Chris Trimble

Chapter 11
1. What is the basic format for a proposal?
a. An introduction that defines a problem, stresses its importance, and offers a brief
description of the proposed solution (the thesis).
b. An analysis of the problem, discussing its causes, and its effects.
c. A detailed plan that shows step by step how to solve the problem.
d. A costs- benefits analysis that measures the benefits of the plan against its costs.
e. A conclusion that looks to the future and stresses the importance of taking action.
2. Where are proposals used?
a. In todays workplace, the proposal is one of the most common genres. Anytime
someone wants to solve a problem or present new ideas, he or she will be asked to
write the proposal. Internal proposals are written for people inside a company
or organization to pitch new ideas, with external proposals written for clients to
sell a companys services. Solicited proposals respond to Requests for
Proposals (RFPs). Grant proposals are used by researchers and not- for- profit
groups to obtain funding for their projects.
3. What are the steps for inventing your proposals content?
a. Inquiring: Defining the Problem
b. Inquiring: Analyzing the Problem
c. Researching: Gathering Information and Sources
d. Inquiring: Planning to Solve the Problem
e. Researching: Find Similar Projects
4. What are the three primary sources of information when writing proposals?
a. Online Sources. Choose some keywords from your concept map, and use Internet
search engines to gather background information on your topic.
b. Print Sources. Your best print sources will usually be newspapers and magazine
articles, because most proposals are written about current or local problems.
c. Empirical Sources. Set up interviews, do field observations, or survey people to
gather empirical evidence that supports or challenges your online and print
sources.
5. What are the steps involved with planning to solve the problem?
a. Map Out Your Plan. Again, a concept map is a useful tool for figuring out your
plan.

b. Explore Each Major Step. Now, consider each of the major steps one at a time.
c. Figure Out the Costs and Benefits of Your Plan. With your plan mapped out, you
should now identify its costs and benefits.
6. Why should the writer list the costs and benefits of the proposal plan?
a. Essentially, your goal is to determine whether the benefits of your plan outweigh
the costs. After all, nothing is free. So someone, probably your readers, will need
to give up something (like money) to put your plan into action. You want to prove
to your readers that the benefits are worth the costs. When figuring out the costs
and benefits, brainstorming is an especially helpful tool.
7. What steps should the writers use to choose an appropriate style?
a. Create an Authoritative Tone. Pick a tone that expresses a sense of authority.
b. Use Metaphors and Similes. Metaphors and similes allow you to compare new
ideas to things that are familiar to your readers.
c. Pay Attention to Sentence Length. Proposals should generate excitement,
especially at the moments when you are describing your plan and its benefits.
d. Minimize the Jargon. Proposals can get somewhat technical, depending on the
topic. So look for any jargon words that could be replaced with simpler words or
phrases. If a jargon word is needed, make sure you define it for readers.
8. List three tips for designing your proposal.
a. Create a Look. Figure out what image your proposal should project to the readers.
b. Use Meaningful Headings. When they first pick up your proposal, your readers
will likely scan it before reading.
c. Include Relevant, Accurate Graphics. Proposals often talk about trends, so you
should look for places where you can use charts or graphs to illustrate those
trends.
9. What four steps should a writer follow to revise and edit a proposal?
a. Look for Inconsistencies in Content. As you drafted your proposal, your ideas
about the topic probably evolved and changed as you learned more about it.
b. Get Rid of the Extra Stuff. Look for places where you have included material that
goes beyond the readers need to know.

c. Tweak the Design. When the whole proposal is put together, look for places where
the design is inconsistent or looks odd.
d. Dont Forget to Proofread! Proofreading is always important, but it is essential for
proposals.
Chapter 12
1. What is the format for a report?
a. When starting a research project, you first need to figure out your topic, your
research question, and your hypothesis. Your hypothesis will serve as your
thesis statement while you are drafting your report. Then you need to discover
what you already know about your topic and come up with a systematic way
to find out what others know. And finally, you need to use your research skills
to generate findings, analyze those findings, and develop your conclusions or
recommendations. In other words, much needs to happen before you sit down
to draft your report.
2. How do writers develop their research question and hypothesis?
a. Define your topic and then narrow it down to something you can handle in the
time you have available. Now, its time to develop your research question.
Your research question should state your topic and identify an issue that your
research will address. Once you have figured out your research question, you
should turn it into a hypothesis that will guide your research. Your hypothesis
is your best guess for the moment about how your research question will
be answered.
3. What are the steps for creating a research plan?
a. In the middle of the screen or page, write down your research question.
b. Write down the two to five major steps you will need to take to answer that research question. Circle them.

c. For each major step, write down two to five minor steps that you would need
to take to achieve that major step. Circle them and draw lines to connect them
to the major steps.
4. What is the organizational pattern for an executive summery or abstract?
a. Executive summaries usually devote a small paragraph to each major section
of the report. Abstracts tend to be only one paragraph, devoting a sentence or
two to each section of the report. The executive summary or abstract should
be written after you have finished drafting the rest of the report.
5. What materials should be included in the methods section of a research essay?
a. Explain your research methods step by step in a way that would allow your
readers to replicate your research. Each major step will usually receive at least
one paragraph of coverage
6. What is the purpose of a findings or results section of a research paper?
a. Choose the two to five most important findings or results from your research.
In larger reports, each major finding should at least receive its own paragraph.
Your job in this section is to describe what you found. Where possible, use
graphics, such as charts, graphs, and tables, to present the data youve
collected.
7. What should writers include in the conclusions/recommendations section of a
research paper?
a. The conclusion of your report should be brief. A reports conclusion typically
makes all or some of the following moves. Restate your main point. One more
time, state the reports overall main point or finding. Make two to five
recommendations. Using the results of your research, make some
recommendations about what should be done about this issue. Reports often
present these recommendations in a list. Reemphasize the importance of the
topic. Explain briefly why your readers should care about this topic and take

action. Look to the future. Reports often end with a small paragraph that
describes what will happen in the near and distant future.
8. Where can writers go to get assistance with writing a reference or works cited page?
a. Provide bibliographic information for any sources you have cited. For APA
style, they should be listed under the title References. For MLA style, call
them Works Cited. Turn to Chapters 27 and 28 for help with your
references.
9. What are nominalizations and how do writers get rid of them?
a. Nominalizations make your writing less clear because they hide the action in a
sentence. If you move the action into the sentences verb, your meaning will
be much clearer to your readers.
10. What does it mean to choose an appropriate style, and what are some examples of
appropriate styles as mentioned in chapter 12 of the text?
a. Reports usually sound neutral and objective. Your readers expect you to give
them information in a straightforward way. As a result, reports are usually
written in a plain style.
11. Why are headings important in the design of your report?
a. Your reports headings should give readers a clear idea about what is in each
section of the report.
12. What are some strategies for revising and editing a report?
a. Because research reports tend to be large documents, the revising and editing
phase is critical to improving your reports quality.
13. Where and how does the report define sexual-ization? Based on your own
experiences, do you agree with these definitions? Have you experienced these kinds
of conditions in your own life?
a. So,
Chapter 18
1. Define global revision.

a. Global Revision reexamines and adjusts the documents overall approach, using
genre to sharpen its topic, angle, purpose, thesis, and appropriateness for the
readers and context.
2. Define substantive editing.
a. Substantive Editing pays attention to the documents content, organization, and
design.
3. Define copyediting.
a. Copyediting focuses on revising the style for clarity, persuasion, and consistency,
paying close attention to paragraphs and sentences.
4. Define proofreading.
a. Proofreading examines and revises surface features, such as gram-metical
correctness, spelling, and usage.
5. In order, what are the four levels of revising and editing?
a. Level 1: Global Revision Level 2: Substantive Editing Level 3: Copyediting
Level 4: Proofreading
6. What are three examples of global issues?
a. Your Drafts Topic, Angle, and Purpose You need to challenge your first draft to
make sure its doing what you intended.
7. When thinking about your readers (the context), what should you consider?
a. Expectations. Have you considered how the genre leads readers to have certain
ex-petitions?
b. Values. Are your readers values different from yours?
c. Attitudes. Have you adjusted the text to fit your primary readers attitude about
your topic?
d. Place. How will the physical place in which readers experience your document
shape how they read it?
e. Medium. How will your papers medium (e. g., paper, podcast, presentation)
influence how people react to your message or interpret what you have to say?
f. Social and Political Influences. How will current social, economic, and political
trends influence how your readers feel about what your paper has to say?
8. How do you know when you have enough information?
a. Your paper needs to have enough information to support your claims and explain
your ideas to readers, but you dont want to include more content than you need. .

Does your thesis statement and main claim (usually in the introduction and/ or the
conclusion) describe what youre achieving in this paper? Are your claims in the
body of the paper expressed completely and accurately? Could you express them
in a more prominent, precise, or compelling way? Can you find any places where
your ideas need more support or where your the-sis and claims need more
evidence drawn from sources? Are there any digressions? Can you trim the text
down?
9. What are three questions you can ask to determine whether you need to reorganize your
work to better use the genre?
a. Does your paper have each of the sections included in this genre? If not, are you
making a conscious choice to leave out a section or merge it with something else?
b. Does your introduction do its job according to the conventions of the genre? Does
it draw your readers in, introduce them to the topic, state the thesis and main
c.

claim, and stress the importance of the subject?

Are your main ideas prominent enough? If not, can you move these main ideas to

places where your readers are more likely to see them?

10. Why should writers have others read their work?
a. Substantive editing is a good time to ask others to review your work. Ask a friend
or someone from your class to read through your text. Tell him or her to
concentrate on content, organization, and design. Your editor can ignore any typos
or grammatical errors, because right now you need feedback on higher- level
features and problems.
11. What are your titles and headings intended to do for your essay?
a. Your title should grab the readers attention, and the headings in your document
should help them quickly grasp your ideas and understand how the document is
structured.
12. What should the writer consider when editing paragraphs to make them more concise and
consistent?

a. Work through your document paragraph by paragraph, paying attention to how

each one is structured and how it works with the paragraphs around it.
13. How can a writer revise sentences to make them clearer?
a. After you reshape and refine each paragraph, focus your attention on the clarity
and style of individual sentences.
14. How can a writer revise sentences to make them more descriptive?
a. Now, work on giving your sentences more impact and power. . Do your sentences
use vivid detail to help readers see, hear, touch, taste, and smell what you are
writing about? Would any similes, metaphors, or analogies help your readers to
understand or visualize what you are talking about? Do your sentences generally
use a consistent tone and voice? Can you describe in one word the tone you are
trying to set in your paper?
15. Whats the purpose of proofreading? What are the three strategies for proofreading?
a. Proofreading is the final step in editing your document, during which you should
search for any typos, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and word usage
problems. Proofreading takes patience and practice, but it is critical to successful
writing.
b. 1, Read Your Writing Out Loud 2, Read Your Draft Backwards 3, Read a Hard
Copy of Your Work

Chapter 22
1. Define argument. When are arguments used in college and the professional world?
a. An argument involves making reason-able claims and then backing up those
claims with evidence and support. The objective of an argument is not to win
and prove you have the truth. Instead, your primary goal is to persuade others that
you are probably right.

b. In college and in the professional world, arguments are used to think through
ideas and debate uncertainties. Arguments are about getting things done by
gaining the cooperation of others. In most situations, an argument is about
agreeing as much as disagreeing, about cooperating with others as much as
competing with them.
2. What types of topics are considered arguable?
a. When laying the groundwork for an argument, you need to first define an
arguable claim that you will try to persuade your readers to accept as probably
true. For example, here are two arguable claims on two sides of the same topic:
Arguable Claim: The United States made a mistake when it invaded Iraq in 2003
because the invasion was based on faulty intelligence that suggested Iraq
possessed weapons of mass destruction. Arguable Claim: Despite faulty
intelligence, the United States was justified in invading Iraq because Saddam
Hussein was a dangerous dictator who was threatening Iraqs neighboring
countries, supporting worldwide terrorism, and lying in wait for an opportunity to
purchase or build weapons of mass destruction that could be used against the
United States and its allies.
3. What are the four sources of arguable claims?
a. Issues of Definition. Some arguments hinge on how to define an object, event, or
person.
b. Issues of Causation. Humans tend to see events in terms of cause and effect.
c. Issues of Evaluation. We also argue about whether something is good or bad, right
or wrong, or better or worse.
d. Issues of Recommendation. We also use arguments to make recommendations
about the best course of action to follow. These kinds of claims are signaled by
words like should, must, ought to, and so forth.
4. What is a two-step strategy to help the writer sharpen his/her claim?

a. Issues of Definition. Some arguments hinge on how to define an object, event, or

person.
5. What are three ways to support your position?
a. Once you have developed an arguable claim, you can start figuring out how you
are going to support it with evidence and reasoning. There are three ways to
support your position: reason, authority, and emotion
6. Define logos, ethos, and pathos. How are these kinds of evidence used in argument
writing?
a. Reason (Logos) Reasoning involves appealing to your readers common sense or
beliefs.
i. The first type of reasoning, logical statements, allows you to use your
readers existing beliefs to prove they should agree with a further claim.
b. Authority (Ethos) Authority involves using your own experience or the
reputations of others to support your arguments.
i. Ethical Principles. Demonstrate that you are arguing for an outcome that
meets a specific set of ethical principles.
c. Emotion (Pathos) Using emotional an appeal to persuade your readers is
appropriate if the feelings you draw on are suitable for your topic and readers.
i. Demonstrate to your readers that agreeing with your position will help
them gain things they need or want, like trust, time, money, love,
advancement, reputation, comfort, popularity, health, beauty, or
convenience.
7. Define fallacy.
a. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning.
8. How do writers avoid logical fallacies in argument writing?
a. Logical fallacies do not prove that someone is wrong about a topic. They simply
mean that the person is using weak or improper reasoning to reach his or her
conclusions.
9. Give two examples of logical fallacies from your own personal experience.

a. Ad Hominem Attacking the character of the arguer rather than the argument.
Mary has no credibility on the smoking ban issue, because she was once a
smoker herself.
b. Weak Analogy Making an improper comparison between two things that share a
common feature. Paying taxes to the government is the same as handing your
wallet over to a mugger in the park.
10. What is a rebuttal? How do writers use rebuttals in argument writing?
a. Because we argue with others in an effort to gain their understanding and
cooperation, you need to understand opposing viewpoints fully. You also need to
anticipate how your readers will feel about your claims and your support. You
need to imagine their possible objections or misunderstandings. After all,
something that sounds like a good reason to you may not seem as convincing to
your reader.