Your paper will respond to objections to your solution by presenting evidence from a variety of sources, and by considering the readers’ needs

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Proposing a Solution Paper

This paper is the goal towards which all your work has been leading. It needs to be a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 8 pages long + a works cited page. It will use all the semester’s work in skills and research to present your opinion about how to solve a current and controversial problem in a persuasive and responsible manner. Your paper will respond to objections to your solution by presenting evidence from a variety of sources, and by considering the readers’ needs. Your goal is to change the mind of an open-minded, but initially disagreeing, reader. You need to offer a solution to the issue, and persuade a reader to act. Be sure that your paper is focused around the solution.

Use standard MLA college format. The paper must be double-spaced with 1-inch margins. Use a 12 point font and select a standard font such as Times New Roman.  The text should be left justified. See the sample paper in the MLA section of the textbook.

Papers 1 and 2 have been structured for you — this paper requires you to make the choices about organizing your information. See the handout “ways of organizing an argument” for some ideas. If you incorporate all the lessons, techniques, and research you’ve been doing so far, you should be able to write a good argument paper. Use these techniques in other classes – the essential ideas hold true for most writing. Each exercise and paper in the class has been designed to make this paper successful. Note: some of these will be done after the rough draft and as we revise.

· you have a clear idea of your topic including what the problem is and what your solution is.

· you’ve already got the bulk of the researching and reading done for the paper, and you’ve been able to practice MLA format. The exercises part of the grade also recognizes the breadth and depth of the research you’ve done. This allows you just to use the very best resources in the paper without feeling you have to cram in all the sources to demonstrate your background work.

· Library and Research Exercises: you know how to find and evaluate what you need to write the draft.

· A good thesis statement will focus and organize your paper.

· The argument and logic work means you can identify flaws in arguments and evidence.

· The audience assessment assignments means you can tailor your research and arguments to be most effective for your reader.

Other Considerations

Make sure your quotations and other references are accurate in content and citation format, and are smoothly integrated into the paper. Don’t just drop in quotations without discussing them (especially if they are long ones!), or making their relevance to a point clear through a transition.

When I grade this paper, I will use the following criteria. Check the grading rubric to see how the points are distributed.

A good proposing a solution paper:

· has an interesting introduction, strong thesis, and clear conclusion;

· has a clearly defined topic showing the scope of the argument and problem;

· shows an awareness of, and respect for, its audience by considering their views and knowledge, and by presenting accurate material in an appropriate tone;

· has a realistic and reasonable solution to a significant and problematic issue

· presents sufficient relevant, current and accurate material to make its case;

· considers other evidence and views in a fair manner and offers effective counterarguments;

· is logical and well-organized in the order of its points;

· is correctly documented (citations are correct and are used appropriately in the paper body, and the works cited page is correct);

· could reasonably be expected to change the mind of an open-minded, but initially disagreeing, reader;

· presents a call to action for readers to consider;

· shows an awareness of the wider implications involved; and,

· is generally well-written (grammatically correct, spelling error-free, flows smoothly, and uses the paragraph as a unit of composition).