A proposal essay is distinguished by its purpose. When you write this type of essay, you have to propose some ideas and then prove it. There are two most often variants: you want to convince your audience that you are right, or that someone else is wrong about something. You will need different types of evidence, but the purpose will remain the same.
You must know how to write different proposals correctly. So, students get “trained” during the years of study. Writing proposal essays give them the necessary object to learn new skills. Besides, there is a task for students to write and submit the dissertation proposal when they are sophomores or juniors. Thus, the more practice you get with proposal essays – the better.
Basic Rules
It is vital to select the right topic for your essay. If you already did other essay types, you know that you always have to run research to gather the necessary information for that paper. Then you need to select and arrange the arguments to support your point of view. The proper arguments will be more important than ever with the proposal essay. Thus, you will need deep and thorough research to write about the things you care for.
Make sure that the topic of your proposal essay meets the following criteria:
- It is relevant. You can refer to any sphere, but the subject should mean something to all people. Your thought and arguments from the essay need to persuade your audience, thus, you need their reaction. It would be more difficult if you deal with some abstract and vague concepts – though, you may try that too. You might possess great convincing talents.
- It is meaningful for you. You should represent your opinion when you write essays of any type, and the best way is to deal with the questions you know well. This is the possibility for you to show your high expertise level in this field. You may be sure that this will be noticed.
- It is targeted towards the right audience. If you are an expert and talk about the matters which appeal to you deeply, you might not succeed with the wrong audience. The failure may take place if your readers or listeners just don’t the knowledge on that matter. Or you might stress the points which are irrelevant to them because. Thus, understand your audience before you start to work on the proposal essay.
List of topics for proposal essays
If you are a student, you might write about the things which concern the students’ lifestyle directly. However, you may be even more interested in writing about “bigger” ideas. This will let you illustrate your life convictions and personality. You can also think about your future career and use the opportunity to practice writing proposals. Most likely you will need these skills later when you get a job.
In this article, we offer to you some examples of appealing topics for proposal essays that belong to different fields. Just choose the one you like best of all. Or use them as hints to explore the idea and find something else.
Environment
- Which is the best way to reduce the level of pollution in the soil with plastic bags?
- Which are the best means to promote the bicycle as transport means?
- Will it be better to concentrate on recycling or send waste to developing countries?
- Is green energy able to save us from global warming?
- Should we impose the “zero-waste” lifestyle to people?
Students’ life
- Is there a universal way to fight the homework?
- How to start to read more books?
- How to learn to control emotions?
- Is there a working way to become a great student and don’t get exhausted?
- Does a great sportsman need to succeed in academic studies?
Social life
- Is it possible to make students socially responsible?
- Can the subcultures carry threats?
- How can we help our close people when they fight depression?
- Is sexism such a big problem?
- What is the real cause of the drug and alcohol addictions?
Government
- Can we tolerate the existence of capital punishment in our country?
- Should the bureaucracy be eliminated?
- Does the past political experience have real value in the present?
- Should the government control the educational programs?
- Is there a way to guarantee quality medical service at affordable prices?
Business
- Should we transfer the corporate culture rules to the daily lifestyle?
- Which are the most efficient adaptation programs for new employees?
- Is there a universal method to attract customers?
- Should there be rules for customer’s behavior?
- How to define the mission and corporate rules for a company?
Education
- Is the current length of education in universities justified?
- Should sportsmen get benefits in colleges?
- Should there be a support service for teachers?
- Which educational propaganda do we need?
- Which are the most obvious ways to improve the educational program?
Literature
- Should there be censorship in literature?
- How a book can become a bestseller?
- How can one differ satire from just humor?
- Does reading books influence the development of a personality?
- Are there contemporary writers who deserve being called a modern classic?
Culture
- Is it necessary to follow the modern cultural trends?
- Do stereotypes affect the perception of the arts?
- What influences the reputation of nations internationally?
- What is the correct way to treat foreign cultures in your country?
- Preparation before going abroad: what you need to clarify?
Technology
- Is there trustworthy evidence of the negative effect of technologies on society?
- Do we face the second Luddite movement?
- What is the main impact of technologies on business culture?
- Do parents need to restrict children’s access to the Internet?
- Which technologies need more investments now?
Psychology
- Which motivation works best of all for a person?
- Can anyone learn from other people’s mistakes?
- Is perfectionism an advantage or a way to self-destruction?
- Is there a way to fight to be emotionally exhausted in colleges?
- How can one learn to accept failures?
Recommendations of how to write proposal essays
Proposal essays have some peculiarities in the structure which put this type apart from the other essays. In general, the structure of the proposal essay is the following:
- Introduction
- Proposal
- Plan of action
- Desired outcomes
- Resources needed
- Conclusion
Introduction
You need to introduce the subject of your proposal to the audience. This is the first test in conviction people – you need to express that the point is important for everyone. At this stage, you are supposed to get the attention of the audience. Use more expressive means for that. You may joke, or offer interesting facts, cite outstanding people if their words express the same ideas. Name the main problem and mention that your proposal can resolve it.
Proposal
This part stands for the traditional thesis statement. You describe your proposal in brief, don’t go into details, as you will explore the topic further.
Plan of Action
It is the main part of the work. Writing any proposal means that you know how to resolve this or that question. Concentrate on the following important factors:
- Is it possible to fulfill the proposal in realistic terms?
- What resources would you need to achieve the goal?
- Why would they choose you to be in charge of doing the task?
Here you should stress your qualifications and convince that you have resources to start the work. Then you can ground the requirement for more resources. Provide details to dispel doubts, assure that you are fully aware of the whole process and can control it. However, you will need to find the balance, if you discuss some technical idea. Using too many terms and technical details might be boring. It won’t help you convince the audience.
Be honest in describing possible pitfalls. However, you need to prove also that you can overcome the obstacles.
Desired outcomes
Here you should present the goals you plan to achieve. Be brief and stress the positive impact which your proposal will have.
Necessary Resources
Here you need to list the items you need to reach your targets. Note that the list should contain all types of resources. Include tangible items like specific hardware and software, money, and working hours.
Conclusion
This is also similar to other essay types. In this part, you remind again about the importance of the problem and your proposed ways to resolve it. You may also add some details to make this part more “alive”, like turning to the historical context or even humor to put a smile on your readers’ faces. It is crucial to make a first impression good, but the last impression can be even more important.
As you see, though the proposal essays are somehow different from the other essay types, you can master writing them too. The main thing is to know your subject and to care about it. Then you can convince people that they should support you.
