How to Write Proposal Essay Outline

A proposal essay is one of the least frequently assigned academic papers, but one that you are likely to be assigned at least once over the years spent at college. A proposal essay differs from other papers in that it has some non-academic value: if you learn to introduce your proposals and support their feasibility with evidence and calculations, you are likely to use this skill extensively in your professional life. Even in everyday interactions, being able to lobby your proposals is a skill worth having. In this article, we’d like to go over the fundamentals of compiling the proposal essay outline, as well as provide some recommendations on writing the paper in general. What is a proposal essay? A proposal essay is exactly what it seems to be – a paper in which you make a proposal or offer a solution to a problem, providing information that proves that such proposal or solution are worth considering. Proposals are used quite frequently in business and economic circles, so you will do good by acquiring this skill while still at college. A proposal paper is not that different from the rest, but it does have some distinctive features to accommodate the very nature of proposal writing. Get ready for writing Before you even start outlining your paper, take some time to go over preparation steps. Know who you are writing for and what they will expect This step should not be omitted even if your audience is just the professor who assigned this paper. You know the person who will be reading your work – what will they expect? How will they evaluate the feasibility of your proposal? Take time to recall and note down all the possible requirements that might be set to your paper, even if they haven’t been included in the prompt. And of course, if you are writing for a business audience, it will be a much, MUCH more important step to take. Do the background research Even before you start digging deeper to justify the proposal you’re making, it is important to get to know the field and industry you are writing about. This is known as background research – gathering information that you need to have to decide where to dig deeper. You can try skipping this step, but it will hardly benefit you in the long run. Proposal components Generally, the proposal you are making should include a few elements: A proposal of a specific action that is designed to solve a certain problem of your audience Reasons why the problem is significant and how your proposal will help to solve it (evidence) Possible counterarguments to your proposal and their refutation In non-academic circles, a proposal can be accompanied with a cover letter that introduces such proposal to the person receiving it. Helpful tip If you are free to choose the problem that your proposal should address, try going with a relatively small issue. Global problems require more efforts and research to solve, and your college paper can accommodate only so much. Besides, the narrower you go, the more specific your solution will be. Generally, the more details your proposal paper provides, the better, so don’t get tempted with the global overpopulation issue and the like. Choosing outline for proposal essay Only general recommendations can be given here, as more specific requirements will be set by the person assigning a proposal essay or the organization accepting it. Generally, you should include the following general chapters: Introduction This chapter is designed to describe how your proposal was developed, as well as introduce the subject. Some universities may require you to keep the description of the problem to a minimum of one sentence. Others allow a more detailed description. As in many other papers, the introduction serves to underline the significance of the problem and to tell your readers why they should care at all. The attention hook should also be used to draw your readers into reading from the very first sentence. The brief description of your proposal will serve as a thesis statement to build all the other chapters on. Proposal Plan of Action In this chapter, describe your solution in maximum detail. It can be useful to include the following information: related expenditure (how much will it cost to implement what you are proposing?); responsible persons (who will have to work to implement it and who will be controlling it?); the difficulty of implementation (how many stages of implementation will there be?); the timeframe of implementation (how long will it take?); the resources required for implementation. In describing the steps to take, don’t forget to explain how they are related and how taking one measure will lead to the necessity of taking another one. Your proposal should be a cohesive set of measures, an algorithm, even if the measures might seem random at the first glance. Make sure to address possible problems that might occur on the way and specify ways to address them. It will illustrate your in-depth research of the issue at hand. Predicted Outcomes In this chapter, provide a more detailed overview of how the problem will be solved. How will the results obtained contribute into resolution exactly? Conclusion refutation of opposing points of view Sum up your proposed solution and call out other proposals, stating why yours is more effective. Do not add any new information, simply revisit the points you have already offered. Bibliography Include the works you have cited directly or those that you used for developing your proposal and cite them according to the selected style. Final Thoughts The key criteria that will be used to evaluate your proposal is how well you know the issue you are writing about. That’s why you’ll have to do extensive research on the topic. Solutions to problems that might seem to be lying on the surface must have already been offered, and if you go with one of the obvious solutions, it will prove your lack of information. When writing outline for proposal essay and then writing the first draft, be specific, dig deeper, and provide as many details as possible – this is the only right algorithm of writing a decent proposal paper.