English 101
Essay #3: Problem and Solution
100 points
Schedule and due dates
Thu 11/5: Due: Seminar paper due on “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift.
Fri 5/15: Due: Read Trimble, Chapter 7, “Readability.”
Mon 11/9: Due: seminar paper due on “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr.
Tue 11/10: Due: Worksheet for Essay #3
Thu 11/12: Due: Read Trimble, Chapter 10, “Dramatizing your ideas.”
Fri 11/13: Due: Essay #3 due in Workshop groups. Bring 3 copies.
Tue 11/17: Due: Essay #3
Format: Typed and double-spaced, in MLA format like our previous essays. Due in class at the
beginning of class. Your essay folder must include all of the following, in this order, from top to
bottom:
1. The revised, finished essay.
2. The version you brought to class on 11/13. The exact copy or copies!
There should be written notes all over it/them from the class discussion
on that day.
3. The Worksheet which was submitted on 11/10.
Length: Approximately 3 ½ - 4 pages, or about 1000-1300 words.
The topic: For this essay, you will propose a solution to a problem that affects a community or
group that you are a part of. Make this a small and specific community, a community that you are
actually a member of: a family, a basketball team, a writing group, a band, a group of co-workers,
consumers of a certain product, people who all go to a certain nightclub, etc. We discuss further
in class the many possibilities for communities and problems to write about.
Form: This essay can take whatever form would be appropriate and effective for communicating
with this particular group of people: an article in a newsletter, a posting in an e-mail newsgroup,
an office memo, a letter to the editor, a letter posted on the refrigerator, a blog entry, etc. Of
course, it’s going to be a little longer than most letters posted on refrigerators, but that’s ok.
Voice and audience: Address your essay specifically to your exact audience. Say what you
would say to them, using the kinds of words and sentences that would best appeal to them. You
will probably need to address them as “you.” Remember that you want to persuade them that
your solution is a good one, so appeal to their specific concerns and interests. Remember that
even though you may be criticizing something about them or their behavior, if they are to accept
your solution, you cannot offend them or accuse them. Write your piece in a way you think they
will welcome and accept.
Structure: You will need to include five basic elements in this essay, as follows:
1. Introducing the problem: You need to convince your readers that the problem you are
discussing is indeed a problem. Explain what the problem is, what may have caused it, and
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why it matters. Your audience needs to care about the problem before it can consider your
proposed solution.
2. Establishing credibility: Your piece needs to establish your credibility as a writer and
problem-solver. It does this throughout, by means of your tone, your presentation of the
information, your recognition of opposing ideas, your connection with and understanding of
the problem, and your ability to understand all sides. It might also do it specifically, early on
in the essay, saying something about your qualifications as a solver of this problem—your past
experience, your expertise, etc.
3. Presenting the solution: State your idea for a solution to your problem. The length of this
part of the essay, the description and development of the solution, will vary depending on the
subject matter. Your solution may be a fairly simple suggestion or may consist of a series of
steps.
4. Arguing for the proposed solution: You will need to convince your readers that your
solution is reasonable and will be effective. You can use personal experience, observation,
hypothetical scenarios, examples, and/or speculations to support your proposal. You may talk
with and interview people in the community. You will not be doing library or internet
research, and you will not need to supply statistics or data. Make sure you have chosen a
topic that will provide you with vivid examples from your own observation and
experience. Arguing for the proposed solution will probably take up the most of your essay.
5. Counterarguing readers' objections, questions; counterarguing their preferred
solutions: Consider the objections or questions your audience may have, and recognize that
they may have other ideas about how to solve the problem. In your essay, show that you
understand what the objections are, and meet those objections, showing why your proposed
solution is reasonable. You can address these counterarguments point by point as the essay
goes along, or all in a clump at once; you’ll have to use your judgment about which style of
organization will best reach your audience.
Grading: 100 points total
Basic MLA format; portfolio is complete and in order (5 points): The essay follows the
required MLA format for header, title, spacing, paragraphing, etc. It contains the final revision,
the version you brought to the writing group, and the worksheet, as well as any other notes and
drafts.
Opening and ending (9 points): The opening (including the title) is vivid and engaging, and
helps a reader focus on the idea. The ending helps a reader know what to make of the idea and
provides a satisfying sense of closure, a feeling that the significance of the idea has been
explored.
Main idea (12 points): The piece is clear about what the problem is and what the proposed
solution is.
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Example and evidence (20 points): The piece supports its point with plenty of detail and vivid
example, giving plenty of information, explaining background where necessary, following clear
logic, and addressing counterarguments where necessary.
Audience (10 points): The piece speaks is shaped for and directed to a specific and clearly
defined audience. It anticipates the responses of the audience. It speaks in a way that that
audience will understand and accept.
Organization (15 points): The piece includes all the required elements, is easy to follow, and is
organized sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph (use PIE!) to emphasize the main
points.
Style and voice (9 points): The writing is efficient, so that every word counts. Verbs are vivid
and active, clichés are avoided, the thinking is original, and the writing conveys the sense that
there’s a writer behind the work, an actual person with unique and worthwhile perspectives.
Grammar and proofreading (20 points): The essay is free of distracting errors in grammar, and
it has been carefully proofread.
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