English 4510/6510
Grant & Proposal Writing

Syllabus    Schedule    Projects    Handouts

Session: Class Hours: Classroom:

Fall 2023 9:30-10:45 (Mondays) Online

Course Format
Online hybrid, which means we meet online only on Mondays.

My WebEx Room for Class Meetings
https://gsumeetings.webex.com/meet/bgu

Course Text 

1. Any book of your own choice on grant and proposal writing relevant to your final project

Textbook selection for this course might be a little unconventional to most of you. Unlike most courses where your instructor selects the textbook for you, for this course, you will select the main textbook for yourself. You may pick any recently published book on grant/proposal writing that you like (this book will be used for your book report project). Keep in mind, however, that there are many different types of grant and proposal writing, so you want to pick a book that directly deals with the particular type of writing you’ll be doing for the final project.

Course Goals
English 4510/6510 prepares you for a special type of writing: the writing/design of proposals, reports, grant applications, etc. As proposal writing becomes more of a required developmental or even survival means for businesses and organizations, a good understanding of and effective techniques in proposal writing are being more and more recognized as a necessity in workplace communication.

Within such a context, this course aims to provide you with an opportunity not only to practice different genres of proposal writing but, more importantly, to develop the rhetorical skills for analyzing key issues in proposal writing contexts and for designing effective proposals. More specifically, through class discussion and assignments, you will learn to

• analyze audience and purpose in rhetorical situations and make appropriate choices
• become more conscious of your processes for planning, drafting, revising, and editing your writing
• generate the type and amount of information required by a given rhetorical situation
• arrange material to elicit the intended audience’s response
• achieve an effective tone and voice for a given rhetorical situation
• make stylistic choices appropriate for a given rhetorical situation
• understand the generic requirements of various proposal types as well as the rhetorical situations that occasion such proposals
• understand and implement strategies for incorporating visuals in proposals
• understand how to present a proposal orally, using appropriate visuals

Attendance Policy
Blunt Version
Attendance is mandatory, whether it’s face to face or online. You are allowed a total of one excused absence. There’s no such thing as unexcused absences. For example, absence due to sickness will be considered excused if your explanation is accompanied by a written note from your doctor.Important: For any absence, you are required to notify me in writing, either in hard copy or through email, to provide a convincing explanation for the absence. Your explanation should be as persuasive as possible. Please make every effort to inform me before your absence.Be punctual. Tardiness affects not only yourself but also your group and the whole class. For this reason, every third tardiness will count as an absence. If you were late and missed my roll call, it’s your responsibility to check with me at the end of the class to make sure that you’re not marked as absent.You may NOT make up for missed quizzes or in-class assignments.

Reasoned Version
In a writing class, much of the work is done in class, whether it’s group work or class discussions. If you’re not there, you’re not contributing. In most cases, if you have a legitimate reason for your absence, you’ll be excused. To be fair, anytime you miss a class, you get an exciting writing opportunity to showcase your superior persuasive writing skills to explain and justify your absence.:

Bonuses and Penalties
Each additional excused absence beyond one will result in a penalty of 30 points (out of 1000). Each unexcused absence will cost you 50 points even if it’s your first absence. Every third tardiness counts as an absence. On the other hand, a perfect attendance will give you a bonus of 40 points.

0 absence: 1-2 tardiness: 1 absence: each additional absence: each unexcused absence:

+40 points +20 points 0 points -30 points -50 points

You’re expected to be punctual for every class. Tardiness affects not only yourself, but also your group and the whole class. For this reason, every second tardiness counts as an absence. If you were late and missed my roll call, it’s your responsibility to check with me at the end of the class to make sure that you are not marked as absent.

Four or more absences will result in a final grade of F regardless of how well you’ve done on the projects. You must NOT have any tardiness in order to get the full 40-point bonus.

Plagiarism
No plagiarism or any other forms of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this class. Any plagiarism, as defined by GSU’s Policy on Academic Honesty (available online at http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct_conpol.html), will result in a grade of F at least for the assignment (and most likely an F for the entire course at the instructor’s discretion). In addition, all university policies related to academic honesty apply.

Projects and Assignments
The course work consists of reading and writing assignments. The reading assignments are indicated in the course schedule. The writing assignments consist of the following:

1. The Policy Proposal (200 points)
2. “Junk Mail” (200 points)
3. The Final Project (600 points)

• Initial proposal (100 points)
• RFP analysis (100 points)
• Section drafts
• Grant proposal (400 points)

For a detailed description of these projects, please see the Projects page.

Important*
A passing grade for all the assignments is a prerequisite to, but not a guarantee for, passing the course. Observe the following rules closely:

• You must complete all the major assignments. If you miss any of the projects, you will automatically fail the class.
• Your reports and assignments should be presentable. If you hand in poorly proofread documents, they will be returned to you for correction before they are graded.
• If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out the assignments you missed. An unexcused absence will not get you off the hook for a tardy assignment.
• A Special Note: Submit your work on time. Late assignments are generally NOT accepted unless for extenuating circumstances. Work is considered late after class begins on the due date, unless noted otherwise. In cases where late work is accepted, there is a 10% grade reduction for each day your assignment is late.
• All projects must be submitted electronically via email unless you’re instructed otherwise.

For a detailed description of these projects, please see the Projects page.

Grade Conversion

A+ A: A-: B+: B: B- C+ C: C- D+ D: D- F:

970 and above 930-969 900-929 870-899 830-869 800-829 770-799 730-769 700-729 670-699 630-669 600-629 599 and below

 

Grading Policy
Since your final course grade will be based predominantly on writing assignments and the grading of writing cannot be reduced to simple quantitative measures, I will grade your writing on a holistic basis. Each assignment will have specific grading criteria, which I will explain in class. Generally, however, the three general criteria below will be applied to all the major assignments:

Purpose
How effectively does the document accomplish its intended task?

• Does it meet its goals and the demands of its context (both academic and organizational)? Does it solve a problem or address a significant organizational need? help people?
• Does it provide a sound argument in support if its claims?
• Does it meet readers’ needs and expectations? Improve relations between people?
• Does it provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?

Product
How well constructed is the document?

• Is the presentation of material orderly and coherent?
• Is design and formatting effective?
• Are the sentences grammatically correct?
• Does it use visuals effectively?
• Does it have a professional tone and style?

Production
How effectively was the document produced?

• Was the project well planned?
• Were research and invention well conducted?
• How did drafting, editing, proofreading go?
• Was collaboration successful?

The following is a general description of expectations for assignments for each grade:

A
Your project is of impeccable (or almost impeccable) quality in both content and format design, with no major weaknesses in any area. It provides adequate information that users need and effectively fulfills the intended purposes. Presentation is of professional quality. There’re few to no mechanical errors.

B
Your project is of high quality in most of the major areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes quite effectively. Presentation is quite professional. There’re only a few mechanical errors.

C
Your project is of reasonable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to a large extent, although major deficiencies are observable. Presentation is of semi-professional quality. There’re some mechanical errors, but not to the extent of seriously affecting readers’ comprehension.

D
Your project is of acceptable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to some extent, but major deficiencies exist in several areas. Presentation quality is acceptable but low. There’re quite some mechanical errors.

F
Your project is unacceptable in quality. It does not fulfill the user’s needs or your intended purposes. Major deficiencies are observed in most areas. Presentation quality is poor, and there’re too many mechanical errors.