Additional Writing Assignments

1. If you followed the assignment in Chapter 9 and took a stand, now write a few paragraphs extending that paper to propose a solution that argues for action. To gather ideas, brainstorm with classmates first.

2. Brainstorm with classmates to develop a list of campus problems that irritate students or complicate their lives. Write an essay that tackles one of these problems by explaining it and proposing a practical, workable solution. (If you can’t identify a workable solution, select a different problem.) Address an audience on your campus or in your college system that could implement a solution. Present your ideas tactfully. After all, they may also be the ones responsible for creating or at least not solving the problem earlier. (If appropriate, investigate any campus history that might help you overcome resistance based on tradition.)

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3. Write a memo to your supervisor at work in which you propose an innovation (related to procedures, schedules, policies, or similar matters) that could benefit your department or company.

4. As part of a problem–solution blog or thread for your class, post a concise passage identifying and explaining a problem. (Your instructor may limit the problems to relevant issues.) Then post a second passage identifying and explaining a solution to the problem you identified. Respond to each other’s problem–solution statements with questions, comments, or suggestions to develop a focused exchange about the class proposals.

5. Source Assignment. Choose from the following list a practice that you find inefficient, unethical, or unfair as a solution to a problem. In a few paragraphs, give reasons for your objections. Then narrow the issue as needed to propose a better solution in a persuasive essay. Locate, use, and cite some statistics or other data to help raise readers’ awareness.

   Corporate censorship of online reviews	Genetic engineering
   Goods made with child labor	Outsourcing jobs
   Laboratory experiments on animals	Dumping wastes in the ocean

6. Visual Assignment. Select one of the following images. Write an essay that analyzes the problem that it identifies, noting how elements of the image draw the viewer into the problem. Include any solution suggested or implied by the image or your own solution to the problem.

   

   Sid Hastings/Corbis.

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   Ángel Navarrete/Bloomberg/Getty Images.
   

   AP Images/The Brownsville Herald/Brad Doherty.