Quick Write

 

Intro to Report

Reports are as diverse as all the classes you will take. You can write a report on a lab experiment, conduct interviews and assemble into a report, and even research a topic and publish it for the benefit of everyone.

Reports are a genre that you may be familiar with but not know it. Reports are what we have done since elementary school. Reports are produced by government organizations, websites, companies, universities, and even individual students like yourselves. A report can answer a question, explore a topic, review what is already known about a subject, or report new knowledge, to name a few.

There are a few qualities that a report usually has:

  • Presents information
  • Uses reliable sources
  • Aims for objectivity
  • Information is clear and well structured

For this assignment, I want you to choose a topic that interests you and you want to learn more about. It can be related to your major, future or current career, something you are familiar with, or something you want to know more about.

You can research a problem that you want to know more about.

We will learn to research the library databases in order to find reliable sources of information.

Subgenres of Report

The report can be in any style or format that you think best suits it. If you choose to do a PowerPoint, that is your report. You do not need to write a separate report, the PowerPoint should have all the information on it. Here is a list of possible choices:

Grossman “From Scroll to Screen”

From Scroll to Screen by Lev Grossman was first published in the New York Times.

What is Grossman’s report about? What is his purpose?

Does this sound like an argument or a thesis?

How is he organizing the information?

Brainstorming

Let us brainstorm some ideas. We first need to choose a topic to write about.

  • Build from lists
  • Mapping ideas
  • Freewriting
  • Memory Prompts
  • Search online for ideas

Come up with at least two ideas that you want to write about. They can be general now, they will become more focused as you begin the research.

 

Reality is Broken Introduction

What is McGonigal arguing for in her introduction?

Reality if Broken Summary