Here is the overview of the chapter:
As we continue the initial stages of Writing in Action, you'll begin to dig deeper into the
issues/problems/opportunities you've identified during Module 4. Ultimately, you'll choose one
issue/problem/opportunity on which to focus. You'll read Chapter 2: "Analyzing Problems and
Opportunities" in Writing Proposals, which will help you clearly define the problem and begin to
develop a plan--which we'll focus on during Module 6.
Here is my answers for the issue/problem/opportunity:
There are some potential issues, problems, and opportunities in the USA. Some of the issues are
politically triggered. For instance: election integrity, social welfare, immigration, health care,
high cost of housing, student loan, and environment are indices that should attract financial
support from the national government to improve the wellbeing of people and eradicate
retrogressive aspects. The most sensitive are social welfare, healthcare, and student loan.
The aspect of healthcare should integrate educating the local people on the best lifestyle
standards in terms of what they consume, by providing the best healthcare facilities for everyone
to access with minimum delays. Obesity in America is a significant problem and affects over 70
million adults. There is a need for awareness to teach people about healthy living.
Social welfare is another sensitive aspect as it cuts across the safety and security of people at
workplaces, homes, and places of work. The high cost of housing has immensely increased
poverty. Lack of a proper shelter or no shelter at all is detrimental to one's health.
The last but not least aspect is the cost of student loans. Most people are enrolling in colleges to
secure their future; however, the rising cost of higher education leads to students taking a loan to
pay their fees. Eventually, it translates into a debt which the same people struggle to pay upon
completion of college. There should be a provision for these students to access loans but at a
low-interest rate.
In conclusion, the above aspects are the fundamental needs of human beings to survive. Without
this, the social status of people in the USA strongly requires government intervention and wellwishers to administer these equally essential needs. Most Americans are working very hard to
make ends meet. Every dollar counts in these households.
The following is the questions you need to answer.
(Basically you need to choose one of the issues/problems/opportunities I have discussion and
dig deeper into it by following the questions below)
Referring to page 19 in Writing Proposals, address the following questions to help define the
problem or opportunity:
1. Is there a problem?
2. What exactly is the problem?
3. How serious is the problem?
4. What kind of proposal would solve the problem?
Defining the Problem or Opportunity
19
When Lisa returned to her office, she did more research on Overture Designs,
its principal owners, its mission statement, and their architects' current and past
projects. Her research gave her the strong feeling that these people would not be
happy in some bland, cubicle-filled office in the suburbs. After talking over the
project with her boss, she decided to write the pre-proposal.
Most of Lisa's activities up to this point had been devoted to answering the
Five-W and How questions that will help her define the stasis of the current situa-
tion. Even though a typical RFP provides basic answers to most of the who, what,
where, and when questions, most proposal writers will research much further to gain
a better understanding of the factors and people involved. After all this research,
Lisa is just starting to answer the why and how questions: Why is this project out for
bid? What changed? How can we help Overture gns solve this problem? In this
chapter and future chapters, we will see how Lisa wrote a pre-proposal to bid for
the project at Overture Designs.
Defining the Problem or Opportunity
It is almost a cliché for consultants to say, “There are no problems, only opportuni-
ties.” And, in the eternally optimistic world of business-speak, that's probably
true—a problem is just an opportunity to improve. The word problem, though,
lends a sense of urgency and importance to a project. Moreover, “problem-
solving" or "working the problem" are positive, action-oriented ways to look at
the proposal-writing process. Proposals are problem-solving tools. This statement
is true whether you are pursuing a golden opportunity or proposing a way out of
a tricky situation.
The writing of a successful proposal begins with a clear understanding of the
underlying problem. So, before starting to write, you should first use the clues of-
fered by the client, the funding source, and your own research to start determin-
ing why the problem exists. When you put all those clues together, you will be
able to accurately define the stasis, or status, of the problem. To help you answer
the why question, you might try out another stasis tool from rhetoric. Answer the
following four stasis questions:
1. Is there a problem? (Fact)
2. What exactly is the problem? (Definition)
3. How serious is the problem? (Quality)
4. What kind of proposal would solve the problem? (Policy)
When you can answer each of these questions confidently in detail, you will have
a clearer notion about how to start the proposal-writing process.
Is There a Problem? (Fact)
This first question might seem a bit odd until you realize that sometimes the best
proposal is no proposal. At your office, for instance, business is going so well that
your boss is growing anxious. So, at the first sign of a dip in sales, your boss suggests
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