Retraining physicians to improve patient relationship

Assignment 5: Proposal                                Point Total: 250

Dates and Specifics:  Page Requirement:5 full pages (does not include Works Cited page)

Source Requirement:5 scholarly sources (EBSCO/Academic Search Complete/Google Scholar/Questia).  ALL other sources must be approved.  A Works Cited Page is require

Discussion of genre: Proposals are an action-oriented genre with a two-fold goal: define a problem and offer a solution.  This genre requires a rhetorical balancing act; at turns, the writer will describe, narrate, argue, evaluate, and explore causal relationships.  You need to move your audience from the stage of lack of awareness into agreement, and finally, into the realm of possible action/inspiration to spread the word and influence others.  Remember: a proposal is still a form of argumentand requires all of the strategies of that genre.  A thoughtful, persuasive proposal will:

• Define the problem. Offer your readers a research-backed explanation of what is going on and why they should care about it.  Your descriptive skills and understanding of causal relationships are needed here.  Create stakeholders in this section.
• Examine prior solutions and use those as a comparison to your own proposal in order to highlight why your idea is different. Your issue might have a history of failed attempts at solving the problem and you will want to investigate why those were inadequate. Avoid problems which no one has ever solved (unless you have a really great idea).
• Explore the following steps: explanation, rationale, comparisons and/or counterarguments, feasibility, and implementation. Explain the advantages and downsides; create specific, yet realistic recommendations.  As best you can, craft a feasible plan of implementation.
• Address a broad and narrow audience (at the same time.) The first includes your general readers (swing the weight of public opinion to your side); the second audience might be comprised of people who possess the power to actually do something about the problem (bonus points for sending a version of your proposal off into the real world beyond this classroom; see org for a comprehensive list of organizations committed to proposing and enacting change).
• Pose a solution and defend it. If you challenge the status quo, you will have opposition, naysayers, and detractors.  Be prepared to show this group how your idea will work through logic, research, persuasive rhetorical moves, and good ethos.  Illustrate for your readers with a creative visualization what the world looks like with your solution in place.

Topic choices:  Your topic should fall under one of these two categories:

• Local: research a problem which impacts your family, friends, pets, school or community.Springboard from a local news event or something which has personally impacted you or someone you know. As with our evaluations, this might require some field work.  Interview the person who runs a safe house for victims of domestic abuse, or a food bank, animal shelter, prison, or community art space.  Did your high school have a high dropout rate compared to the national average?  Why?   Is your local library tackling the problem of literacy while politicians ignore it?  Why is Northwest Ohio a hub for human trafficking? Some local topics may be mired in larger societal problems like poverty, but this option should focus mainly on the local problem and potential solutions appropriate for your region.
• Non–traditional: make the case that something is a problem which others may not necessarily think of as problematic. Think back to your brainstorming process about trends from the causal analysis, andgo back to some of your “out of the box” ideas.  Are we too swayed by the hype of consumer culture?  Should we consider joining a local farm collective for produce, dairy, and meat rather than shopping at “mega” grocery stores?  Want to propose “unplugged” hour (or day or week) where all electronic devices are shut off?  Should foreign language instruction begin in kindergarten?  How can we change negative stereotypes about_________? How can we encourage our citizens, young and old, to read more? Are children’s toys reinforcing gender stereotypes?  Should we laugh more?  How would you 1) convince people to care and that your topic is, in fact, a problem; and 2) pose a realistic solution?

Sources: You are required to consult and cite from fivescholarly sources.  Put the best of your ethical research abilities to work: use Ohio Link for books (request early); our library’s database of peer-reviewed journals and newspapers; research generated from your fieldwork (if applicable); and other credible sources.