How to Teach a Problem-Solving Letter Composition Project in 6 Classes
By David Bruce
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About this ebook
This document describes a composition project that I have successfully used during my years of teaching at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. The composition project is to write a Problem-Solving Letter that gives the reader information that the reader can use. This is practical writing, as opposed to academic research papers that teachers grade and return to their students. Problem-Solving Letters tell readers information that the readers do not already know but that the readers would like to know and use. Academic research papers tend to tell the readers — teachers — information that the teachers already know. Academic research papers tend not to have information that the readers can use in their own lives.
The Problem-Solving Letter Project is useful because it teaches the students useful skills:
• How to Solve Problems
• How to Write Persuasively
• How to Write to a Real-World Audience as Opposed to a Teacher
• How to Use a Conventional Business Letter Format
Teachers are welcome to evaluate this assignment to see if they want to use it in their own classes. Teachers are welcome to adapt this assignment as desired.
David Bruce
I would like to see my retellings of classic literature used in schools, so I give permission to the country of Finland (and all other countries) to give copies of my eBooks to all students and citizens forever. I also give permission to the state of Texas (and all other states) to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever. I also give permission to all teachers to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever.Teachers need not actually teach my retellings. Teachers are welcome to give students copies of my eBooks as background material. For example, if they are teaching Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” teachers are welcome to give students copies of my “Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’: A Retelling in Prose” and tell students, “Here’s another ancient epic you may want to read in your spare time.”Do you know a language other than English? I give you permission to translate any of my retellings of classic literature, copyright your translation in your name, publish or self-publish your translation (but do say it's a translation of something I wrote), and keep all the royalties for yourself.Libraries, download my books free. This is from Smashwords' FAQ section:"Does Smashwords distribute to libraries?"Yes! We have two methods of distributing to libraries: 1. Via library aggregators. Library aggregators, such as OverDrive and Baker & Taylor's Axis360 service, allow libraries to purchase books. Smashwords is working with multiple library aggregators, and is in the process of signing up additional aggregators. 2. On August 7, 2012, Smashwords announced Library Direct. This distribution option allows libraries and library networks to acquire and host Smashwords ebooks on their own servers. This option is only available to libraries who place large "opening collection" orders, typically in the range of $20,000-$50,000, and the libraries must have the ability to host and manage the books, and apply industry-standard DRM to manage one-checkout-at-a-time borrows."David Bruce is a retired anecdote columnist at "The Athens News" in Athens, Ohio. He has also retired from teaching English and philosophy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.SOME BOOKS BY DAVID BRUCERetellings of a Classic Work of Literature:Arden of Favorsham: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Alchemist: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Arraignment, or Poetaster: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Case is Altered: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Catiline’s Conspiracy: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Epicene: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man in His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man Out of His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Fountain of Self-Love, or Cynthia’s Revels: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Magnetic Lady: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The New Inn: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Sejanus' Fall: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Staple of News: A RetellingBen Jonson’s A Tale of a Tub: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Volpone, or the Fox: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Complete Plays: RetellingsChristopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: Retellings of the 1604 A-Text and of the 1616 B-TextChristopher Marlowe’s Edward II: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Rich Jew of Malta: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, Parts 1 and 2: RetellingsDante’s Divine Comedy: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Inferno: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Purgatory: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Paradise: A Retelling in ProseThe Famous Victories of Henry V: A RetellingFrom the Iliad to the Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose of Quintus of Smyrna’s PosthomericaGeorge Chapman, Ben Jonson, and John Marston’s Eastward Ho! A RetellingGeorge Peele: Five Plays Retold in Modern EnglishGeorge Peele’s The Arraignment of Paris: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s David and Bathsheba, and the Tragedy of Absalom: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s Edward I: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s The Old Wives’ Tale: A RetellingGeorge-A-Greene, The Pinner of Wakefield: A RetellingThe History of King Leir: A RetellingHomer’s Iliad: A Retelling in ProseHomer’s Odyssey: A Retelling in ProseJason and the Argonauts: A Retelling in Prose of Apollonius of Rhodes’ ArgonauticaThe Jests of George Peele: A RetellingJohn Ford: Eight Plays Translated into Modern EnglishJohn Ford’s The Broken Heart: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Fancies, Chaste and Noble: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lady’s Trial: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lover’s Melancholy: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Love’s Sacrifice: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Perkin Warbeck: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Queen: A RetellingJohn Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Campaspe: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Endymion, the Man in the Moon: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Gallathea, aka Galathea, aka Galatea: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Love's Metamorphosis: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Midas: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Mother Bombie: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Sappho and Phao: A RetellingJohn Lyly's The Woman in the Moon: A RetellingJohn Webster’s The White Devil: A RetellingJ.W. Gent.'s The Valiant Scot: A RetellingKing Edward III: A RetellingMankind: A Medieval Morality Play (A Retelling)Margaret Cavendish's The Unnatural Tragedy: A RetellingThe Merry Devil of Edmonton: A RetellingRobert Greene’s Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: A RetellingThe Taming of a Shrew: A RetellingTarlton’s Jests: A RetellingThomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s The Roaring Girl: A RetellingThomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling: A RetellingThomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside: A RetellingThomas Middleton's Women Beware Women: A RetellingThe Trojan War and Its Aftermath: Four Ancient Epic PoemsVirgil’s Aeneid: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 5 Late Romances: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 10 Histories: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 11 Tragedies: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 12 Comedies: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 38 Plays: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 1: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 1: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 3 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 3: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry V: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry VIII: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King John: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Othello: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Richard II: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Tempest: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale: A Retelling in ProseChildren’s Biography:Nadia Comaneci: Perfect TenAnecdote Collections:250 Anecdotes About Music250 Anecdotes About Opera250 Anecdotes About Religion250 Anecdotes About Religion: Volume 2Be a Work of Art: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesThe Coolest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in the Arts: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesCreate, Then Take a Break: 250 AnecdotesDon’t Fear the Reaper: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Dance: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 4: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 5: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 6: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Neighborhoods: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Relationships: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Television and Radio: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Theater: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesMaximum Cool: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Religion: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesReality is Fabulous: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesResist Psychic Death: 250 AnecdotesSeize the Day: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesKindest People Series:The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 1The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 2The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 3Discussion Guide Series:Dante’s Inferno: A Discussion GuideDante’s Paradise: A Discussion GuideDante’s Purgatory: A Discussion GuideForrest Carter’s The Education of Little Tree: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Iliad: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Odyssey: A Discussion GuideJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Stargirl: A Discussion GuideJonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper: A Discussion GuideNancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind: A Discussion GuideNicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s Aeneid: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s “The Fall of Troy”: A Discussion GuideVoltaire’s Candide: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Discussion GuideWilliam Sleator’s Oddballs: A Discussion GuideComposition Projects:Composition Project: Writing an Autobiographical EssayComposition Project: Writing a Hero-of-Human-Rights EssayComposition Project: Writing a Problem-Solving LetterTeaching:How to Teach the Autobiographical Essay Composition Project in 9 ClassesAutobiography (of sorts):My Life and Hard Times, or Down and Out in Athens, OhioMiscellaneous:Mark Twain Anecdotes and QuotesProblem-Solving 101: Can You Solve the Problem?Why I Support Same-Sex Civil MarriageBlogs:https://davidbruceblog429065578.wordpress.comhttps://davidbrucebooks.blogspot.comhttps://davidbruceblog4.wordpress.comhttps://bruceb22.wixsite.com/website
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How to Teach a Problem-Solving Letter Composition Project in 6 Classes - David Bruce
How to Teach a Problem-Solving Letter Composition Project in 6 Classes
By David Bruce
Copyright 2014 by Bruce D. Bruce
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Introduction
This document describes a composition project that I have successfully used during my years of teaching at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. The composition project is to write a Problem-Solving Letter that gives the reader information that the reader can use. This is practical writing, as opposed to academic research papers that teachers grade and return to their students. Problem-Solving Letters tell readers information that the readers do not already know but that the readers would like to know and use. Academic research papers tend to tell the readers — teachers — information that the teachers already know. Academic research papers tend not to have information that the readers can use in their own lives.
The Problem-Solving Letter Project is useful because it teaches the students useful skills:
• How to Solve Problems
• How to Write Persuasively
• How to Write to a Real-World Audience as Opposed to a Teacher
• How to Use a Conventional Business Letter Format
Teachers are welcome to evaluate this assignment to see if they want to use it in their own classes. Teachers are welcome to adapt this assignment as desired.
Important Disclosure
The students’ letters are copyrighted by the students who wrote them. (Some students’ names are pseudonyms.)
Free Resource
The Classes in this document contain a number of problem-solving scenarios. To find out some possible answers, search online and download this document:
Teaching Problem-Solving: A Fun Activity
By David Bruce
TV
Richard A. Watson, a professor of philosophy at Washington University, refuses to have a television set in his home. He relates in his book Good Teaching that this used to upset Anna, his daughter, when she was young because when she said she wanted to watch TV, he told her to go to someone else’s house. However, when Anna became a college student, she began to think that her father had been right to keep TV out of their home. At her university, she discovered that many students were watching TV four to six hours a day, and she wondered when they found time to study.
CHAPTER 1: Problem-Solving Letter Project: Assign the Project (Class 1)
Problem-Solving: Strapless Gowns
When Jerry Spinelli, author of the Newbery Medal-winning Maniac Magee, made plans to attend his ninth-grade prom, the girls were angry because they were not allowed to wear strapless gowns. They held a meeting with the principal, but they were still not allowed to wear strapless gowns. What can the girls do to wear strapless gowns at the prom even though the authorities say that they aren’t allowed to? More than one effective solution may exist.
What Do I Have to Do for the Problem-Solving Letter Project?
Teacher’s Expectations
What are your teacher’s expectations for the problem-solving letter?
• You will start writing this paper at least four days before the peer review.
• You will spend at least five hours on this paper.
• You will revise this paper at least once.
• You will bring a good, complete, typed draft to the peer review session.
• You will get feedback on this paper during the peer review session.
• You will get feedback on this paper from at least one other person outside of class.
• You will proofread this paper at least three times.
• You will run a spelling check on the final draft of this paper.
Benefits of Writing The Problem-Solving Letter
If you work hard on this assignment, you will learn some important persuasive techniques and you may be able to solve or help solve a problem that is important to you. In addition, if your letter turns out well and you mail it, you may be able to say in a job interview that you are a problem-solver — and back up the statement with the evidence that you solved a problem by writing this letter. (Don’t mention that you wrote the letter for a course you were taking.) In addition, you may be able to mention in your resume and job-application letter that you solved a particular problem, and you may be able to get a letter of recommendation because you solved a particular problem.
Assignment Information
• This is your chance to improve a part of the world. You will find a real problem that exists in the world, and then you will come up with a solution and write a person with the power to solve the problem. Your letter will be focused on persuading the reader to accept your recommendation. To do so, you will present the benefits for the reader if the recommendation is implemented and the problem is solved, and you will anticipate and respond to objections that the reader is likely to raise.
• Obviously, you will use the letter format for your Problem-Solving Letter. Note: You will need to use a header listing the name of the reader, the page number, and the date on all pages after page one.
• Your letter will be between 500 to 1,000 words long (2-3 pages). Note: You must have at least two pages; you are allowed to have more than 3 pages (and more than 1,000 words).
• Your letter can be either solicited (someone has actually asked you to solve the problem) or unsolicited (no one has asked you to solve the problem).
• You must describe the problem in such a way that it is significant to the reader. (This is an important persuasive technique.)
• You must write about the benefits that will follow if your recommendation is implemented. (This is an important persuasive technique.)
• You must bring up at least one objection that the reader is likely to make, and you must rebut (that is, argue against) it. (This is an important persuasive technique.)
•Excellent examples of Problem-Solving Letters appear in today’s reading and this Study Guide.
Audience
The readers of your Problem-Solving Letter will be a person at an organization that has a problem that you want to solve or help solve. It is up to you whether you actually mail this letter.
Some Important Restrictions
• Your recommendation must concern a situation in which your letter can really bring about change. You must write a real person who has the power to solve the problem.
• Your recommendation must concern the way an organization operates, not just the way one or more individuals think or behave. However, you may write a landlord or landlady.
• Your recommendation may not involve a problem that would be decided in an essentially political manner. However, you may write a local politician about a local problem.
• Don’t write a letter to me or about me. Also, don’t write your parents or your roommates.
• Do not plagiarize. If you quote word for word, use quotation marks and cite the source. If you paraphrase, cite the source.
Sample Problem-Solving Letter Topics
Letters Related to Work or Business.
• You may write a letter describing a way to raise profits, reduce costs, improve safety, increase customer satisfaction, or raise morale at the business where you work.
• You may recommend that a business where you work upgrade its computer capabilities.
• You may recommend ways to improve services at a coin-operated Laundromat.
Note: If you write and mail a letter on this topic, you may have something impressive to talk about in a job interview.
Letters Related to Student Organizations.
• You may write a letter that recommends a detailed strategy for increasing attendance at the meetings of a club you belong to.
• You may recommend that an organization sponsor a few social activities so that its members may get to know each other better.
Letters Related to Ohio University or Other Schools.
• You may write a letter that makes a recommendation that will solve a problem at your university or your old high school.
• You may make a recommendation that the university plant some trees where they would improve the attractiveness off the university.
• You may write about upgrading a computer lab with new equipment or programs.
• You may write a university president about adding more bicycle racks on the campus.
• You may write about adding more lights in unsafe areas of campus.
• You may write about improving the curriculum.
Letters Related to the Environment.
• You may write a letter recommending that an organization recycle its aluminum cans.
Letters Related to Housing.
• You may write your landlord or landlady recommending that some much-needed repairs be made to your apartment or house. Feel free to cite the relevant laws, such as can be found in the city code. If you are good at making home repairs, you may offer to do the work if the landlord will buy the materials. (If you offer to paint the apartment if the landlord buys the paint, you may wish to say that you will go with the landlord to pick the color — you don’t want to be stuck with a ugly green that resembles pea-soup vomit.)
• Students often throw away good, usable items when they move. To help solve this problem, you may want to recommend that a big apartment building put a free
table in its lounge. When students don’t want a good, usable item, they can put it on the free table and another student can take it and use it.
Fund-Raising Letters.
Note: As in all other letters, avoid plagiarism if you write a fund-raising letter. If you are quoting word for word from literature prepared by the organization, give credit to the source.
• You may write a letter asking a business to buy an ad or make a donation.
Note: At the end of a fund-raising letter, you will have to — among other things — tell the readers what to do next. For example, you may tell the readers that you will visit or call next week to see if the readers are willing to buy an ad or make a donation. This will let the readers know that they should get ready for your visit or call. Or you may want to tell the readers that if they are willing to buy an ad or make a donation, then they should call a certain telephone number.
Letters to a Bank or Credit Card Company.
• You may write a letter about an unjust late fee you are being charged or about a mysterious fee you are being charged or about some other problem. Some of my students have been refunded late fees after writing and mailing a letter about this problem.
Letters About WWW Pages.
• You may write a letter offering to help a worthy organization by creating a WWW page for a club or a church or some other non-profit organization.
Unacceptable Topics
No Letters About Politics. You can’t write a letter to a Senator about terrorism. However, you can write a letter to an airport or business suggesting ways to make the facility more secure. You may also write the city mayor about the huge potholes on your street.
One Effective Organization of a Problem-Solving Letter
• Introduction.
Identify yourself, and build common ground with the reader. The common ground you build should relate to the problem you are trying to solve. (Common ground is something you have in common with the reader.)
• Transition.
Make a smooth transition to the next part of your letter (you may wish to use the transition word however
). You will have to decide whether to follow a direct pattern of organization (make your recommendation early) or an indirect pattern of organization (hold your recommendation until later in your paper — after you have described the problem).
• Problem. (This assumes that you will use an indirect pattern of organization.)
Present the problem in such a way that makes it significant for the reader — but be careful not to offend or to antagonize the reader.
• Recommendation.
Present the recommendation in such a way that the reader realizes that your recommendation will solve the problem — at least in part. Make sure that the recommendation will solve or help solve the problem.
• Objection(s).
Show that you understand the objection(s) that the reader is likely to raise against your recommendation.
• Rebuttal of Objection(s).
Rebut each objection. Show that the objections are not as serious as the reader thinks.
• Benefits.
Point out the benefits for the reader (or the reader’s organization) if he or she accepts your recommendation.
• Conclusion.
Conclude the letter in a way that reaffirms common ground between the reader and the writer. Give your telephone number in case the reader wishes to call you to ask for more information.
Note: You will need to have ALL of the above sections in your Problem-Solving Letter. However, you can vary the structure as needed for your particular