 Okay, I'm going to tell you about writing an essay, how you plan, organize, and write your essays at university. I'm going to focus on the problem solution essay, but what I tell you can really be used for any type of writing you do at university. So the problem solution essay. This is when you have to discuss a problem. Generally, it's the causes and effects of a problem, and then the solutions, or sometimes just the effects of the problems, and then consider solutions. As an example, let's look at the question. So this question is asking you to look at the negative effects of an anti-smoking legislation in Hong Kong, and then identify solutions to these problems. So first, planning. We can see the writer brainstormed ideas for the essay. They have decided on three problems and three corresponding solutions. And they have found good supporting evidence for each point they plan to make. You can see the references in red. Now it's time for them to start writing. So let's look at the introduction the writer wrote. Okay, so this introduction is divided into three parts. The what, the why, and the how. The what is what the question is about. Lead into the question. Interpret it. Have some background information. The why is why the question is important. Put the question into context and identify the main issues that are raised by the question. The how is how you are going to answer it. Let the reader know what you're going to cover in your essay in order to answer the question. In the introduction, you can see the writer has included supporting evidence in the what part. In the why part, you can see here that the writer has introduced some of the problems they will discuss in the essay. The how part is quite short in this essay. It's only an 800 word essay. If you have a longer essay, you have a longer how part. Okay, so remember these basic questions. What, why, and how. They are very useful in helping you to focus your answer. Write a good introduction and a clear, well-organized essay. Next we're going to look at a couple of body paragraphs and see how they are structured. These two paragraphs focus on two problems, first the littering problem and second the danger to children. First remember that a paragraph should deal in one idea only. So remember the rough plan our writer had at the beginning? There were six points. That means six body paragraphs, one idea for each paragraph. And remember each paragraph should be divided into three parts. First the topic sentence, then supporting evidence, and finally a concluding sentence. Where is the topic sentence in this paragraph? Well, usually in a paragraph it's the first sentence, but in this one it's the second sentence. The first sentence acts as a link between the introduction and the first paragraph. So what's the purpose of the topic sentence? It should tell the reader what the paragraph is about. So this topic sentence tells us that there has been an increase of litter because more people now have to smoke on the street. Okay, next the supporting evidence. This sentence uses a source, Jiao and Novotny, which shows why the litter is a problem. And remember this makes your writing stronger and it's no longer just your opinion. Finally we have the concluding sentence. This links back to the topic sentence as well as the context of the question, Hong Kong. Okay, so that's your basic structure. Let's quickly look at the next paragraph as that starts with a technique which you will find useful in your writing. You see the first sentence in this paragraph links back to the content of the previous paragraph, a paragraph hook, and then introduces this paragraph. Notice the topic sentence here with this paragraph being about the dangers to young children. Using this type of technique will help you write better essays. Okay, the second paragraph continues with supporting evidence and then a concluding sentence. This is the basic structure for paragraph writing. Following it will help you have a well-organized essay. Okay, I'd like to finish by looking briefly at the conclusion. This is divided into two parts. The first part is a brief summary of the main points made in the essay. In a short essay, this could be written in one or two sentences. In the final paragraph of the essay, the writer gives his opinion. Note that there should be no new information in the conclusion, so there are no references. Remember you should not only start your essay strongly, you should also finish it strongly. Try to be as original and striking as possible, leaving a strong impression to the reader. Okay, that's it from me. Remember that there's a lot more on eLearn and SIL about problem-solution essays, discursive essays, and other types of writing that you need to do at university.