Step to form Problem-Solution Essay

How to Find a Topic

Step One

The first step to get idea for this essay is by think about what sorts of problem you encounter. Think about group that you belong to and problem that those group have. Make a list of group you belong to like:

• School
• Hometown Community
• Clubs
• Sports teams

Step Two
Step two is make a list problem you have encountered in some of these groups. Sometimes, there is a plan for solving the problem but it isn't working, or maybe the plan isn't being enforced. The problem doesn't have to be a big one, but it has to be something you can convince other people needs to be and can be solved, at least make it better.

Step Three
Step three is once you have your topic and you have to decided what problem you want to solve, you need to decide on a solution

Find a solution
Once you've chosen what problem you want to solve, you need to decide on a solution. The table below lists many of the kinds of solution that we often use to solve different sorts of problem. Look through them to get ideas for a solution to your problem. 

Essay Solution Idea

Solution Ideas	How it works	Assumes causes of problem is	Example
Adapt a solution    that works	Take a solution that worked somewhere else and apply it to this problem	Current solution does not fit problem	Adding taxes on cigarettes decreases smoking, so put tax on unhealthy snack food
Add something	Give more money, people, equipment, or stuff	Lack of resources	More teacher in school, more money for fire department
Build something new	Give new facilities or organization	More buildings or a new organization is needed because nothing currently existing will solve problem	Build a new football stadium to encourage fan support
Change attitude	Present information or incentive to change the way people feel about situation	Attitudes are causing problem	Parent give children money to do chores
Change leadership	Get rid of current leadership and put someone new in charge	Leader is the problem	Fire college football coach
Change method or produce	Change the way something is done or organized	Something isn't being done the right way	Change meeting time from Tuesday morning to Saturday to get more people to come
Educate	Give information about the problem and solution	People don't know what to do	Say No to Drug campaign
Enforce law or rules	Provide a way to enforce or else provide or else provide more resources (like more police or money for regulators) to enforce existing rules or laws	Current rules are adequate but aren't enforced	School calls parents if students don't adhere to dress code
Make laws or rules	Create a new law or rule, or reform existing rules	Current  rules don't solve problem	School dress code revised to require uniform
Motivate	Use advertising or emotional appeals to get people to do or not do something	People know what they should do, but don't do it	Anti-Smoking
Take something away	Remove source of problem	One thing or person causing problem	Fire bad teacher, get rid of poor textbooks
Work out a compromise	Get opposing sides together to work out a mutual agreement	Problem is mostly lack of agreement	Trade agreements talks between countries

Essay Outline
To be effective, you need to organize your essay carefully Your main goal in this essay is to:

• Interest your reader in the problem
• Convince your reader that the problem is important and need to be solved
• Explain your solution clearly
• Convince the reader that your solution is cost-effective and feasible
• Convince the reader that your solution better than other solution