1. PROBLEM
SOLUTION
ESSAY
(#4)
EWRT
1A
The Writing Assignment Essay #4: Proposing a Solution: Essay (4-6 pages) 200 points
Assignment: Write an essay from four to six pages in length, that addresses the topic
below. Use a minimum of three credible sources to support your argument.
Prompt: Write an essay proposing a solution to a well-defined problem faced by a
community or group to which you may belong. Alternatively, you may address a well-
defined problem faced by one of the districts or communities in The Hunger Games.
Address your proposal to your audience: one or more members of the group, its
leadership, or to outsiders who may be able to contribute to solving the problem.
Student Learning Objectives
• Devise creative solutions to a problem
• Evaluate a range of possible solutions
• Learn about contemporary problems
• Engage in reasoned argument
• Convince readers of a problem’s significance before proposing actions
• Define a problem concisely and effectively
• Analyze audiences to anticipate likely questions and alternative, preferred solutions
• Refute, accommodate, or acknowledge possible objections to the proposed solution
• Read texts analytically
• Reflect metacognitively on what they have learned
Basic Features of a Problem/Solution Essay
A Well-Defined Problem
Defining your problem for your readers requires you to do the following:
- establish a context for the problem (historical/current)
- specifically define the problem
- explain how it works (i.e. that it exists)
- describe the problem’s importance (i.e. that it needs solving)
- use key words to label the problem
A clearly described solution and a convincing argument in support of the proposed
solution require you to do the following:
- establish the target audience for your solution
- explain how the solution will work
- show the extent of its impact (benefits)
- show that it is feasible
An anticipation of readers’ objections and questions requires you to do the following:
-answer readers’ questions to your solution
- acknowledge readers’ objections
- concede your solution’s shortcomings

2. PROBLEM
SOLUTION
ESSAY
(#4)
EWRT
1A
An evaluation of alternative solutions requires you to do the following:
- acknowledge alternate solutions
- refute most
- concede the alternative’s advantages
- work the alternative’s advantages into your solution
Conclude by:
- summarizing your solution
- reminding readers of its advantages
- calling readers to action by reminding them of benefits and noting the
consequences of inaction
Hints: - present the opposing ideas in an unbiased way, at least initially
- be sure to establish your ethos and use emotional appeals where appropriate
- be sure to use appropriate rhetorical strategies to help convince your audience
of your solution.
- use transitions to guide the reader through the stages and contrasts in the essay
For additional information and help on this assignment, please see the SMG chapters
“Proposing Solutions”