Call to Write, Third edition Chapter Eight, Reports: Informing and Explaining

Overview  Looks at the genre of reports—documents designed to inform and explain  Reports range from simple to complex, and take many different formats  Gives strategies to select, organize, and deliver information

The genre of report writing  Reports inform and explain  They range in purpose and audience, depending on the context  Reports take an objective, factual tone

Why do reports take an objective tone?  The focus of a report is not on the writer, but on the content.  The tone is then objective, factual, formal.

Examples of reports  News reports  Research articles in professional journals  Organizational fact sheets  Brochures  Informational Web sites

Research and reports  Reports are often written to answer a question.  They involve gathering information and doing research.

Readings  Two articles on the Mentally Ill 1. A short piece from the Associated Press that ran in many local papers 2. A longer article from the New York Times  World Bank/IMF Fact Sheet  Saipan Campaign

More Readings  Barbara Kruger, “I Shop, Therefore I Am”  Milton Glaser, “Dylan”  Daniel Pauly and Reg Watson, “Counting the Last Fish”  Visual Design: The Triangle Factory Fire (an informational Web site)

Writing assignment  Your assignment is to write a report. There is a list of six options on pages  The list includes: news report, fact sheet, explanatory essay, article, brochure, and Web site.  Your instructor will let you know whether your class will be doing this particular assignment, and provide you with additional guidelines.

Web sites for news  New York Times,  Washington Post,  CNN,  Time,

The writing process  The last part of the chapter takes you through the writing process; notice the use of questions to prepare you for doing research.  There are suggestions to help you organize and present the information you find, as well as suggestions to guide peer review and revision.

Student sample  See the essay by Michael E. Crouch (“Lost in a Smog,” pages ).  Note the comment that he is following the typical layout of an article in Scientific American; he uses a headline, photos, sidebars, and information boxes.  See the list of questions, page 295.

Student Companion Website  Go to the student side of the Web site for exercises, chapter overviews, and links to writing resources for this chapter:  Click on the textbook cover, and then select Student Resources.