they
will be able to run many things on their own under the oversight
of the executive committee. Comment by Author: Remember,
your proposal should detail the steps and considerations
necessary for implementing your solution, but most of your
essay SHOULD NOT justify the need for your solution.
Important: focus on ONE solution and not more so that you can
explain the related steps and considerations in full.
1. Introduce the problem: Explain the problem in the
introduction and end with the thesis.
2. Propose the steps: What are the steps for implementing your
solution as you would explain them to the organization who
needs to make the change? For example, how do you propose
your letter recipient acquires the abandoned building necessary
for the before and after school programs? Once your letter
recipient obtains the building, what should he or she do to
initiate the new programs? Hire teachers? Approach those who
already work at the local school?
3. Explain the costs: What is the cost to begin implementing the
solution and the related steps (there are always costs)? How is it
incurred? What are your funding ideas?
4. Justify the solution: Will the proposal solve another related
problem, too? Why is this proposal feasible? The conclusion is
a good place to add the justification section. (Use one paragraph
for the justification if you do not add it to the conclusion.) This
section/discussion should not be the obvious solution.
5. Refute the counterargument: Will the letter recipient have

4. certain preconceived ideas about the subject? Why? (A counter -
argument section for this paper should explain what the
opposition believes. Be sure to name your opposition person,
group, organization, etc., and explain how you know this entity
has this opinion. Did you conduct an interview or research? Did
a similar project fail?) Then, in the refute, try to prove that
claim false, insignificant, or unimportant with information that
is new to the essay. Note that a refute should not be a solution.
Include researched data for at least one side. See
http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is%20a%2
0c-a.htm
6. Conclude your proposal: Summarize your proposal in the
conclusion and make your final pleas. Consider adding the
justification here.
I understand that implementing a new program under the City of
Tyler will require funds and broaden the scope of an already
large organization. However, I believe that if Tyler’s Millennial
generation becomes increasingly active in politics and
community, it will be well worth the money and effort. The City
of Tyler has more than enough funds to assign to this vital
initiative. Funds would be allotted annually, beginning with a
reasonable allocation in consideration of the salaries of four to
five full-time staff members and funds for office supplies and
event production. These funds would be granted by the city to a
separate budget for Tyler’s Young Adult Initiative, under the
category of an Initiative Infrastructure Grant, as specified under
“The City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary” provided by
the Tyler Economic Development Council. The staff for this
initiative will present an annual financial report to the City of
Tyler’s Budget Committee in order to account for the funds
spent and adjust for any increase or decrease in financial need.
Comment by Author: Be sure to clarify how you gathered

5. your information.
Concerns as to the success of this initiative can be alleviated by
looking at a similar initiative’s success in nearby Ft. Worth. In
2011, Ft. Worth Mayor Betsy Price founded SteerFW, a city-
wide initiative whose mission is described on its website as
“make[ing] Fort Worth a diverse and vibrant city by engaging
emerging leaders to drive positive change.” Founded four years
ago, to combat the low voter turnout among young adults,
SteerFW has received support from community leaders and
businesses. Its membership has grown, making it the new “voice
of action-oriented young leaders.” These positive results are
good indicators that a similar program could easily succeed in
Tyler. Comment by Author: Include the specific concern
from a specific opposition.
A counter-argument section for this paper should explain what
the opposition believes, which is the opposite of the opinion
you are arguing in your paper. Be sure to name your opposition
person, group, organization, etc., and explain how you know
this person or group has this opinion. Did you conduct an
interview or research to learn of this group or person’s
opposition to your idea?
Then, in the refute, try to prove that claim false, insignificant,
or unimportant with information that is new to the essay. Note
that a refute should not be a solution. Include researched data
for at least the counter-argument side to create a strong counter-
argument/refute section; however, a separate source for each
section works well. If you explain a counter-argument and
refute from one source, you are essentially summarizing the
source, which is not the purpose of the section, so be sure to
vary the source/opinion for each component: the counter-
argument and the refute.
Simplistically, the counter-argument/refute section is a fourth

6. argument for your essay presented in a new way: you state the
opposition’s opinion first as a way to lead into your paper’s
fourth argument. Be sure all four arguments in the essay are
distinctly different from one to the next, so do not recycled data
and ideas across arguments.
See
http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is%20a%2
0c-a.htm
Millennial young adults have been apathetic and slow to involve
themselves in politics and community. Smith County resident
Janet Baber, Texas State Coordinator for TeenPact Leadership
Schools, a nonprofit organization that trains young people in the
political process, has observed that the Millennials want “to
participate in something greater than themselves.” A city-wide
movement can fulfill that desire for group activity in a good
cause. Local government does not have to stand idle, suffering
the consequences of a diffident citizenship. As the City of Tyler
adopts initiatives to engage this new largest generation, it will
experience the benefits of active, informed, and unified people
who care about each other and the community. I look forward to
seeing what the City of Tyler and City Council will adopt as
they strive to activate an important Tyler majority. Comment by
Author: Effective conclusion that summarizes the proposal and
makes the final pleas.
Sincerely,
First Name Last Name

7. Works Cited
Baber, Janet. Personal Interview. 2 Oct. 2015 Comment by
Author: Interviewee is included here and in the essay, which is
a required source.
“City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary.” Tyler Economic
Development Council. City of Tyler. Nov. 2008. PDF file.
Fry, Richard. “This year, Millennials will overtake Baby
Boomers.” Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center. 16 Jan.
2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
SteerFW. n.p. n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
“Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and
Public Service.” Harvard Public Opinion Project 27 (2015): 19.
HarvardIOP. PDF file.
Writing Assignment: Research Proposal Letter
For this assignment, you will write your research proposal
letter. You are required to submit

8. only your final draft for this assignment (though we encourage
all students to take advantage of
the additional feedback a draft can provide). Use the grader’s
feedback and the rubric to make
revisions to your draft before submitting the final. Your second
draft will be graded.
This research proposal letter will be directed to an audience
who can create change
(Congressperson, business administrators, or other similar
audience.) In the proposal, you
need to suggest a change or a solution to a current problem. As
you have already chosen a
topic for your research proposal letter in Topic 6 and conducted
an interview that will
become one of your sources for this letter, you do not need to
choose a topic. You must use
the same topic that you began researching in Topic 6, and you
must use your interview as a
source.
Your research proposal should be presented in a letter format
including the following
information:
• Your mailing address (Note: For privacy reasons, you may opt

9. to not disclose your
mailing address when you submit your letter to our graders for
review; however,
should you choose to mail your letter to your chosen recipient,
you will need to
include your mailing address, as this is a customary business
letter practice.) Note
that a formal letter does not require your name in the header.
Your name will go at
the end, with your closing.
• The date you wrote the letter
• A name and mailing address for the individual to whom you
are writing the letter
• A greeting or salutation
• A closing and your typed name (Note: A written signature is
optional for your
submission, but should you choose to send your letter, you
would need to include
your written signature between the closing and your typed
name.)
Scroll to the end of these instructions for an idea of how you

10. should format this
assignment.
To organize this information, follow the format included in the
course site in the
“Assignments” area.
For your proposal, follow this organizational framework:
For your researched proposal, follow this organizational
framework:
• Introduction: The Problem
Identify the problem, including researched information to
explain it fully. You may
devote more than one paragraph to describe the problem if
needed. To determine
the extent of the information you must provide about the
problem, consider the
letter recipient’s understanding of the problem.
• Body: Your Proposal
Explain the specifics of your proposal. What are your solutions
to solve this problem,
step by step? What is the cost? How is this cost incurred? What

11. ideas do you have for
funding your proposal?
Justify your proposal. How will your proposal solve the
problem? Why is this proposal
feasible?
Concede or refute the counterarguments: Will the letter
recipient have certain
preconceived ideas about the subject? How can you address
these counterarguments
without diminishing your argument? Note: You will lose points
from the rubric if you
do not address the counterargument.
• Conclusion: Your Argument
Take into consideration your chosen audience and his/her
interests. Use persuasive
techniques to align your proposal to the audience’s ideals. You
may use more than
one concluding paragraph if needed.
See the end of this document for more specific information
about formatting your letter
appropriately.

12. You are required to use source information, including ideas you
learned from the interview
process wherever it will prove your point. In addition to the
interview itself, you should have
at least two other credible sources, for a total of at least three
sources. Note: If you do not
meet the source minimum, the rubric will automatically be
scored down.
Since this is a letter, you will use signal phrases (i.e., “As Fugle
describes...”) and omit
parenthetical citations (“Fugle”). You must include a Works
Cited page for this assignment.
Good, informative signal phrases will be important in order to
make sure your sources are
credited (example: “Fugle, a well-known environmental
researcher, explains the problem
by...”).
As with all college writing, you must include a strong thesis
statement and take care to avoid
logical fallacies while following the other standards for
academic writing.
You might use this as a guideline in crafting your thesis:
Valley City should (add solution suggestion), which (add how it

13. can be funded) and (add justification),
although (add counterargument focus).
Here is a more specific example:
Valley City should (use its largest abandoned warehouse for a
new recreational center to hold before
and after-school programs), which (can be conveniently funded
by the tax stream that was being
used to construct Main Street until this point), and will (provide
the final element—housing—in order
for local schools to also implement a before-school program(,
and although (some community
members do not believe before- and after-school programs are
necessary(, they should (review the
high number of students apprehended by law enforcement
during the hours before and after-school
programs would operate).
The guidelines for this assignment are as follows:
Length: This assignment should be at least 500 words.
Format:
• This assignment has a special format (letter style), so you will

14. not use a typical header
• Single-spacing, with a double-space between paragraphs (see
below)
• Standard 12 point font (Arial, TimesNewRoman, Calibri)
• 1” margins on all sides
• Save the file using one of the following extensions: .docx,
.doc, .rtf, or .txt
Since this is a formal letter format, you will not underline your
thesis statement.
Please scroll to the next page to see a sample letter format.
Your own address (or a fake address if
you don’t want to reveal this)
Spacing: 2 lines
Spacing: 2 lines
Spacing: 2 lines
Spacing: 2 lines
Recipient’s
name and

15. mailing address
Greeting or
Salutation,
followed by a
colon
Notice: Paragraphs are not indented
Spacing: 2 lines between body paragraphs
Spacing: 2 lines
Spacing: 4 lines. This is where you signature would go
1234 Oak Street Comment by Author: Good letter format
that follows the sample.
Tyler, Texas 75703
October 6, 2015
Mayor Martin Heines
City of Tyler
P.O. Box 2039
Tyler, TX, 75710

16. Dear Mayor Haynes:
The continuance of America’s heritage hinges on the
involvement of each generation in the political and civic
spheres of society. Today, this hinge is rusty and in need of
repair. Richard Fry, a senior researcher for Pew Research
Center, writes that “this year, the ‘Millennial’ generation is
projected to surpass the outsized Baby Boom generation as the
nation’s largest living generation.” Yet the Millennial
generation, aged eighteen to thirty-four years old this year, is
cynical towards government and apathetic towards voting and
civic involvement.
In a study released April 29th by Harvard University’s Institute
of Politics entitled “Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes
Toward Politics and Public Service,” only 21% of young
Americans view themselves as “politically engaged” and 34%
“volunteer in community service.” These facts are troubling. As
of this year, an overwhelming majority of this new largest
generation of Americans is not politically involved and does not
volunteer in the local community. It is time for local
government to step in and do what it can to engage its new
constituent majority. I suggest that a new city-wide initiative be
adopted, targeted toward the Millennial generation’s age group
as potential members, for which the City of Tyler may provide
an executive committee, office and staff structure, and financial
grants, with the mission of providing a way to bring together,
activate, and empower Tyler’s young adults to become
increasingly involved in their community and participate in the
political sphere.
In order to achieve this proposal, the Tyler City Council must
adopt an initiative to attract young leaders in the community
and engage their involvement. This would include setting up an

17. organizational structure consisting of an executive committee
with a Tyler City Council member as chair. It might also be
helpful to install you as an honorary co-chair in this committee.
There would be standing committees governing specific
departments necessary to the project such as a marketing
committee, membership committee, and events committee.
Temporary committees may be formed as needed. Full-time staff
would be necessary to put the committee’s decisions into action,
establishing partnerships within the community such as
nonprofits and elected officials, and sponsoring education
initiatives for political involvement. The staff would take full
advantage of social media including Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram—favorite outlets and sources of information for
Millennials. These networks can be used to further spread the
word about events and opportunities made available.
Memberships would be granted free of charge to Tyler
residents, and others who have a vested interest in Tyler. They
must be willing to sign a pledge to be an enthusiastic citizen,
participate in local elections, and fulfill certain other civic
duties that fit with their interests, such as attending city council
meetings, joining one of the program’s committees, or attending
one of the program’s forums within their first year. Once plenty
of passionate young leaders are inducted into the program, they
will be able to run many things on their own under the oversight
of the executive committee. Comment by Author: Remember,
your proposal should detail the steps and considerations
necessary for implementing your solution, but most of your
essay SHOULD NOT justify the need for your solution.
Important: focus on ONE solution and not more so that you can
explain the related steps and considerations in full.
1. Introduce the problem: Explain the problem in the
introduction and end with the thesis.
2. Propose the steps: What are the steps for implementing your
solution as you would explain them to the organization who

18. needs to make the change? For example, how do you propose
your letter recipient acquires the abandoned building necessary
for the before and after school programs? Once your letter
recipient obtains the building, what should he or she do to
initiate the new programs? Hire teachers? Approach those who
already work at the local school?
3. Explain the costs: What is the cost to begin implementing the
solution and the related steps (there are always costs)? How is it
incurred? What are your funding ideas?
4. Justify the solution: Will the proposal solve another related
problem, too? Why is this proposal feasible? The conclusion is
a good place to add the justification section. (Use one paragraph
for the justification if you do not add it to the conclusion.) This
section/discussion should not be the obvious solution.
5. Refute the counterargument: Will the letter recipient have
certain preconceived ideas about the subject? Why? (A counter -
argument section for this paper should explain what the
opposition believes. Be sure to name your opposition person,
group, organization, etc., and explain how you know this entity
has this opinion. Did you conduct an interview or research? Did
a similar project fail?) Then, in the refute, try to prove that
claim false, insignificant, or unimportant with information that
is new to the essay. Note that a refute should not be a solution.
Include researched data for at least one side. See
http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is%20a%2
0c-a.htm
6. Conclude your proposal: Summarize your proposal in the
conclusion and make your final pleas. Consider adding the
justification here.

19. I understand that implementing a new program under the City of
Tyler will require funds and broaden the scope of an already
large organization. However, I believe that if Tyler’s Millennial
generation becomes increasingly active in politics and
community, it will be well worth the money and effort. The City
of Tyler has more than enough funds to assign to this vital
initiative. Funds would be allotted annually, beginning with a
reasonable allocation in consideration of the salaries of four to
five full-time staff members and funds for office supplies and
event production. These funds would be granted by the city to a
separate budget for Tyler’s Young Adult Initiative, under the
category of an Initiative Infrastructure Grant, as specified under
“The City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary” provided by
the Tyler Economic Development Council. The staff for this
initiative will present an annual financial report to the City of
Tyler’s Budget Committee in order to account for the funds
spent and adjust for any increase or decrease in financial need.
Comment by Author: Be sure to clarify how you gathered
your information.
Concerns as to the success of this initiative can be alleviated by
looking at a similar initiative’s success in nearby Ft. Worth. In
2011, Ft. Worth Mayor Betsy Price founded SteerFW, a city-
wide initiative whose mission is described on its website as
“make[ing] Fort Worth a diverse and vibrant city by engaging
emerging leaders to drive positive change.” Founded four years
ago, to combat the low voter turnout among young adults,
SteerFW has received support from community leaders and
businesses. Its membership has grown, making it the new “voice
of action-oriented young leaders.” These positive results are
good indicators that a similar program could easily succeed in
Tyler. Comment by Author: Include the specific concern
from a specific opposition.
A counter-argument section for this paper should explain what
the opposition believes, which is the opposite of the opinion

20. you are arguing in your paper. Be sure to name your opposition
person, group, organization, etc., and explain how you know
this person or group has this opinion. Did you conduct an
interview or research to learn of this group or person’s
opposition to your idea?
Then, in the refute, try to prove that claim false, insignificant,
or unimportant with information that is new to the essay. Note
that a refute should not be a solution. Include researched data
for at least the counter-argument side to create a strong counter-
argument/refute section; however, a separate source for each
section works well. If you explain a counter-argument and
refute from one source, you are essentially summarizing the
source, which is not the purpose of the section, so be sure to
vary the source/opinion for each component: the counter-
argument and the refute.
Simplistically, the counter-argument/refute section is a fourth
argument for your essay presented in a new way: you state the
opposition’s opinion first as a way to lead into your paper’s
fourth argument. Be sure all four arguments in the essay are
distinctly different from one to the next, so do not recycled data
and ideas across arguments.
See
http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is% 20a%2
0c-a.htm
Millennial young adults have been apathetic and slow to involve
themselves in politics and community. Smith County resident
Janet Baber, Texas State Coordinator for TeenPact Leadership
Schools, a nonprofit organization that trains young people in the
political process, has observed that the Millennials want “to
participate in something greater than themselves.” A city-wide
movement can fulfill that desire for group activity in a good

21. cause. Local government does not have to stand idle, suffering
the consequences of a diffident citizenship. As the City of Tyler
adopts initiatives to engage this new largest generation, it will
experience the benefits of active, informed, and unified people
who care about each other and the community. I look forward to
seeing what the City of Tyler and City Council will adopt as
they strive to activate an important Tyler majority. Comment by
Author: Effective conclusion that summarizes the proposal and
makes the final pleas.
Sincerely,
First Name Last Name
Works Cited
Baber, Janet. Personal Interview. 2 Oct. 2015 Comment by
Author: Interviewee is included here and in the essay, which is
a required source.
“City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary.” Tyler Economic
Development Council. City of Tyler. Nov. 2008. PDF file.

22. Fry, Richard. “This year, Millennials will overtake Baby
Boomers.” Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center. 16 Jan.
2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
SteerFW. n.p. n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
“Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and
Public Service.” Harvard Public Opinion Project 27 (2015): 19.
HarvardIOP. PDF file.