1. Evaluating Proposals
Due 11:59 p.m. CST Sunday April6, 2014
Read“Chapter19: PreparingProposals.”While reading,take notesandannotate yourbook.Youwill
needtoreferback to itfrequentlyforthisassignment.
There are fourproposal examples:acommunitycenter,aroofing project,acorporate work-life
program,and an instructionsetforengineeringstudents.Someof themare templates,soignore the
elementsthataren’tcompleteorhave fillertext. Usingyourbook and your own reasoning,provide a
thorough analysis ofone proposal.Whenyou refertothe textbook, provide page references soIknow
where youfoundthatpoint. It maybe helpful tochoose aproposal before readingthe textbooksoyou
can lookfor thingsthatwill affectyourassignment.
Rememberto keepthe audience in mind.Each of these proposalshasadifferentaudience,so be sure
to specificallyaddresshowwell thisproposalmatchesthe intendedaudience.Youshouldidentifythis
audience somewhereinyouranalysis. “Everyone”isnotanaudience;be specific.
Don’tforgetto think about persuasiveness.Whatiscompellingforone audience isunconvincingin
anothercontext.Whyisthisproposal effective orineffective?Pushyourself tothink deeplyaboutthe
rhetorical effectof the proposal.Argue foryourpositionusinglogicandthe bookas support. Don’tgive
me a descriptionof whatisinthe proposal;Ican see thatmyself.Give me aninterpretationof the
proposal’squalitywithgoodreasonsforyourclaims.
Finally,give recommendationsforimprovement.How wouldthe proposal be strengthened?Don’tjust
claimthat somethingisbad.Explainhow youcouldchange itto make iteffective. Feelfree torelyonthe
thingsyou’ve learnedinotherchapters.
To recap, youranalysisshouldinclude the followingelements:
 A blendof yourowncritical thinkingandthe textbook’sconcepts(withreferences!)
 Audience identificationandanalysis
 Assessmentsof positive andnegativeelementsinthe proposal
 Recommendationsforimprovement
As always,there isnopage lengthrequirement,sofocusonconductinga complete andthorough
analysis. Pleasecontactme withquestionsorproblems.