Tips for Writing a College Argument-Solution Paper

Now that you’ve been tasked with writing an argument-solution paper, what are you going to do? After all, this type of paper is unlike anything you’ve written in high school or even college. Fortunately, we’re here to help you tackle the writing assignment by breaking down the components into small tasks and explaining how to write each section effectively. Follow these 7 tips for writing a college argument solution paper and get back to living your life in no time!

Introduction

The introduction to any problem (argument) and solution essay should have all the bells and whistles of a normal argumentative essay including the hook, reason for discussion, definitions that might be needed for the reader to understand the essay, and the thesis statement. What is different about an argument solution paper is its addition of a solution/several potential solutions. The essay must include an explanation of how the issue can be solved in order to provide readers with something practical they can do with their skills or knowledge after reading it. The introduction will reflect the problem/argument as well as the solution, so this type of introduction may be slightly longer than the average essay.

Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs should reflect each point in your thesis as well as your solution section of the essay. Your first section of your essay should discuss your first point of your thesis statement equipped with any information needed to understand the point as well as supporting research. Each section of the body should represent one aspect of the thesis in the order the points were placed in the thesis. The counter point can be before or after the discussion points depending on student/teacher preferences. Make sure that the counterargument/concession has some evidence to support it as well. 

The first part of the argument-solution essay will focus on the argument (in this case – establishing that the problem exists). The second part of the body paragraphs (usually a shorter section) will focus on an overall solution or multiple solutions depending on how the paper is constructed. Note that solutions typically have some research to support them. However, your instructor may ask you to critically examine a problem and argue for a change that you create to address the problem. 

Essentially, the paper establishes there’s a problem using supporting facts or examples that illustrate why this is a problem. Then, the paper ends with how the problem can be solved/addressed. The body may (and probably will) provide information on what potentially caused this problem, such as possible barriers to resolving it; any statistics or studies that prove that there is a need to address it; and your proposed solutions. 

Lastly, this type of essay usually ends with a short analysis of how these solutions might work together or whether they are viable enough to solve the issue.

Conclusion

If you take your time to really think about the argumentative essay and do your research, writing an argumentative paper can be an exciting and rewarding process. The guidelines in this post are designed to help you with the argument and solution-writing process, but they’re not meant to restrict your creativity. With some planning and preparation, you should be able to write a successful college argument-solution paper that will make a compelling case for whatever it is you’re arguing.

Thinking About Solutions

Solution writing is much like argumentative writing. The purpose of an argumentative essay is to persuade, whereas the purpose of solution writing is to suggest possible solutions and explore options. When you’re trying to come up with possible solutions, it’s important that you don’t focus on how right or wrong your idea may be because there are too many factors at play. Instead, try to focus on what could work and what might not work instead of feeling anxious about the outcome.

Transitions Between Paragraphs

Transitioning between paragraphs or sections of an essay is important and helps the reader understand your essay. You can use transitions such as furthermore, in addition, and therefore, to show how these ideas build on one another inside paragraphs. Try to make sure that you transition into new paragraphs with a topic sentence that tells the reader what they will find in this paragraph. Additionally, in higher level writing, the instructor will typically allow the use of level one headings inside the essay to divide sections. Breaking down longer writing pieces can help others understand the overall discussion better.

Final Advice

College essays and argumentative writing, in general, are often complicated to write and can be time-consuming to edit. To make the process easier on yourself, follow these tips:

1. Start with an introduction paragraph that clearly states your problem/argument and the reasons behind it.
2. Provide evidence that supports your discussion using statistics, personal anecdotes or expert opinions.
3. Include detailed examples of the way you’ve seen this topic affect people’s lives in real life.
4. Be willing to change the points you discuss in your paper if you can’t find sources to support them.
5. Read the rubric before writing and after you finish to avoid having to redo anything.

Finally – Just breathe!