Adopting a Problem-Solving Mindset
As you gather ideas, think critically about what you are learning. Asking questions like the ones below can help you get into a problem-solving mindset:
Questions about Problems
- What is/was the cause of the problem?
- What is/was the effect of the problem?
- What makes this problem a problem?
Questions about Solutions
- Have solutions to this problem been proposed in the past? What are they?
- Why have the solutions proposed in the past succeeded or not succeeded in solving the problem?
- Who can put the solutions into action?
A proposal about climate change could be a rather large project. At the start of the project, using the questions above could help generate ideas to help focus your topic on something more manageable. The following questions are examples of what can be generated when thinking about climate change with those questions:
- What is the cause of climate change?
- What is the effect of climate change?
- What makes climate change a problem?
- What are some possible solutions to climate change?
- What solutions to climate change have been tried in the past?
- Why have the solutions tried in the past been unsuccessful in solving climate change?
- Who can put the solutions into action?
In writing answers to these questions, the author would realize that not only do they have quite a bit to learn about climate change, but they also have a good starting point for gathering this information.
Distinguishing Fact from Opinion
A proposal contains both facts and opinions. Proposal writers use facts as evidence to show that the problem they are writing about is real and that the proposed solution can work. They also give opinions (based on evidence) when they recommend a solution to their audience and call them to action.
Facts are statements that can be proven or whose truth can be inferred. They are built on evidence and data. The following are examples of factual statements:
- The first mass-produced hybrid vehicle was the Toyota Prius, which was launched in Japan in 1997.
- Americans born after 1996 are considered Generation Z.
Facts that use numbers are called statistics:
- According to the Pew Research Center, 50 percent of Gen Z-ers aged 18–23 reported that they or someone in their household had lost a job or taken a pay cut in March 2020, the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The six-year graduation rate for full-time undergraduate students was 62 percent in 2018.
Opinions are statements of belief or value. Opinions form the basis of recommended solutions in proposals. Below is an opinion that precedes a list of recommendations to raise the graduation rate:
- The six-year graduation rate for full-time undergraduate students, which was 62% in 2018, can and should be improved by taking the following steps…
Recognizing Bias
Bias in Sources
Some writing is intentionally biased and intended to persuade, such as editorials and opinion essays, also called op-eds (because of their placement opposite