{"id":142,"date":"2015-07-21T21:10:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/styleforstudents\/?post_type=chapter&p=142"},"modified":"2015-07-21T21:10:46","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:10:46","slug":"proposals","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hccc-styleforstudents-1\/chapter\/proposals\/","title":{"raw":"Proposals","rendered":"Proposals"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn the working world, you will often be in the position of writing a proposal, usually to try to solve a problem or receive approval or funding for a project. Such proposals must be prepared to exact specifications and must strike an artful balance between your own needs and those of your audience. Recently, I worked closely with a professor as she prepared a proposal for some vital funding for her research, and her revisions during our discussion were effective because they were completely audience-centered and goal-oriented, even to the point that she revised tentative-sounding phrases into positive affirmations, shortened paragraphs and provided more transitions so that her sentences were easier to read and reread, and changed certain past-tense verbs to present tense to establish a stronger sense of immediate relevance.\r\n\r\nIn your courses, your professor may simply ask you to write a short topic proposal for his or her approval, or you may be asked to write an extensive proposal as a warm-up for a term paper or lengthy writing project. The advice that follows will help you prepare an extensive proposal.\r\n
\r\n

Self-Study<\/h3>\r\nFor more ideas on writing research paper proposals, try out these URLs:\r\n\r\n\"Research Paper Proposal\" article from George Mason University\u00a0<\/a>\r\n\r\n\"Steps to Writing a Research Paper\" article from Rio Salado College Online<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Pitfalls of Proposals<\/h4>\r\nWhen you are faced with the task of preparing a proposal for a paper, consider your audience\u2019s position first. Believe me, when a professor asks you to write a proposal, what he or she wants to do is read and understand it rapidly, give some feedback, and then grant speedy approval to someone who is clearly prepared to begin writing a paper. Empty phrases, vague detail, apparent self-absorption, cockiness, or a lack of confidence on your part just get in the way of all that. I once reviewed a batch of paper proposals in which the following sentences appeared verbatim:\r\n
Another aspect in which I will ultimately show there is some importance here is . . .<\/blockquote>\r\n
Currently I am working hard at gathering more information and reviewing all my present information, maps, and resources that I have etc., etc., etc.<\/blockquote>\r\n
At this point in time my proposed topic that I have chosen is . . .<\/blockquote>\r\n
By the deadline of this paper I will have expected myself to have gone far more into depth about this interesting topic and would have all of the required information.<\/blockquote>\r\nIn the nearly 90 words above, there is nothing of use to the reader of the proposal, who wants specifics, not fluff. Empty phrases merely waste the reader\u2019s time and even breed suspicion that the writer has no real specifics to report. If you complicate what should be simple with such bloated, undigestible, and unswallowable phrases, your poor professor only winds up with a headache and heartburn.\r\n

Style for Proposals<\/h4>\r\nAs you compose your proposal, follow these stylistic tips:\r\n