The Assignment: Proposing a Solution
In this essay you’ll first carefully analyze and explain a specific social, economic, political, civic, or environmental problem — a problem you care about and strongly wish to see resolved. The problem may be large or small, but it shouldn’t be trivial. It may affect the whole country or mainly people from your city, campus, or classroom. Show your readers that this problem really exists and that it matters to you and to them. After setting it forth, you also may want to explain why it exists. Write for an audience who, once aware of the problem, may be expected to help do something about it.
The second thing you are to accomplish in the essay is to propose one or more ways to solve the problem or at least alleviate it. In making a proposal, you urge action by using words like should, ought, and must: “This city ought to have a Bureau of Missing Persons”; “Small private aircraft should be banned from flying close to a major commercial airport.” Lay out the reasons why your proposal deserves to be implemented; supply evidence that your solution is reasonable and can work. Remember that your purpose is to convince readers that something should be done about the problem.
These students cogently argued for action in their papers:
Based on research studies and statistics, one student argued that using standardized test scores from the SAT or the ACT as criteria for college admissions is a problem because it favors aggressive students from affluent families. His proposal was to abolish this use of the scores.
Another argued that speeders racing past an elementary school might be slowed by a combination of more warning signs, surveillance equipment, police patrols, and fines.
A third argued that cities should consider constructing public buildings with “living walls” in order to reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, and allow for urban agriculture.
Facing the Challenge Proposing a Solution
The major challenge writers face when writing a proposal is to develop a detailed and convincing solution. Finding solutions is much harder than finding problems. Convincing readers that you have found a reasonable, workable solution is harder still. For example, suppose you propose the combination of a rigorous exercise program and a low-carb diet as a solution for obesity. While these solutions seem reasonable and workable to you, readers who have lost weight and then gained it back might point out that their main problem is not losing weight but maintaining weight loss over time. To account for their concerns and enhance your credibility, you might revise your solution to focus on realistic long-term goals and strategies for sticking to an exercise program. For instance, you might recommend that friends walk together two or three times a week or that employees lobby for a fitness center at work.
To develop a realistic solution that fully addresses a problem and satisfies the concerns of readers, consider questions such as these:
- How might the problem affect different groups of people?
- What range of concerns are your readers likely to have?
- What realistic solution addresses the concerns of readers about all aspects of the problem?