PROBLEM-SOLUTION ESSAY
1. Understanding problem-solution essay topics
2. Organizing your ideas
3. Writing Thesis Statement
4. Developing body paragraphs
5. Writing Conclusion
UNDERSTANDING PROBLEM-SOLUTION ESSAY TOPICS
Exercise: Read the essay questions below. Which one asks you to write an
opinion essay and which one is for problem-solution essay? The underlined
words may help you to reach your decision.
1. Many newspapers and magazines feature stories about the private lives of
famous people. We know what they eat, where they buy their clothes and who
they love. Is it appropriate for a magazine or newspaper to give this kind of
private information about people? What do you think? Write an essay about the
issue explaining your reasons. Opinion Essay
2. Overpopulation of urban areas has led to numerous problems. Identify one or
two serious ones and suggest ways that governments and individuals can tackle
these problems.
Problem-Solution Essay
3. Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to
more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable
ones, and thus putting off tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute".
Procrastination is very common in university students. Why is it a problem and
how can a student avoid procrastinating? Problem-Solution Essay
4. The first car appeared on Turkish roads in 1896. Now, there are more than 3
million registered vehicles in Istanbul and more than 17 million vehicles on
Turkish roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and
international laws introduced to control car ownership and use. To what extent
do you agree or disagree? Write an essay explaining your reasons. Opinion Essay
5. University students may have some problems with their roommates during
their stay in the dorm or their flat. What kind of problems may they have?
How can college students handle problems with roommates? Problem-Solution
Essay
6. Is freedom of speech necessary in a free society? What do you think? Write
an essay explaining your reasons. Opinion Essay
7. What kind of problems might arise when you have a long-distance
relationship with your girlfriend/boyfriend when you are in university? How
can these problems be solved? Problem-Solution Essay
8. The internet has transformed the way information is shared and consumed,
but it has also created problems that did not exist before. What are the most
serious problems associated with the internet and what solutions can you
suggest? Problem-Solution Essay
9. What are the negative effects of cheating in the university? How can
cheating in university be best handled? Problem-Solution Essay
10. Overpopulation of urban areas has led to numerous problems. Explain
the problems and suggest ways that governments and individuals can tackle
these problems.
Problem-Solution Essay
11. Recent figures show an increase in violent crime among youngsters
under the age of 18. Some psychologists claim that the basic reason for this
is that children these days are not getting the social and emotional learning
they need from parents and teachers. To what extend do you agree or
disagree with this option? Write an essay giving your reasons.
Opinion Essay
12. Nowadays many people have access to computers on a wide basis and a
large number of children play computer games. What are the negative
impacts of playing computer games and what can be done to minimize the
bad effects? Problem-Solution Essay
2. ORGANIZING YOUR IDEAS
STEP 1: Understand the essay topic and ask some questions.
Sample Essay topic: Overpopulation of urban areas has led to numerous
problems. Explain the problems and suggest ways that governments and
individuals can tackle these problems.
To explain the problem(Body paragraph #1), think about the
answers to these similar questions:
 What are the problems that overpopulation causes in cities?
 What are the consequences of overpopulation in cities?
 What happens when the cities are overpopulated?
 Why is it a problem?
STEP 2: GATHERING INFORMATION/BRAINSTORMING
Findanswers to your questionsin Step 1 andwrite as many ideas as you can in yourchart.
BODY PARAGRAPH #1 (EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM)
greater poverty
Automobile
exhaust
air pollution
Problems in public
transportation
difficult to
provide
services for all
people
Crowded buses,
trains, metro
Overpopulation
in cities
large volumes of
uncollected waste
significant impact
on human health
the loss of habitat and
food sources
STEP 3: CLASSIFYING IDEAS for describing the PROBLEM (BODY PAR. #1)
Now, classify your ideas under more general topics. This will help you decide which ideas
can be supporting ideas and which ideas can be used for justifications (examples,
explanations) in your body paragraph #1 .
Find at least 2 different ideas. (There are 3 different ideas below.)
BODY PARAGRAPH 1:
People’s health(1st
supporting idea)
 Air pollution(automobile
exhaust, houses, factories)
Ex: Lung/respiratory diseases
 large volumes of
uncollected waste
Ex: infectious diseases
 stress, depression
Overpopulation in
cities
Problems in public
services(2nd supporting
idea)
 Uncollected waste
 crowded buses, metro
 heavy traffic
Environmental
problems(3rd
sup.idea-optional)
 the loss of
habitat for
animals
 loss of food
sources
 Loss of forests
2. ORGANIZING YOUR IDEAS
STEP 4:Now, it is time to think about the second part of the
essay topic.(Body paragraph #2)
Sample Essay topic: Overpopulation of urban areas has led to
numerous problems. Explain the problems and suggest ways that
governments and individuals can tackle these problems.
To suggest solutions(Body paragraph #2), think about the
answers to these similar questions:
 What are the solutions?/How can this problem be solved?
 What can governments do to get rid of these problems?
 What should individuals/citizens/people do to solve them?
 How can we overcome these problems?
STEP 5: FINDING SOLUTIONS
Now lookback at theproblemsoneby oneand createsolutionsfor each.
(BODY PARAGRAPH #1)
People’s health
 Air pollution(automobile exhaust,
houses, factories)
Ex: Lung/respiratory diseases
 large volumes of uncollected waste
Ex: infectious diseases
 stress, depression
Problems in public services
 Uncollected waste
 crowded buses, metro
 heavy traffic
(BODY PARAGRAPH #2)
 reducing air pollution by upgrading
energy use and alternative transport
systems
 providing free health care for the
citizens
 providing free psychological
counselling for the citizens
 More investment on public
transportation
 More trains, longer metro lines,
less cars in traffic
 Motivating people not to waste
food and to recycle
Now that you have decided the content of body paragraphs, you
are ready to start writing your essay.
REMEMBER the paragraph plan of problem-solution essay:
Paragraph 1: Introduction
General Statements
Thesis Statement
Paragraph 2: Description of the problem (Body p.#1)
Paragraph 3: Solution to the problem (Body #2)
Paragraph 4: Conclusion
3. WRITING THESIS STATEMENTS
3. WRITING THE THESIS STATEMENT
Thesis statement in Problem-Solution essay should have two parts:
Part 1: Expressing the general problem
Part 2: hint about the solution
expressing the general problem
Overpopulation
urban areas has led to numerous problems. However,
expressing
theofproblem
there are still several things that governments and individuals can do in
order to overcome these problems.
hint about the solution
Exercise1: Write a thesis statementfor the givenproblem-solution essay
topics.
Example:
Topic 1: During the last weeks of the academic year, there is a
decrease in students’ motivation. What are the reasons for this
problem and how can it be solved?
expressing the general problem
Thesis statement:
University students may lose their interest in the lessons at the end
of the year, yet there are many things that can done to prevent this.
hint about the solution
Write 2 alternative thesis statements:
University students usually feel demotivated in their studies towards the end of
the year. However, we can still do many things to solve this problem.
There is always a loss of concentration and motivation among university
students at the end of the semestre, but this can still be prevented by taking
some specific steps.
Topic 2: Many people start smoking at an early age and
endanger their lives. What are the reasons for this problem and
what are the measures that can be taken?
Write 3 alternative thesis statements.
Thesis Statement 1:
The number of young people who start smoking increases day by day. However,
there are many ways to dissuade them from smoking.
Thesis Statement 2:
Many people start smoking as teens. However, we can take some measures
to prevent this from happening.
Thesis Statement 3:
Many young people endanger their lives by starting smoking at an early age;
yet there are many ways to solve this problem.
Topic 3: Many university students have difficulty in managing their
money while they are studying at university away from their family.
What kind of problems do they have related to money? And what
should they do to solve these problems?
Write 3 alternative thesis statements.
Thesis statement 1:
It is difficult for university students to manage their money on their own but
there are many ways to solve this problem.
Thesis statement 2:
University students have many problems about managing their money while
they’re studying at university away from their family. However, these
problems can be solved in many ways.
Thesis Statement 3:
University students may go through many problems because they do not
know how to manage their money, yet they can cope with this problem in
many ways.
Topic 4: University students may have some problems with their roommates
during their stay in the dorm or their flat. What kind of problems may they
have? How can college students handle problems with roommates?
Write 2 alternative thesis statements:
University students may have some problems with their
Thesis statement 1: roommates, but they can solve these problems in many
ways.
Thesis statement 2: Sometimes, university students cannot get on well with
their roommates in the dorm or in their flat; however,
there are potential ways to solve these problems.
4. DEVELOPING BODY PARAGRAPHS
Developing the body paragraph #1 (describing the problem)
Sample essay topic: Overpopulation of urban areas has led to
numerous problems. Explain the problems and suggest ways that
governments and individuals can tackle these problems.
Topic sentence for Body Paragraph#1:
There are many problems associated with overpopulation in
cities.
Write alternative topic sentences:
Overpopulation causes lots of problems in big cities.
Overpopulation leads to several problems in big cities.
Big cities are negatively affected by the overpopulation.
There are several problems in big cities caused by
overpopulation.
Developing the body paragraph #1 (describing the problem)
People’s health(1st
supporting idea)
 Air pollution(automobile
exhaust, houses,
factories)
Ex: Lung/respiratory diseases
 large volumes of
uncollected waste
Ex: infectious diseases
 stress, depression
Overpopulation in
cities
Problems in public
services(2nd supporting
idea)
 Uncollected waste
 crowded buses, metro
 heavy traffic
Overpopulation causes lots of problems in big cities.(TOPIC SENTENCE) First
problem is that it negatively affects people’s health. (1st supporting idea) Air
pollution caused by car exhaust, factories and houses makes it very difficult to
breath and it also leads to respiratory diseases among people. Moreoever,
people suffer from stress and depression in overpopulated cities since they face
with lots of problems during their daily lives. Secondly, there are lots of
problems in public services.(2nd supporting idea) For instance, the waste of the
city cannot be collected and the streets can be full of garbage, which is a bad
scene for the citizens. Furthermore, buses and trains are always crowded and
people lose a lot of time while travelling.
Developing the body paragraph #2(providing solutions)
Sample essay topic: Overpopulation of urban areas has led to
numerous problems. Explain the problems and suggest ways that
governments and individuals can tackle these problems.
Topic sentence for Body Paragraph#2:
However, there are many ways to solve these problems.
Write alternative topic sentences:
Despite these problems, there are some solutions to
overcome the negative effects of overpopulation.
However, in order to solve these problems, the governments
and individuals can do lots of things.
Solving these problems will not be easy but there are some
measures that can be taken.
Developing the body paragraph #2(providing solutions)
Problems about people’s health
 reducing air pollution by
upgrading energy use and
alternative transport systems
 providing free health care for
the citizens
 providing free psychological
counselling for the citizens
Problems in public services
 More investment on public
transportation
 More trains, longer metro lines,
less cars in traffic
 Motivating people not to waste
food and to recycle
Despite these problems, there are some solutions to overcome the
negative effects of overpopulation.(TOPIC SENTENCE) First solution is that the
government should take actions about reducing the air pollution. They can do
this by motivating people not to use their cars and by investing on the public
transportation systems more. Besides, the factories should be punished if their
emissions exceed the limits. Another solution is that the government should
provide free health care for those who have respiratory diseases and give free
psychological counselling for all the citizens. In this way, people can cope with
the stress of living in an overpopulated city. Last solution is that the local
authorities should motivate people not to waste food. For example, they can
organize campaigns and seminars about recycling.
5. Writing Conclusion
In conclusion paragraph, you should return to the thesis
statement, restate it and express your final thoughts and
recommendations.
Here are two strategies:
1. Add a final observation about how people view the problem.
2. Make a ‘call for action’ that asks people to do something to help
solve the problem.
Exercise: Re-state the thesis statements below, add an observation and a call
for action.
Thesis statement: University students usually feel demotivated in
their studies towards the end of the year. However, we can still do
many things to solve this problem.
Restated thesis statement:
In conclusion, there are many ways to increase the motivation of
university students, even at the end of the year.
Observation:
Students might be exhausted or bored with all the homework, quizzes,
exams and lectures. They may even stop coming to the school.
Call for action:
However, they need to continue their studies till the end. They should
know that if they are a bit patient, keep completing their assignments
and attend the classes regularly, they will get good results and won’t
regret.
Thesis Statement: Overpopulation of urban areas has led to numerous
problems. However, there are still several things that governments and
individuals can do in order to overcome these problems.
Restated thesis statement:
Although there are several negative effects of overpopulation in big
cities, overcoming these problems is possible.
Observation:
Due to these problems, people living in overpopulated cities suffer
from health problems and they face many challenges during their daily
lives.
Call for action:
However, governments, local authorities and individuals should take
responsibility and minimize these problems for a better future.