Writing Proposals - Chapter 12

We’ve reached the end of the book, and there’s still so much to be done. This last chapter addresses the final touches to the proposal, mainly the front and back matter. We might consider the presentation as part of our main concerns as well, since it supplements the core of the package: the proposal itself.

The front matter can include a letter of transmittal, cover page, executive summary and table of contents, but when considering including these components, I wonder how many times we need to repeat ourselves. If we include an introduction, do we need an executive summary too? Would an abstract be the academic equivalent, or is that something we save for the thesis itself? Do we need a letter of transmittal? If we are sending a digital copy, could we substitute an email of transmittal? I think it might be a nice touch, particularly to include contact information. Also, the book specifies that a table of contents is not necessary for a proposal of less than 10 pages, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to display the structure up front. Again, I have to wonder whether adding a page is justified though.

In addition, the title page, letter of transmittal, and table of contents, as front matter, set the tone for the proposal. We can use the letter to establish a relationship with our readers, and the title page and table of contents can signal our professionalism and attention to detail. However, having written mostly academic essays, I find it difficult to invent a cover design that still fits within my conventional notions of research papers, and has enough differences to make my proposal unique and attractive.

I also want to examine my use of terminology and citations as I consider the inclusion of back matter, though for a 10 page proposal, extensive back matter again seems to add more weight than it is worth. Instead, I will consider the inclusion of definitions as sidebars, thus enhancing the creative design of the proposal. By looking at the proposal as the sum of its parts as we learned in the visual communication chapter, I can consider these final additions within the overall design and purpose of the proposal, and rethink any areas that creep outside my mission or stray too far from the conventions.

Writing Proposals - Chapter 11

I wish I used more graphics in my writing; unfortunately, I usually think of them as an afterthought. It’s very difficult for me to think of graphics as I compose, even when stumbling through a section that could benefit from a visual representation. I tend to think in words, not in pictures. However, this chapter presents a great overview/reminder of the type of graphics we might find useful in our proposals, and some of the suggested types will probably find their way into my thesis rather than my thesis proposal, though I intend to check my sources for any graphics that I might adapt to my methodology section. This section is the densest part of my proposal, and a graphic could do a lot to explain and elaborate on my plan. I will also consider inserting a screenshot of an example profile, though I believe at this stage the graphic would take up more space than it is worth.

I also think it is important to consider the flow of the proposal, since graphics can both enhance and interrupt this flow. For readers who will most likely skim or selectively read the proposal a graphic can display information in a concise space; break up the text; and restate main points, since it never hurts to say things more than once, in different ways of course. Thus, the graphics will need to be integrated into the proposal with the same quality or ethics as the writing style.

Furthermore, we need to make certain to label all areas of graphics in as much detail as the space allows. As the chapter suggests, we should label x- and y-axes and use callouts to specify important features. In a previous course, I learned that labels appear below figures and above tables (tabletop is an easy way to remember this distinction), and in conjunction with the previous chapter, I believe such consistency will support the overall design of our document.

Writing Proposals - Chapter 10

This chapter presents an overview and examples of four design principles: balance, alignment, grouping, and consistency. As someone with little professional design experience, I found these rules to be very helpful as a starting point for thinking about the design of my proposal; however, I had to remind myself to balance these guidelines or handbook approach with an ongoing analysis of the rhetorical situation. In other words, knowing the rules is great, but knowing how to apply them in particular context is what will make one proposal stand out for another. Consequently, I think it would be important to know the conventions for proposals in a discipline. For example, those of us writing MAPC thesis proposals know that we should use 1.5 spacing. This convention differs from standard MLA style, which calls for double spacing, yet it still allows enough space for interlinear comments. If we had used single spacing, we might have ignored one of the primary needs of our primary audience. Thus, I can see how we should think of the design as something that enhances or impinges on readability, particularly if we want readers to be able to choose how they want to read the proposal (183).

Furthermore, in this professional writing context, we should heed the advice for grouping related material together and distinguishing it through alignment and headings. While headings signal new topics, they also reveal the organization of the proposal (190). This organization might be one of the first things a reviewer glances at when deciding the fate of the proposal.

A more subtle area of design is typography, and this chapter highlights traditional typefaces and more progressive or creative typefaces. Again, I think convention will play a part here, particularly because we write most academic research papers in a serif font such as Times New Roman. But, perhaps technology is changing our perception of research. Has anyone else noticed that Word 2007 features Calibri as the default font? I did a little online research and discovered that this font was designed to be more Web friendly. In addition, what do you think about using the templates or styles provided by Word, instead of designing your own combination of typefaces? For proposal writers who wait until the last minute, such conveniences might help them deal with the issue of consistency, since they would only need to click a button to apply styles to each level of heading.