Problem/Solution Essay

(Total Value: 10%)

Due Date:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday Class: 9/14/07

Monday/Wednesday Class: 9/12/07

General Guidelines:

  1. Page count: 2 full pages minimum to 3 full pages maximum, plus an additional page, which is the works cited page. If your paper falls short of the minimum required page count the grade will certainly suffer.
  2. Make certain that the essay has a thesis.
  3. Use the formatting guidelines established during class lectures.
  4. Use MLA Style Guidelines.
  5. Remember to title your essay in the form of a two-part title. The two parts should be separated by a colon, and neither part should read “problem/solution essay.”
  6. Remember that your assignment is to write an argumentative essay that frames the assigned problem, and then what must be done to solve the problem.

About the problem/solution essay topic:

  • Your topic/problem is that America needs new non-polluting alternatives to the internal combustion engine, or at least alternate fuels that are non-polluting, all of which are issues that should be framed in your introductory paragraph.
  • The final sentence of your introductory paragraph, of course, will be your thesis statement, which should state the best solution that will solve the problem. It is your choice whether to propose one or two solutions.
  • The remainder of your essay will persuasively argue to prove that your solution makes sense.

Background, sources, and further requirements:

  • I will provide some sources, and you will locate one additional source on the web.
  • You will engage the following websites:
  • If class time and technological issues permit, we will also watch two videos: Who Killed the Electric Car, and an episode of the Discovery Science Channel’s Futurecar, entitled “Alternatives to gasoline.”

Your Works Cited page:

  • Your works cited page will certainly have at least three citations, and perhaps as many as five, for you will cite the two websites listed above, and the outside source on the web that you locate on your own.
  • Additionally, if we watch the two videos during class you will have five sources.
  • I will provide instructions during class to help you compose the citations.

Important:

  • During class there will be much direct instruction from me, so you must attend class to be successful in this assignment. I will also assist you during peer revisions and I am available for questions via E-mail and before and after class.

How to turn in this essay: a paper copy is due during class on the due date. Additionally, an electronic copy is due, prior to the beginning of class, on the due date, and it must be turned in to TurnItIn.com as

a MS Word doc file. Use the TurnItIn.com “file upload” method on the submit screen. You will be instructed during class about how to create a TurnItIn.com account, and how to turn in your work. Your essays will be considered late until both the paper copy and the electronic copies are turned in. All other rules for late work, as delineated in section six of the course syllabus, also apply. Moreover, your electronic turn-in must be an exact duplicate of the paper copy. In other words, no further corrections or revisions will be accepted. Also, if the electronic and paper copies do not match up it will have a negative impact on the assignment’s grade.

 

Due Date:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday Class: 9/14/07

Monday/Wednesday Class: 9/12/07