Paper: Problem-Solving Researched Proposal

[NOTE: Carefully read instructions for and complete assignments 2 (Proposal) and 5 (Progress Report) before completing this assignment.]

You will write and submit a persuasive proposal addressed to a specific, named decision maker, stating a real problem in your workplace, school, church, or volunteer organization and offering a solution to the decision-maker, in at least 3,500 but no more than 5,000 words (for the body of the report, not including front matter or Works Cited section. If you don't know what "front matter" means, see http://writingcommons.org/open-text/genres/business-professional-writing/business-writing-in-action/report/1027-front-matter-components), including, in this order:

1. Letter of Transmittal to the decision maker

2. Title Page (listing the decision maker's name and title, the title of your proposal, your name and position, and the date)

3. Executive Summary

4. Table of Contents (listing every section and beginning page number)

5. List of Illustrations (the illustration titles and page numbers where your illustrations appear)

6. Introduction

7. A series of Text sections separated by specific headings and including at least three integrated and sourced graphic aids (that is, incorporated on the same pages that discuss each) and in-text MLA format citations reporting at least eight external references..

8. Recommendations - a series of step-by-step actions for the decision maker to take to implement your proposed solution

9. Conclusion

10. A Works Cited Page (so titled) with at least eight references in MLA format (must follow MLA format guidelines and must consist ofat least three different TYPES of sources - no more than three of any given type, except no more than two personal interviews). ALL references MUST be used in in-text MLA-style citations in the body of the report. If you don't know how to cite sources correctly in the Works Cited page or within the text, LOOK IT UP in your writing handbook or on one of the thousands of websites that explain how to do it. This citation process is not rocket science, but you MUST do it correctly in order to receive a passing grade on this assignment.

Include at least three visual aids such as graphs, charts, pictures, maps, etc.

Graphics MUST NOT be on stand-alone pages, only on the page with text that refers to them specifically.NO "clip art" accepted; graphics must contribute something not explained by text alone. Graphics created by you should be labeled (Author); those created by you from another source, such as statistics you found in an article, should be labeled: (Author, derived from Jones 3).

Again, at least THREE different types of sources must be used (for example, newspapers, magazines, internet, interviews, surveys, books, journals). No more than three of any type other than interviews may count toward the eight required and no more than TWO interviews may count (of course, more of any kind of reference can be used, if necessary - they just don't count toward the eight total) required sources. General, publically accessible sources such as Wikipedia, About.com, etc. are not accceptable for this assignment.

"Internet" sources are references found ONLY on the Internet; a newspaper article obtained from the paper's website counts as a newspaper article, not as an Internet reference. Works Cited Internet sources MUST include the section title, the home page title, the author (if available), and the date of your access, the date of publication, in addition to the URL (in the order specified by the MLA guidelines).

PAGINATION: Neither the Letter of Transmittal or Title page contain page numbers. The Executive Summary through the List of Illustrations are numbered with lower case Roman numerals. The first page of the report is not numbered. Page two of the report through the end of the document are labeled with Arabic numerals. Location on the page is up to the writer but should be consistent. If the pagination feature of your word processor proves too troublesome, simply insert the page numbers manually (followed by a hard page return to assure they appear where they should).

PEER REVIEW of this project will be accomplished by your drafting a list of possible sources (Annotated Bibliography) and a rough draft of the final report, and sharing each document in the corresponding Discussion Forum.