Problem Solving Essays

1.Describe the problem and tell why it is important to solve.

2. Explain your solution and why it will work.
3. Refute objections.
Problems are easy to see, but finding solutions is not as easy. To write an effective paper, you
need to spend some time preparing your ideas. This step-by-step guide leads you through the
process of getting your ideas ready to write. By the time you are finished with these exercises,
you will be able to easily write your paper much more quickly.

Try thinking about a way to inject humor to make your audience agree with you. | Source

5 Easy Steps to Choose the Best Problem to Solve

The biggest difficulty my students have in problem solution essays is choosing the right topic.
Often, the first problem they think of is either too small of a problem for a whole essay or too big
of a problem for them to solve in a short paper. Following the five steps below will guide you to
choose a topic problem that:

 Is something that is important to you.

 Is a problem you know a lot about.
 Is a problem you can create a reasonable solution for.

1: Brainstorm groups you belong to

The easiest problems to write about are ones you have experienced. If there is something that
bugs you, or if you've ever thought, "I have a better idea of how to do that!" you have a good
start. To find your topic, start by making a list of different groups or organizations you belong to.
Think about:
1. Where you live.
2. Hometown.
3. Activities, clubs, and hobbies you participate in.
4. School groups.
5. Sports groups.
6. Places you've worked.
7. Groups of people you may identify with, such as male/female, oldest/youngest child in a
family, ethnic background, tall/short etc.
8. Stereotypes: consider what group others might place you into and the stereotypes of that
group.

2. Think About Problems

Now take your list of groups and brainstorm different problems you see in these groups. The
problems might be caused by:

1. The organization of the group

2. The leadership
 3. Rules or procedures
4. Stereotypes about the group
5. Ideas in the group
6. People in the group
7. What the group wants to do vs. what they can do
Need more help? You can look through my topic list below. Remember that if you choose
something which is a persuasive topic, you will need to develop a solution to that problem.

3. Make a Question
1. From your list of possible problems, pick 3-4 that you are interested in writing on.
2. Turn each of your topic ideas into a question. Try to narrow your question.
Example, if you are interested in solving the problem of cheating, possible questions could be:
1. How can we solve cheating among college students?
2. How can we solve cheating in High School?
3. How can we solve cheating on standardized tests?
4. How can we solve cheating on homework?
5. How can we solve businesses cheating on their taxes?

4. Think of Solutions
For a full list of types of solutions, you can see the chart below. However, I've often found that
students already have an idea for a solution. If you do, you might want to jot it down as a place to
start. At this point, often it really helps to talk with a friend, a classmate or a family member about
your problem idea, and if you have one, your solution. They can often give you good feedback
and ideas.

In fact, the more people you talk to about your paper, the better. I encourage my students to talk
to lots of people about their idea, especially other people who would also know about the
problem. The best part? As you do that, you might even gather a group of people who might help
you implement your solution in real life!