English 120 – Proposal Assignment

Key Questions
Define the issue:
1. What is the social issue you are addressing?
2. What is the history of the issue? In other words where/how/when did the issue become important?
3. How has the issue’s importance or relevance changed over time? Are there any specific moments
or events in the last 10-200 years when this issue has become particularly important or relevant?
4. For whom is the issue especially important? What is at stake for this group of people? In other
words, what is gained or lost if the issue is or isn’t addressed?
5. What are the boundaries of the issue? In other words, where does this social issue overlap with
other issues? What is central to this issue that may be different than other, related social issues?
(For example, feminism overlaps with race- and class-based social issues, but one of feminism’s
central tenets – women’s equality – may not be central to other social issues or movements.)

Describe how the issue has been represented (past/present):

1. Where do you find this issue being discussed currently? In other words, do you find discussions
on social media, websites, popular magazines or newspapers, political speeches or campaigns,
advertisements, etc?
2. Who seems to be involved in contemporary discussions about this issue? Which perspectives
seem to be represented? Which perspectives seem to be absent?
3. Where has this issue been discussed in the past? In other words, can you find these issues
discussed in advertisements, magazines or newspapers, political speeches or campaigns, older
websites, etc?
4. Who seems to be involved in past discussions about this issue? Which perspectives seem to be
represented? Which perspectives seem to be absent?
5. Focusing on a handful of examples of this discussion in the present and past, consider the
following questions: How have these different examples considered genre, audience, purpose,
and/or situation in meaningful ways? How do you see these different examples using rhetorical
strategies (logos, ethos, pathos, other), and to what effect?
6. What can you learn about the social issue based on its representation over time?
7. What do you think is missing from the discussions over time? What has been presented well
and/or seems to have been persuasive?

Propose a new rhetorical approach:

1. Why do you care about this issue, and what is your own position? What reasoning do you have
for taking this position? Why do you think others might benefit from adopting a position similar
to your own?
2. What is your purpose in communicating about this issue to others? What do you hope to
accomplish in communicating your stance?
3. What local/regional audience do you want to target? What stakes does this audience have in the
issue? Why should other people care about this issue, and how will they benefit from your
message?
4. What particulars about the local/regional situation may affect how you can or will communicate
about this issue? In other words, what is unique about this place, history, and/or current events or
conversations that will modify the way you communicate about this issue?
5. What genre do you think will be most effective in communicating about this issue? Why?
6. What are the features of the genre (for example: visual, aural, written, design)? How these can be
manipulated to communicate effectively to your chosen audience?
7. How does your rhetorical approach build upon and/or differ from previous or ongoing
approaches to communicate effectively about this issue?
8. Why do you think we should adopt or employ your rhetorical approach to communicate about
this issue?