A problem solution is a story that is meant to tell how the answer to the question posed evolves from concepts in an orderly, logically coherent manner. A story well told engages the reader.

The presentation of a problem solution is a form of communication. As such it is most satisfactorily executed by using the well known and widely used principles of effective communication.

A sentence is processed linearly and achieves the communication of ideas that are far from linear. A simple model of a sentence is, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” This is necessarily processed linearly. In so doing the evolution of the ideas the sentence communicates is readily seen. The focal element of a sentence is the verb, the action. The other elements of the sentence, collectively referred to as the subject and object, attach to the verb in much the way that spokes attach to the hub of a wheel. These can be replaced so that the hub, the verb, can be used to focus a huge range of ideas. Tinker toys provide a means of illustrating this. Understanding sentences and combinations of sentences is a specialty of the field of study called linguistics. Semantics provides the rules for combining the elements of communication in a wide variety of applications.

These principles are taught in such courses as English composition and public speaking. The principles are encountered daily in the form of organized tables of contents of books, well written business letters, essays, reports, indexes, hierarchical directories, effective advertising, computer programming, and many other forms of communication.

A common property of any effective communication process is the existence of an opening, body and close. In composition, emphasis is placed on the importance of the thesis sentence (an opening) which informs the reader of the intent of the essay. The presentation is divided into ordered sections and paragraphs. Each component has an opening, body and close.