Like other types of problem-solving documents, essays define problems and offer solutions for readers who share a writer’s interest in an issue. What distinguishes essays from other problem-solving genres, however, is their tendency to offer a more reflective and comprehensive treatment of a problem. In addition to explaining a problem and offering a concrete solution, they are also likely to offer the writer’s personal insights into the problem, the situation out of which it emerges, and the reasons why the proposed solution is preferable to competing solutions. While writers of problem-solving essays typically do their best to define a problem and propose a solution as fairly as possible, they frequently allow their experiences with and attitudes toward the problem to influence both their presentation of the problem and their selection and presentation of information from sources, such as articles, Web sites, and interviews.

Readers of problem-solving essays might be part of a broad audience, such as subscribers to a general-interest magazine such as Time or Atlantic Monthly, or they might be part of a more narrowly defined group, such as community college administrators, parents of autistic children, small-town mayors, or members of a particular church. In academic settings, instructors are usually the primary readers, although students are often asked to address a different audience, such as fellow students, politicians, or the members of a particular community.