Requirements Topic: strong topics will demonstrate your expertise in a subject o

Requirements
Topic: strong topics will demonstrate your expertise in a subject other people are likely to want to learn about—explaining both WHY to do something and HOW. Not sure you are an expert at anything? Make a list of the top five things you spend most of your time doing—then pick one. Aim to create a presentation you’d be proud to post on Portfolium. Ideally, it will display knowledge and skill sets important to potential employers. Avoid topics developed for another class, overly broad issues, or a subject with which you have no in-depth experience. Since this is a short presentation, you may need to cover only a limited aspect of a larger concept, but it should be able to stand on its own without additional explanation.
Target audience: identify your intended viewers for the presentation. Explain WHO would find your topic useful. Describe your audience, considering demographic information such as age, gender, education level, language, nationality and other influential characteristics. Your audience should be specific enough that you can tailor your information to their needs, but wide enough that you could expect to attract a fair number of viewers. Having a specific audience in mind will help you provide the details necessary to create an engaging, rich presentation. Think about the kinds of questions they might ask and how you can make your presentation valuable to them.
Structure and organization: create a logical flow of information with clear sections and smooth transitions. Strategically use key terms from the assignment instructions to help guide readers.
Introduction: briefly describe 3 important elements 1) the purpose of writing the proposal—helping your English 205 group understand your vision for the presentation, 2) your proposed topic for the group presentation, and 3) the type of people you envision as the intended audience for the presentation.
Qualifications: emphasize your accomplishments and expertise with the topic. Include numbers to quantify the support your claims as you would for a resume entry.
Research: cite and annotate 3 sources that will enhance the content of the presentation. All sources must be reliable and substantive—minimum 1 scholarly, peer reviewed source. Include a full citation (either MLA or APA style), summary, and evaluation for each source. The last part of this document provides detailed instructions of how to annotate your sources; follow the same format used in the example.
Conclusion: persuade your group to choose your topic for the presentation. Stress the major benefits of your proposed topic and take this opportunity to explain to your classmates how they could contribute to the presentation. Finally, ask for acceptance and offer to answer questions.
Design: create a professional looking document with a reader friendly approach. Since this is an internal proposal (it is being sent to people within our organization—this class), use memo format Links to an external site.. Strategically include elements like headings, bolding, white space, and bullets—keep it uncluttered and remain consistent.
Editing and proofreading: demonstrate a clear and concise writing style with a professional and persuasive tone. Eliminate run-on sentences and inappropriate sentence fragments. Edit unnecessary words. Demonstrate clear usage and strong word choice. Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Avoid sexist and stereotypical language.
Length: 2 – 3 pages of densely packed, high quality information. Eliminate all filler and do not repeat yourself. In business writing, you must scrutinize every word.
Instructions and Example for Annotating Supporting Sources
Provide 3 elements for each source:
The source’s bibliographic information (author, title, etc.) in correct and current MLA or APA citation style. For examples, visit The Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab, Links to an external site. The Oviatt Library, or A Brief Introduction to Easy Bib . Links to an external site.
A brief summary of the text—noting the most important conclusion(s). If the text is very long—like a book—only summarize the section(s) that relate to your topic.
A brief evaluative descriiption: Why is it credible? Is it scholarly? What sort of biases does it reflect? Is it timely? Do you need to have timely information for your topic? How will it help support your topic?
Example
Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, 5 Sept. 1999, www.nytimes.com/1999/09/05/magazine/the-singer-solution-to-world-poverty.html?mcubz=1 Links to an external site.. Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.
Summary: Singer’s text is a proposal that offers a solution to world poverty. This proposed solution argues that Americans with disposable income should donate money to organizations (such as Unicef or Oxfam America) that provide aid to people living in poverty overseas. The suggested donation amounts range from $200 to all but $30,000 of a household’s annual income. The author uses some statistics to support his claims, but relies largely on anecdotal evidence to persuade his audience to donate.
Evaluation: The article is credible. The author, Peter Singer, is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. It was published in the New York Times Magazine, which has a professional editorial board with strict guidelines that apply to both staff writers and outside contributors. It is not peer-reviewed, so while the author is a well-known scholar, it is not a scholarly source. The author displays biases toward a secular, utilitarian perspective. It is from 1999, so the figures do not match today’s costs. The text does not offer what I see as a long-term solution to poverty, or a broad range of options contributing to the cause, but I will use it as a radical example.