Jared Hill

Comp. II
April 18, 2016

Reflection of Proposal
Rhetorical Knowledge
In this assignment I proposed solutions to the driver and passenger fatalities caused by
unethical driving of the Chevrolet Camaro. I addressed Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors,
as my audience for this proposal. The CEO of any company has full reign of decisions when a
company is forced with changes, so I chose her as the receiver of my proposed solutions. The
genre of my proposal was to be informative. I informed Mary Barra of what specific solutions I
saw fit to prevent the recorded fatalities, on which individuals are equipped to carry out the jobs,
and the cost and benefits of the new safety features. An example of the safety features I proposed
are, I propose a solution to this problem to be to upgrade the chassis and axles in every
Camaro, and I also propose that extra airbags are added throughout the Camaros cabin and a
roll cage is installed. This example helps provide the needed information to my audience on
what safety features are required to prevent further deaths. The main purpose of my proposal is
to prevent these deaths. I know all deaths will not be avoided, but with these added safety
features many lives will be saved. That statement leads to my next point, which is my use of the
rhetorical appeal pathos. I used logos and ethos through facts, sources, and research, but I made
great use of pathos by hitting the emotions of my audience directly. I used facts and numbers to
prove how many individuals have died on U.S. roads, and I showed how serious this issue really
is.

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing

I engaged in critical thinking, reading, and composing by considering my audience and
what key factors would aid in strengthening my position. I used critical thinking when I
considered which rhetorical appeal to hit on most, which was pathos. I thought about how the
emotional set-up could strike my audiences attention and encourage them to adhere to my
message. Emotion leads to major decisions of individuals. It causes individuals to feel the
passion, determination, and respect an author has for the topic. When the reader, in turn, feels
how the author feels about a topic the audience tends to shift positions and side with the authors
position. An example of my use of emotion is, The loss of a life is detrimental, and it is a cost
that can not be paid for with money, exchanged, or ever returned. This statement allows the
reader to understand the importance of the content and strive to reach solutions. I also did critical
reading when finding specific sources to use for my proposal. I had to read, summarize, and
conclude that the content of the articles made since and advanced my proposal. Critical
composing was carried out when I organized my proposal based on: introducing the problem,

elaborating on the problem, my solutions, who will do the work, and concluding with the cost
and benefits. This organization allowed my proposal to flow nicely, be understood by the reader,
and gain the goal it was intended to do.

Processes
The processes of my proposal started off as a simple brainstorm. In the brainstorm I listed
the purpose, my intended audience, the problem and solutions, and a few credible sources. After
my brainstorm came my rough draft. I made the rough draft as close to my final as possible. I
had about 1,642 words to satisfy the word count, the layout organized with in-text citations, and
the minimum of ten credible sources. After I had my rough draft, I took my proposal to the
University Writing Center. There I had one employee guide me through my paper to ensure it
sounded good and contained all required criteria. I received great feedback in return, and they
sent me on my way saying they felt my paper was ready to go. Next, I had peer review, and in
my peer review my partner said my paper was good and only required some slight changes. An
example of one change stated by Andrew Lewis was, This is a borderline fragment sentence. It
does not flow well and I had to re-read it several times. Try rewording it. I used this information
to reword my sentence and help my message be understood. I also used his suggestion to better
the remainder of my proposal where slight type-os had been made. Lastly, after completing a few
changes and making sure my sources were in alphabetical order I developed my final draft of the
paper.

Knowledge of Conventions
The proposal was assigned to be written in MLA format with approximately 1,500 words
and ten credible sources. I was, at first, worried about being able to find ten sources that
corresponded with my topic, but after researching it was not too difficult to achieve. I
incorporated the ten required sources into my paper with proper in-text citations and works cited
page. I made sure I used each source that I documented, and I gave credit to those that produced
the information. The 1,500 words was also a scare to me at the start of my paper, but toward the
middle I had a little over 700 and realized that I should meet the requirement. The paper
concluded to be about six pages with 1642 words total. My knowledge grew by carrying out
these processes. I learned how to attract the audiences attention and inform on an issue by using
multiple sources that helped backup my points. I also learned how to accurately format, layout,
and organize a proposal for the first time. I am proud of the work I have developed, and I look
forward to seeing my new knowledge carry forth into future endeavors.