Assignment: Problem-Solution Proposal

Word Count Requirement Total:

(Problem description and research summary words, proposed solution words)

Research Sources: Uses at least 5different research sources that help explain the problem's urgency and why your proposed solution would be effective

Please note: APA format required for both in-text citations and references page.

Topic: You may utilize a topic from previous assignments in this course or choose a new problem that you would like to write about (a problem affecting your community).

The following sections will help you to organize your problem-solution proposal and also explain how your work will be evaluated:

Controlling Purpose--Paragraph 1

• Explicitly articulating a clear controlling purpose early on in a research project helps to guide a reader through the entire project. Your controlling purpose (thesis) will be in your introductory paragraph and explain your problem as well as the claim you are making for the solution you are proposing.

Next, describing a research project's exigency, audience, and stakeholders is critically important in a research project because it helps a reader understand why (and even if) they are important readers who should personally pay close attention. After your introductory paragraph, in the next few paragraphs you will explain these aspects to your readers.

Exigency--Paragraph 2

• Exigency refers to the amount of urgency in solving this particular problem right now. What kinds of research have you found that points to why this problem should be addressed immediately or in the very near future?

Audience--Paragraph 3

• Who are the people that would be in a position to take action about this problem and assist in carrying out the solution?

Stakeholders--Paragraph 3

• Who are the people who will benefit the most from the solution to this problem?

Research summary and integration--Paragraphs 4 through 8 (and throughout as necessary)

• One of the great challenges of a persuasive research project is clearly summarizing and deploying a body of research in ways that support an author's controlling purpose. Your research should be clearly presented, and it should be easy to see how it supports your controlling purpose.

• There is a temptation to think that quotations and research speaks for itself, but readers never really know what a quotation is meant to show or do unless writers explain them. In your project, it should be clear what your quotations, paraphrases, and summaries are meant to do.

Explanation of Technical Terms (as needed throughout project)

• Oftentimes in the course of doing research, we will find that key or technical terms will be the subject of some debate or disagreement among writers and scholars. Therefore, it is important that any such terms are clearly defined and explained so our readers know how we are using them.

Describe a course of action or research that should be taken, who should undertake this course of action or research, and why it is likely to yield positive results. (Paragraphs 8-10)

• As you know, we never do research projects without a reason. At the end of such a project, we should have a clear sense of what a possible next step might be, who should take it, and why it is likely to yield positive effects.

Acknowledges and tries to address any limitations (Paragraphs 11-12)

• Even the best, most thorough research project is going to have limitations. This is because no single research project can be comprehensive on anything. Your project should acknowledge its limitations and how these limitations might be addressed.

Meets length and grammatical requirements.(All)

• Our readers will expect appropriate length for the type of work we are trying to do and grammatical correctness. Your project should meet the word count requirements and be free of errors that would interfere with meaning.

Sources are cited according to APA conventions, and the project includes a References page at the end of the text (All)

• As you enter into particular scholarly discourse communities, norms of citation and referencing take on greater importancethey are a sign of "belonging" to particular discourse communities and signal that you have carefully ensured proper citation of other authors, so be sure to cite each source appropriately.