Essay 3: Solution Proposal

Final Draft Due: Uploaded to Canvas by 11:59 p.m. on Tues., June 11, 2019,
Printed Working Draft due: Mon. June 3, 2019
100 points, weighted as 30% of course grade

Essay Overview: What will I gain from doing this assignment?

Purpose: Why write this proposal essay?

The most effective human beings are excellent problem solvers, but they weren’t born with those skills.

The skills you develop and hone on this essay will further prepare you to solve problems on the job and
in the classroom by using knowledge you have already developed to create something new—the
essence of growth and innovation. You’ll also be able to practice using appeals to convince an
audience, a skill that empowers disparate, sometimes even opposed, groups to create shared solutions.

With this essay, you’ll continue the work you started with Essay #2. The first step to solving a problem
is to identify it and its stakeholders, and then to convince people the issue is worth thinking about.
You’ve done that work already, and are ready to move on to the last two steps: Evaluating solutions
based on how well they address the problem, choosing the best one, or a combination of elements from
more than one, and then convincing others through argumentation that yours is the right plan.

Completing this assignment will also contribute to your flexibility as a writer by helping you practice
transforming writing and research you’ve already done in order to meet a new purpose.

Knowledge Outcomes: What will I know by the time I complete this proposal essay?

 How to build on previous research and meet a new purpose and context
 The relationship between proposal writing and problem-solving
 How writers use appeals to increase their persuasiveness and audience engagement
 How organization and structure affect clarity and audience receptiveness

Skills Outcomes: What abilities will I showcase in this proposal essay?

 Making a solution argument claim based on a researched understanding of a problem and sound
evaluation of multiple solutions
 Using reasons and evidence to support your thesis and argue for the proposed solution
 Thoroughly revising previously written content to fit criteria for a different type of writing
assignment
 Continuing to practice all stages of the writing process as a way to accomplish effective
communication
 Assignment: What am I being asked to write about?

Your task is to write an essay that proposes a solution to the problem that you identified in Essay #2.
You can adjust your problem, but you may not choose an entirely new problem without discussing it
with me and obtaining my written approval.

Just as with Essay #2, no matter how else you define the audience you’re writing toward, you must
consider it a resistant one, meaning people who will be skeptical of your ideas from the start.

Helpful questions to guide this inquiry: What problem needs to be solved? What should we do to
solve it? Who needs to help us solve it and how?

Essay Requirements: What do I need to do to make my essay successful?

Essays must meet the following requirements to be eligible to earn a passing grade. These requirements
represent the minimum work necessary to indicate a passing level of composition skills achieved,
skills you will develop or enhance as you compose this essay.

Required Length: Your essay must be a minimum of 1400 words, not including your Works Cited
page. This length will be the very least you’ll need to develop your ideas with sufficient detail for an
academic audience.

Required Content: Your essay needs to exhibit the following if you want it to be effective

 Reduced and heavily transformed elements drawn from your problem essay to identify the
problem being solved (this section should not take up more than a page of Essay #3, and should
NOT simply be copy-pasted from Essay #2.)
 An explicit claim identifying a preferred solution and a discussion and evaluation of others. The
preferred solution can be made of multiple elements, and they need not be exclusive.
 Logical reasons and detailed evidence to support the argument for the proposed solution,
including discussion of how it addresses major causes or effects of the problem you identify.
 Fair identification of and a balanced response to the positions of those who oppose your
solutions or who propose alternative solutions
 Appropriate tone, structure, and content meant to convince a skeptical audience

Required Sources: You will need to use at least three new sources. You are allowed to use some of
the same sources from Essay #2, but you will need to include some new ones to provide relevant
support for this new type of argument. As with Essay #2, you will be closely engaging with these
sources using quotes, summaries, or paraphrases, and you will use MLA documentation. This means
MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited at the end of the essay.

Required Format: Your essay and Works Cited page must be formatted according to MLA style,
which can be found on pages 436-441 of the textbook.

Required Method of Submission: You must submit this essay online through the class’s Canvas
page by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. If you cannot submit it through Canvas for any reason, email me an
attachment before the deadline, and then submit an identical copy to Canvas within 24 hours. Essays
must be submitted as a document file from a word-processing program, not a Google Docs link, an
image, or .pdf file.
NOTE: If you have any questions about format or citations, make sure to ask me, consult the textbook
or the OWL Purdue MLA website, visit the Writing Center, or do any combination of these things
BEFORE you submit your final essay to ensure you have not plagiarized.

Choosing Your Focus: Getting started on the exploration

This essay will use the same topic as Essay #2: The Problem Definition. However, if you find that you
have too many problems to solve or too many solutions to consider, you may need to adjust the scope
of your subject for this assignment. If you want to pick an entirely different topic, you must discuss it
with me and secure my written approval.

Resources: Where can I get assistance to improve my work?

If you would like assistance at any point in your writing process, from exploration to revision, make an
appointment to speak with me. My office hours are posted on Canvas and in the first page of the
syllabus, and I can be available outside of those hours if need be.

The writing center and other campus tutoring services can be very helpful. Just make sure you follow
the guidelines for tutoring outlined at the end of the syllabus to ensure you make the most of tutoring.

Also, be sure to:

 read all the coursework I assign, which is invaluable for the lessons it provides.
 refer to your notes from our in-class discussions and activities.
 review these instructions before, during, and after your writing to ensure you have followed the
requirements and other guidelines.