SOLUTIONS Rough Draft Writing

Working through the SOLUTIONS Rough Draft Assignment

 

A SOLUTIONS paper explains a relevant, current problem, explores possible causes, and argues for a solution. The topic you choose will be a particular problem—some specific situation that needs to be changed or a specific idea that needs to be rethought. Be wary of global problems like hunger, poverty, or racism. These problems are too large.  Focus on something more manageable. Focusing on a particular problem also sets the ground for a manageable solution. For example, solving financial difficulty for single-parent students is more manageable than solving poverty in general. Remember, the paper is a SOLUTIONS paper.  Therefore, you have to make sure that you can provide clear and specific solutions to remedy the issue.

Choosing a Topic

What is a current problem you notice in the world? It can be anything, but it must be something you are very familiar with, and it needs to have clear CAUSES so you can offer SOLUTIONS to remedy the issue.  For example:

• The influx of Americans in Florida after the pandemic (infrastructure is not in place for the surge)
• Out of state drivers should have to pass a Florida driving test within 60 days of moving into Florida (transferring a license from another state does not create safe driving conditions for Floridians)
• Unruly children are allowed in stores, but dogs are not allowed (often kids are nastier and meaner than dogs)
• Code Enforcement citations for grass length (less frequent mowing benefits the environment)
• Christians get too wrapped up in commercialism (distorts purpose in life and causes confusion for children during Easter and Christmas)
• Children are too easily cast off to daycare instead of family members (lack of family unity creates personal and community issues)
• Animals are not treated well before they become a food source for humans (free range simply means existing in a large, dirt pen in a barn with little light or ventilation)
• The government believes that energy derived from electricity is better than energy that comes directly from fossil fuels (Most electricity is made by burning fossil fuels—it is simply different, not better.)

Prewriting to Gather Ideas

Whatever issue you think about, spend plenty of time in your prewriting phase to get enough ideas for developing your outline.  I would suggest that you work through every question in the chapter for this week to do this (pages 377-386).

Create a Thesis Statement

You’ve worked through the prewriting and are ready to create a thesis (see page 383-384).  Writers sometimes seek out problems that are simply too big: hunger, racism, sexism, political deceit, and so on. But such giant problems have too many causes and too many forms. When this happens the paper’s thesis statement is too broad and there are too many solution steps to solve the issue. 

Writers are more apt to create a focused argument and offer an important insight if they take on a specific problem—one that can be located in a particular place and time. Before moving on, make certain that your problem is as narrow as possible.

A thesis for this paper should offer a specific strategy for addressing a specific problem. Thesis statements tend to go off track for a few reasons. Before committing to a thesis statement (to something that may impact everything hereafter!), see the “Common Thesis Problems” on page 254 in Chapter 8: Making Arguments.

Since this is a solutions paper, the thesis must clearly assert your solution to the issue.  Is there a solution to the issue?  Create a thesis statement that asserts this.

Create an Outline

A fully developed solution paper will:

By the time you create your outline, you should have a good grasp of what you can argue about so that the audience will find your solutions logical and reasonable. Be sure to have well-developed ideas so you can present the problem, analyze the causes, and identify the possible solutions.

 

Time for Research

You are required to have at least two credible resources to lend support to your ideas in the body paragraphs.  Remember, this is NOT a research paper.  Your ideas and insights are the driving force behind this paper.  The resources you locate will simply add strength to your viewpoint and help solidify the support for your solutions to the issue.

 

At this point, you will want to conduct research to see how to strengthen your body paragraph claims.  See the Credible Resources Handout in the Paper 4 folder in the Writing Help section.

 

Time for the Rough Draft

You have a clear thesis that asserts a problem and your proposed solution(s).  You created an outline to guide the content through the problem, causes, and solutions. You even found two credible resources to add a line or two of support for your ideas.  It is time to turn this into a rough draft.

 

Introduction (3-8 sentences)

·         Hook: grab the audience’s attention with a captivating example of the issue, a quote, or an interesting ‘hook’.

·         Provide a sentence or two of background information as you transition to the thesis.

·         Place the thesis as the last sentence of the introduction paragraph.  IT must clearly assert that there is an issue, and you have the specific solution(s).

 

Body Paragraphs (A body paragraph will be at least 5 sentences in length.  You will have numerous body paragraphs based on the blue chart earlier.)

·         Topic sentence: each body paragraph must start with a very clear sentence that covers the point that will be expressed in that one paragraph. 

·         Explanation of the point

·         Examples and personal insights

·         A source to support your idea. Do not drop quotes from the sky.  Lead into the sourced content, provide clear in-text citations, and then explain the significance of the quote in a line or two afterwards. You will always have follow-up sentences after a quote.

·         End the paragraph with a closing sentence that wraps up the idea asserted in the topic sentence. Make sure it relates to the thesis.

 

Conclusion (3-8 sentences)

·         Reword the thesis to present it to the audience in a new way.

·         In 1-3 sentences, tie the problem, causes, and possible solutions together for the audience.

·         Leave the reader with a final thought that indicates the paper is concluded.  You can simply restate how important your solution will be to implement, or you can call the audience into action to begin making these changes to fix the problem.

 

Create a Works Cited Page

Remember, you must integrate at least two credible resources into your body paragraphs.  This means that you will need to spend time reading through the MLA Guidelines handout in the classroom.  You can find a copy of this TBC manual in the Writing Help and in the Syllabus sections of the classroom.

 

The Works Cited page does not count as part of your page requirement.  Therefore, for the final version of this paper, you must have at least 5 full pages of paragraphs plus the Works Cited page to meet the minimum development level.

 

If your rough draft is only four pages long at this point, it is fine.  You will still have time to add to, modify, and enrich your draft before the final version is due.

 

 

Final Questions

If you have any questions, please post them into the Week 7 Questions discussion board thread and I will answer them as soon as I see them.