Write a Problem-Solution

This worksheet focuses on paragraphs 3 and 4 of a longer essay for first year students. See other sheets for how to write intro and conclusion paragraphs

Read the examples first

• Example 1: ethical consumption, paragraph 3/4
• Example 2: endangered animals, paragraph 3/4

Required Sentence count

• Problems = 12 sentences minimum.
  • 15 max if you add more Detail sentence 3 for each problem)
  • No more than 15, or you’ll have to split the paragraph and write a sectional essay
• Solutions = 11 sentences minimum (same as problems, but no link)
  • 17 max (1 extra detail sentence for each summary and response)
  • If you do add more, don’t forget to link e.g. “For example”
  • If you go longer than 17, you’ll need to write a sectional essay

Suggested Arrangement

• Problems
  • Topic Sentence: “This paragraph looks at three ways in which X / production of X causes problems - KEYWORD 1, KEYWORD 2, and KEYWORD 3.”
  • Signposting sentence: “The first problem is KEYWORD 1”
    • Detail sentence 1 of KEYWORD 1
    • Detail sentence 2 of KEYWORD 1
  • Signposting sentence: “The second problem is KEYWORD 2”
    • Detail sentence 1 of KEYWORD 1
    • Detail sentence 2 of KEYWORD 1
  • Signposting sentence: “The third problem is KEYWORD 3”
    • Detail sentence 1 of KEYWORD 1
    • Detail sentence 2 of KEYWORD 1
  • Summary (“In summary, there are three main problems - KEYWORD1, KEYWORD2, and KEYWORD3 - of which the most serious is [CHOOSE ONE KEYWORD]. “)
  • Link (“However, the next paragraph examines some possible solutions to these issues. “)
• Solutions paragraph
  • Topic Sentence (“This paragraph looks at”)
  • Signposting sentence (“The first solution is”)
    • Summary of solution 1
    • Response to solution 1 (“However” or “In fact”)
  • Signposting sentence (“The second solution/organisation is”)
    • Summary of solution 2
    • Response to solution 2 (“However” or “In fact”)
  • Signposting sentence (“The third solution/organisation is”)
    • Summary of solution 3
    • Response to solution 3 (“However” or “In fact”)
  • Summary of PARAGRAPH (“In summary, there are three solutions- 1, 2, and 3 - of which all/none/only 2 and 3 are true/effective.”).
  • No link! Conclusion is next, no need to link into conclusions.

Tips

• Problems
  • For keywords, use only noun or short noun phrase
  • Details sentence 1 can start any way, but every detail sentence 2 needs to Use cohesion e.g. “For example” or “However” or “In addition”
• Solutions
  • Summary is not that kind of summary. Don’t start “In summary”
  • Always link to the response showing the solution is good (However, etc) or bad (In fact, etc)
  • DO NOT give your own ideas. Save your ideas for the discussion. Summarise what OTHER PEOPLE are ALREADY DOING, then say if it is working or not.
    • (e.g. summarisehow plastic recycling works, then:
      • Good “In fact, 91% of PET bottles in Japan are now recycled”)
      • Bad “However, 87% of non-PET plastic is just burned”
  • What to look for (negative)
    • not fully effective “However, only 7% of the product sold is Fair Trade, so”
    • not ready yet “However, the project will not start until 2019, so “
    • bad assumptions “However, this solution assumes that poor children all live in cities.”
    • Low effort “However, for each $100 profit, the company only spends 0.3c on “
    • bad research “However, the data supporting this is very old”
    • missing data “However, the NGO offers no data on”
    • Bias “However the research was funded by the company who makes it.”
    • Greenwashing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing
  • What to look for (positive)
    • Preferably, from a source that is NOT the company doing the solution
      • e.g. review websites
      • e.g. news reports about them
    • a number (17%, 300 children, 1200 pairs of shoes every month)