Problem and Solution Writing Examples

There are many ways to structure a particular piece of writing. One common way to organize a paper, especially in nonfiction writing, is by presenting a problem and then presenting a solution. I’m going to write “problem” here, and then draw an arrow to “solution”, because that is how the paper, the piece literature, should be structured. First, the author would present a problem and then present the solution.

In some cases, the problem may already be well-known to the reader. In this case, the writer may talk briefly about the solution, then talk about the problem, then talk in more depth about the solution. Notice that I wrote “solution” very small here, because that’s how the paper would be structured. The writer would briefly talk about the solution, then talk lots about the problem and lots about the solution. In some cases, an author may feel like there is more than one viable solution.

I’m going to write “problem”, then draw three arrows to “solutions”. It’s important when reading a paper that first presents a problem, then a solution, that you understand the author’s agenda, as well as their point of view. First of all, their agenda. You want to know why the author is writing the paper and if they feel like one particular solution is in their best interest. If a paper is structured like this, with a problem and several solutions, the author may be biased towards one solution and feel like their solution is the best.

They may cast the other solutions in a negative light. Even though they would present several solutions, they would highlight one and put down the other solutions. In some cases, the author may present a problem and only present the solution that they feel is best, even though there are other good solutions. Sometimes, only one solution is good, and that’s why the author only presents one solution, but sometimes, there is more than one solution that could be good for the problem.

When the author only presents one solution, instead of even addressing the other solutions, they are totally ignoring them. That’s another example of an agenda and being biased towards one solution over another. It’s important that you as a reader understand both the writer’s agenda and point of view when looking at the problem and the solution.