Sexual Assault On Campus: Possible Solutions

A recommendation essay points to a specific problem, a set of circumstances that create a problem, or a set of consequences that flow from that problem and then proposes a process, policy, or procedure for solving that problem.  Whether you’re advocating that a certain action should (or should not) be taken or that a situation or policy should be changed, you’ll need to 1) identify the exigence; 2) imagine an audience who is also (or who should be) invested in this issue; 3) determine your purpose; 4) create a solution; and 5) consider the implications of your proposal in terms of the rhetorical situation.

Look around you- at your living quarters, your campus, your town, and the world at large.  What specific issue concerns you as a student, male or female, citizen, community member, and so on.  Why does that problem exist?  How might it be solved?  What are the negative consequences?  Could a specific policy, issue, situation, or problem be changed?

After you’ve identified a problem (one that can be solved in four pages) and its exigence and imagined an interested audience, you’ll need to discuss the negative consequences this problem has (and on whom).  Then, you’ll explain the causes of this problem, considering why this problem occurs.  You’ll also recommend a feasible solution to this problem that will lead to improved consequences.

The following guidelines will help you plan and draft your essay:

1. Identify and describe a problem
2. Present the negative effects that this problem has on a particular community
3. Make an argument for what you believe is the cause of the problem
4. Recommend a solution to the problem based on cause and consequence
5. Demonstrate how the solution is feasible for your audience

Plan to spend at least half the essay focusing on the solution and its implementation. This essay will use the Rogerian argument structure. Please see your textbook and the worksheet in this week’s folder for help.