PROPOSAL ARGUMENTS*
Problem-Solution: A Call to Action
(x should/should not do y)
EXPLORING—GETTING TO AND REFINING A PLAN
 Finding an issue, exploring possible approaches, beginnings of idea development
o Choose a category of people affected by the problem and a category of peoPle who can do
something to help solve the problem (e.g., students who work full time, students who are
parents, female or male students, students of a certain ethnicity, students of a certain socioeconomic status, student government, the City council, College Governing Board, teachers)
o Think about different forms of a proposal argument and different categories of people (X) at
MiraCosta who are affected by the problem and who will be affected by the solution
 X should do Y because doing Y is good
 X should do Y because Y is a Z (which is good)
 X should do Y because Y will lead to some consequences (which are good)
 X should to Y because Y is like A (which is good)
 Brainstorm: list major problems facing students at MiraCosta College, decide which are the most
important (rank in order of importance), talk with other students about these things, explore answers
to the following questions:
o What is the problem? Give a specific example.
o Why is the problem a problem for a significant group of students?
o For whom is the problem really a problem?
o How will these people suffer if the problem is not solved? (Give specific examples)
o Who has the power to solve the problem?
o Why hasn’t the problem been solved up to this point?
o How can the problem be solved? (Create a proposal)
o What are the probable benefits of acting on your proposal?
o What costs are associated with your proposal, and who will bear those costs?
o Why should this proposal be enacted?
o Why is it better than alternative proposals?
o Draft an outline for a proposal argument
 Research to find the literary and scholarly works that will help you answer or clarify or bring some
emotional or aesthetic character into your argument – when you ask someone not just to consider a
proposal, not just to be better informed, but to actually DO something, you have to realize there may
be a cost to that action and therefore appeal not just to the audience’s intellect but also to their
emotions
 Include a reference to a recent event or situation (within the last 12 months) that relates to a problem
experienced by a significant number of students here at MiraCosta College. Along with literary
references and other research, connection in your proposal argument to something real and tangible
can bring your argument to life because the reader will sense the immediacy and life of your words
as well as the truth and consistency of your argument. Use your references and research to help the
reader share your point of view, your emotions, the force of your personal engagement with the
issue.
 Keep an idea log throughout the exploring, researching, and drafting process. Use it to record your
research and explore its relevance to your proposal argument. Use it to record details, brief scenes,
compelling examples to show the seriousness of the problem or the consequences of not acting on
your proposal. Use metaphor to translate the language of the mind to the language of the heart. Use
the log to test your assumptions and your explanations, to make sure any emotional appeal is
justified by hard evidence. Think about the audience as not just those suffering from the problem,
but those who can actually take the action you are proposing.
Floren English 201 – Proposal Argument – Page 1 of 4
OUTLINING—ORGANIZING THE PLAN
Basic Structure
(a) Describe the problem and its significance (it’s a genuine problem that needs solving).
(b) Propose your solution to the problem, with detail so that readers can understand how it will work
(c) Justify your proposal by showing reasons your readers should act on your proposed solution—e.g.,
show how the benefits of adopting that proposal outweigh the costs)
More Detailed Structures: 2 options (there are others)
Option 1:

Presentation of a problem that needs solving (describe the problem, provide background
including previous attempts to solve the problem, argue that the problem is real, that it is significant
and affects many people, and that it is solvable)

Presentation of writer’s proposal (serves as thesis statement): explain specifics of the proposal

Summary and rebuttal of opposing views, with respect for the opposition—ways of refuting
evidence of opponents:
o
deny accuracy of data;
o
cite counterexamples or opposing testimony that casts doubt on sufficiency of your
examples or on their representative nature;
o
cast doubt on relevance or currency of examples), statistics, testimony (how appropriate,
how closely related, how recent);
o
call into question the credibility of a source cited as an authority;
o
question the accuracy or context of quotations;
o
question the way statistical data were produced or interpreted

Justification (persuading reader that proposal should be enacted):
o
Reason 1 presented and developed
o
Reason 2 presented and developed
o
Etc.

Conclusion exhorting audience to act
Option 2 (fill in with related details from Option 1):

Presentation of issue including background

Brief summary of opposing view

Presentation of writer’s proposal

Justification
o
Reason 1: show that proposal addresses a serious problem
o
Reason 2: show that the proposal will actually solve (or help solve) the problem
o
Reason 3: Give additional reasons for enacting proposal
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AS YOU EXPLORE AND DRAFT:
 Frame an arguable thesis – something with which a reasonable person can disagree. Recognize the
opposition and respect the opponent’s ideas and humanity—summarize and respond to counterarguments (e.g., “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – “no can do, buddy”)
 Research well: be familiar with the conversation surrounding your issue. Formulate rational reasons
for believing your claims. Support these reasons with evidence (examples, statistics, expert
testimony, witness testimony, chain of reasoning)—aim for accurate, sufficient, relevant, recent, and
representative information/data
 Build a bridge to your audience by asking questions about your audience and analyzing your
audience so you can frame audience-based reasons
 Stylistic choices can create rational and emotional appeals: selection of examples; word choice;
scholarly & literary sources; metaphors and analogies
Floren English 201 – Proposal Argument – Page 2 of 4
Thinking Cap – one model for thinking about and justifying your proposal—convincing your
reader that your proposal should be enacted.
 Proposal Claim: The student government and College Foundation should offer a textbookborrowing service for all students.
 Definition: Because textbooks are getting so expensive that more and more students are finding
themselves either stressing out or dropping out.
 Consequence: Because offering such a program will alleviate student stress and improve student
academic performance.
 Resemblance: Because a community college that does not do everything it can to ensure that
students learn is a little like the Pentagon that fails to offer adequate body armor for the soldiers it
sends into harm’s way to fight for this country.
Thinking Cap – the Toulmin Structure for Developing a Proposal Argument
 Initial Enthymeme: All college students should be required to take an ethics course because most
students are not effective ethical thinkers and because an ethics course would help solve this
problem
 Claim: All college students should be required to take an ethics course.
 Stated Reasons: a. Students are not effective thinkers about ethical issues (writer will need to define
the criteria for effective ethical thinking); b. an ethics course will help solve this problem (writer
will need to adduce evidence that the course will work).
 Grounds: a. evidence that college students lack the ability to think effectively about ethical issues; b.
evidence that ethics courses help students think more effectively about ethical issues (e.g., pre- and
post-course tests asking students to think coherently about ethical issues; follow-up studies of
students who take ethics courses and a control group of students who don’t take ethics to see if there
are significant differences in ethical behavior)
 Warrant for both A (effective thinking is good) and B (methods of developing it should therefore be
enacted): The ability to think effectively about ethical issues is such an important skill that a
proposal to develop that skill should be enacted (writer will need to consider opposing views such as
that A is OK, but B is not - an ethics course should not be required because that would mean
forgoing other courses, which are good as well—also, students uninterested in ethics or profs who
don’t teach the subject will bear most of the costs of implementation of this proposal – writer has
considerable burden of proof to get readers to accept the warrant—evidence that ethics courses really
work and argument that benefits justify the cost of requiring the course for everyone)
 Backing: Evidence of the benefits of ethical thinking (and argument that a course would make for
more thoughtful, questioning students in all other classes as well as in the workplace and as citizens)
and the costs of ineffective ethical thinking (e.g., research into contemporary problems caused by
poor ethical thinking to bolster argument that a course would result in long-range benefits for the
larger society). Also evidence of doability/cost-benefit (writer may cite ethics requirements at other
colleges).
 Conditions of Rebuttal: Examples of people who have studied ethics and have been incapable of
effective ethical thinking or of effective ethical thinkers who have never had a course in college
ethics (perhaps it is the home or the church or the experience of life that teaches ethical thinking, not
a college course) or of societies in which effective ethical thinking has not led to the promised
benefits.
 Qualifiers: A statement to the effect that college ethics courses will make it “more likely” that
students can think effectively about ethical issues and that more effective ethical thinking will
“probably” be beneficial to society.
Floren English 201 – Proposal Argument – Page 3 of 4
More on Parts of Analysis of problem and/or Solution
 Define key terms
o assert a particular definition
o attack criteria or match in opponent’s definition
 Analyze causes of problem
o Causal chain should be strong, sufficiently demonstrated
o If based on scientific experiment, the experiment should be valid
o If based on correlation data, correlation should be strong
o If analogy is used as an argument, there should be no disanalogy
o Priority of causes should be ordered rationally
 Analyze consequences of problem (series of tests as above for causes of problem)
Questions to ask as you test your proposal argument
 Will my audience deny that my problem is really a problem?
o What’s so wrong with the status quo? Why is change necessary? Who loses if the status quo
is changed? What people will benefit from solving the problem, and at what cost to other
people?
 Will my audience doubt the effectiveness of my solution?
o Does the problem exist for the reasons cited or are there alternative explanations (causes)?
Have you mistaken a symptom for a cause or confused correlation with cause. What are the
uncertainties or unanticipated consequences? Consider changes made in the past to solve a
similar problem, changes that had unintended consequences (e.g., computers were proposed
to solve problem of too much paperwork, but facts show computers generate even more
paperwork).
 Will my audience think my proposal is unreasonable, undoable, or too costly?
o Do the benefits of enacting the proposal outweigh the costs? Make an honest estimate of the
costs of the proposal. Anticipate objections to your proposal and don’t risk having your
audience discover costs you haven’t anticipated (e.g., financial, psychological,
environmental, aesthetic costs). Explain that your proposal is reasonable, doable, and
affordable, in light of the benefits projected. Don’t exaggerate.
 Will my audience suggest counterproposals?
o Can you imagine an appealing alternative to the proposal you are arguing? Can a reasonable
person counter your argument by saying that the problem you want to solve is just not
solvable, but simply in the nature of life? Work out a way to acknowledge alternative views
and offer a refutation of them. As you develop your argument, be willing to change your
problem and/or solution statement as you consider opposing perspectives and alternative
arguments.
Examples of literary sources and recent events in proposal arguments (working theses):
 Students should form or join a peace group to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq (Claude McKay’s “If
We Must Die” – Walt Whitman’s “Reconciliation” – Black-Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love?” – New
York Times article on Allies cutting troops in Iraq)
 By learning about stress and taking time to relax, young students can liberate themselves from the
ugly outbursts of anger and violence that make their lives miserable. (Marlene Brooks Brannon’s “A
Place of Contentment” – Colin Hay’s “Beautiful World” – Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” – incidents of
teen gangs, violence, bully attacks, etc.)
*Ramage, John D. and John C. Bean. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. NY: Macmillan,
1989. (Excerpts from chapter 15: “Proposal Arguments” – source of most of this document)
Floren English 201 – Proposal Argument – Page 4 of 4