This document provides an agenda and guidance for an essay assignment. It discusses describing the problem, outlining the solution and thesis, counterarguments, and alternative solutions. It also covers introductions, conclusions, and self-assessment. Guidance is given on developing paragraphs on the problem description, solution, implementation steps, counterarguments, and alternative solutions. Sample outlines are provided. Tips are included on writing introductions, conclusions, and using sources in the essay.

1. Class 20
EWRT 1A

2. +
AGENDA
Change Teams 3
Review: Essay #4:
Describing the problem
The solution: the thesis
Outlining the plan
Counterargument
Alternative Solutions
NEW:
Introductions
Conclusions
Self-Assessment

3. +NEW TEAMS TODAY!
Here comes your footer 
Page 3

4. +
 A revised and developed description of your problem: two to four
good paragraphs.
 Its seriousness
 Its causes
 The consequences of failing to solve this problem
 A paragraph explaining why your solution would solve the
problem.
 A paragraph about why your solution is possible.
 A paragraph outlining the steps of implementation.
Review: The Problem

5. +
The Solution: The Thesis
 One or more sentences to serve as your tentative
thesis statement. In most essays proposing solutions
to problems, the thesis statement is a concise
announcement of the solution.
 Your thesis goes after a thorough explanation of the
problem.
 Your thesis might forecast your reasons for why your
solution will work.

6. +
Outlining The Plan: A Description of
the Proposed Solution
You should have a complete, working draft of
your proposed solution.
 It should explain why it would solve the
problem.
 It should show why or how your plan is
possible.
 It should include a list of steps for
implementing the solution

7. + Counterargument vs. Alternative Solution
 A Counterargument is a challenge to your particular solution.
You must address the argument to your solution by explaining
how or why your solution is the best one regardless of the
specific challenge. For example, if someone says your solution
is too expensive, you have to explain how you will fund it, or
you can explain why your solution should be applied in spite of
its cost.
 An Alternative Solution section takes a look at other solutions
people might consider. Then, you must explain how or why the
solution you are offering is the superior choice. For example, if
you suggest we alleviate parking problems at De Anza by
adding several rapid buses to the local routes, you might also
examine the alternative solution of building a parking structure.
At the end of your discussion of the alternative solution, you
must return to why the rapid buses are are the better solution.

8. + The Counterargument
 You anticipated objections for your homework. Now choose the two
or three most important ones to acknowledge, accommodate, or
refute in your essay. If you have written these out in paragraph
form, take this opportunity to revise them. If not, put them in
paragraph form now.
 Write down objection 1
 Acknowledge, accommodate, or refute the objection.
 Write down objection 2
 Acknowledge, accommodate, or refute the objection.
 And so on.

9. +
Consideration of alternative
solutions and their disadvantages
 You identified alternative solutions for your homework. Now choose those
you will discuss in your essay. Write out each alternative solution and
discuss the disadvantages of it compared to your solution. If you have
written these out in paragraph form, take this opportunity to revise them.
 Write out alternative solution 1
 What are the disadvantages of this solution?
 Write out alternative solution 2
 What are the disadvantages of this solution?
 Write out alternative solution 3
 What are the disadvantages of this solution?

10. +
Putting it together: The Outline
 Your outline will of course reflect your own writing
situation. Once you have a working outline, you should
not hesitate to change it as necessary while drafting and
revising. For instance, you might find it more effective to
hold back on presenting your own solution until you have
discussed alternative but unacceptable solutions. Or you
might find a better way to order the reasons for adopting
your proposal. The purpose of an outline is to identify the
basic features of your proposal and to help you organize
them effectively, not to lock you into a particular structure.

11. +With your purpose and goals in mind,
organize an outline that includes the
following:
1. a clear statement of the problem (A complete discussion
of the problem goes before your thesis statement).
2. your thesis statement, announcing the proposed solution
and forecasting your reasons for it
3. your argument for the solution, giving reasons and support
4. anticipation of counterarguments and a response to
objections readers might have about the proposed solution
5. your evaluation of alternative solutions

12. +Here is a possible outline for a proposal. Yours may differ in
order, but it should include all of these parts:
I. Presentation of the problem (This is likely multiple paragraphs).
A. Its existence
B. Its seriousness
C. Its causes
D. Consequences of failing to solve the problem
II. Description of the proposed solution (Your thesis)
III. Reasons and support for the solution ( This is likely multiple
paragraphs).
IV. List of steps for implementing the solution
V. Counterargument
A. Acknowledgment of objections
B. Accommodation or refutation of objections
VI. Consideration of alternative solutions and their disadvantages.
VII.Conclusion
A. Restatement of the proposed solution and its advantages
B. A warning about the failure to solve the problem
C. A call to action

13. NEW! Introductions are Important

14. +
Writing the Opening Sentences
You should try out one or two different
ways of beginning your essay. You
might want to review your invention
writing to see if you have already
written something that would work to
launch your essay. The next slides will
introduce some options to you.

15. +To engage your readers’ interest from the start, consider
the following opening strategies:
a scenario like O’Malley uses
It’s late at night. The final’s tomorrow. You
got a C on the midterm, so this one will make
or break you. Will it be like the midterm? Did
you study enough? Did you study the right
things? It’s too late to drop the course. So
what happens if you fail? No time to worry
about that now—you’ve got a ton of notes to
go over.

16. +
Or, you can consider using statistics
like Kornbluh does:
Today fully 70 percent of families with children are
headed by two working parents or by an
unmarried working parent. The “traditional family”
of the breadwinner and homemaker has been
replaced by the “juggler family,” in which no one is
home full-time. Two parent families are working
10 more hours a week than in 1979 (Bernstein
and Kornbluh).

17. +
1. a historical analogy
2. a research study
3. a comparison to other places where the solution has been tried
successfully
4. a preview of the negative consequences if the problem goes
unsolved
5. criticism of an alternative solution
Or you can consider one of the
following opening strategies:

18. +Try two that might work now! Then
pick the best one!
 a scenario
 Using statistics
 a historical analogy
 a research study
 a comparison to other places where the solution
has been tried successfully
 a preview of the negative consequences if the
problem goes unsolved
 criticism of an alternative solution

19. +
NEW:
Endings are
Important too!

20. +End by summarizing your solution and its
advantages, as O’Malley does.
 From the evidence and from my talks with professors and students, I see
frequent, brief in-class exams as the only way to improve students’ study
habits and learning, reduce their anxiety and procrastination, and
increase their satisfaction with college. These exams are not a panacea,
but only more parking spaces and a winning football team would do as
much to improve college life. Professors can’t do much about parking or
football, but they can give more frequent exams. Campus administrators
should get behind this effort, and professors should get together to
consider giving exams more frequently. It would make a difference.

21. +Remind readers of something special about the
problem or solution at the end, as Kornbluh does
when she urges that an award be given to the
companies that lead the way.
 Public Education: Critical to the success of the proposal will be public
education along the lines of the education that the government and
business schools conducted in the 1980s about the need for American
business to adopt higher quality standards to compete against
Japanese business. A Malcolm Baldridge–like award4 should be
created for companies that make flexibility win-win. A public education
campaign conducted by the Department of Labor should encourage
small businesses to adopt best practices of win-win flexibility. Tax
credits could be used in the first year to reward early adopters.

22. + Or, try one of these
endings
End with a scenario suggesting the
consequences of a failure to solve
the problem.
End with an inspiring call to
action.

23. +
Try writing two endings! Then choose the
best one or combine them!
1. End by summarizing your solution and
its advantages.
2. Remind readers of something special
about the problem or solution at the end
3. End with a scenario suggesting the
consequences of a failure to solve the
problem.
4. End with an inspiring call to action.

24. +
Review:
Using your library research

25. +
Using Sources
Statistics can be helpful in establishing that the problem exists and
is serious. For example, Patrick O’Malley cites research to
support his assertion that students prefer frequent exams to
fewer high-stakes exams: “A Harvard study notes students’
‘strong preference for frequent evaluation in a course’ ” (par. 4).
But his argument would have been stronger and possibly more
convincing if he had cited statistics to support the study’s
conclusion. All of the other writers in this chapter cite statistics in
their proposals. Let us look at some of the ways Karen Kornbluh
uses statistics to define the problem.
Today fully 70 percent of families with children are headed
by two working parents or by an unmarried working parent.
The “traditional family” of the breadwinner and homemaker
has been replaced by the “juggler family,” in which no one
is home fulltime. (par. 1)

26. Kornbluh also compares different time periods to show that the
problem has worsened over the last thirty years. Here are several
examples from paragraph 7. Note that Kornbluh presents statistics
in three different ways: percentages, numbers, and proportion.
Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage of mothers in
the workforce rose from 38 to 67 percent (Smolensky
and Gootman). Moreover, the number of hours worked
by dual-income families has increased dramatically.
Couples with children worked a full 60 hours a week in
1979. By 2000 they were working 70 hours a week
(Bernstein and Kornbluh). And more parents than ever
are working long hours. In 2000, nearly 1 out of every 8
couples with children was putting in 100 hours a week
or more on the job, compared to only 1 out of 12
families in 1970 (Jacobs and Gerson).

27. For statistics to be persuasive, they must be from sources that
readers consider reliable. Researchers’ trustworthiness, in turn,
depends on their credentials as experts in the field they are
investigating and also on the degree to which they are disinterested,
or free from bias.
Kornbluh provides a Works Cited list of sources that readers
can follow up on to check whether the sources are indeed reliable.
The fact that some of her sources are books published by major
publishers (Harvard University Press and Basic Books, for example)
helps establish their credibility. Other sources she cites are research
institutes (such as New America Foundation, Economic Policy
Institute, and Families and Work Institute) that readers can easily
check out. Another factor that adds to the appearance of reliability is
that Kornbluh cites statistics from a range of sources instead of
relying on only one or two. Moreover, the statistics are current and
clearly relevant to her argument.

28. +
Ask Yourself:
Are my sources reliable?
Do they support my assertions
with facts, statistics, or credible
opinions?
Do I need more support?
Where will I find it?

29. +
The blogging post points (150) require self-
assessment. Consider three aspects of your
responses: First, how many of the posts did you
make? Second, what was the quality of your
response? Third, how timely were your
submissions? Write a paragraph justifying your
grade. Submit your self-assessment via
Kaizena as soon as you finish today’s post;
you must send it before our final meeting. The
formula is on the next slide.
Self-Assessment

30. +Here is the Math!
See the Assignment Sheet for More Details
 Your final grade will be figured this way: 150/26 =5.77 points per post minus 2.88
points for each late post (48 hours after the due time. There are no points awarded for
posts more than 48 hours late). Then, multiply the total times the average grade
percentage for the quality of your work.
 Example
 Posts completed: 25 x 5.77 points = 144.25 points
 Late posts: 4 x 2.88 =11.52
 Subtract the smaller from the larger: 144.25 – 11.52= 132.73
 Quality of posts: A or 95% (Quality only exceeds 95% if you have positive comments
from me.)
 Multiply the total times the quality: 132.73 x.95=126.09 or 126/150 points.

31. +
HOMEWORK
 Finish the introductions and
conclusions we wrote today in class,
and then add them to your draft.
 Read your essay aloud to make sure
it is in a logical order. Change the
order of your paragraphs if that makes
sense to you. Remember, the problem
is introduced before the thesis!
 Post #26: Your revised introduction
and conclusion
 Self-Assessment: Due via Kaizena
before our final meeting