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Report

Assignment: Report

Describing a Larger Conversation

Requirements

  • 1,000 – 1,500 words
  • 1+ featured image
  • 5 Sources (at least three scholarly)
  • MLA or APA style

Parts of the Assignment

  1. Proposal
  2. Annotated Bibliography
  3. Rough Draft
  4. Final Draft

Intro to Report

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.

Not only is a report a common assignment across disciplines (especially in the sciences), but report writing is a skill needed in many professions. Report writing encourages you to develop critical observation skills, write descriptively, and provide readers with reliable and factual information. A report asks you to view a subject closely and objectively, to translate information into clear language, separate facts from opinion, and to organize and clearly present your findings.

NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition

There are a few qualities that a report usually has:

  • Presents information
  • Uses reliable sources
  • Aims for objectivity
  • Presents information clearly and well structured

Prompt

Option 1: Pick an issue described in the readings you’ve done from the book.

  • Who or what is to blame for unhealthy eating
  • Whether women or men face more challenges with work/life balance
  • The effects of inequality on the American Dream
  • Whether college is the best option
  • Whether technology is good or bad for us

In addition to the essays you’ve read, find at least three additional scholarly sources and explain the different perspectives on this issue. Rather than presenting the issue as having two sides (for or against), explain more than two points of view, showing the complexity of the issue. At some point in the paper, take your own stand but the majority of the paper should explain the larger conversation about the issue.

Option 2: Pick an issue affecting your future career field, your major field, or your community. Write a paper that explains various perspectives on this issue, addressing at least three different sources (published texts, interviews, etc.) and no more than five or six sources. Rather than presenting the issue as having two sides (those for or against something), explain more than two points of view, showing the complexity of the issue. At some point in the paper, take your own stand, but the majority of the paper should explain the larger conversation surrounding the issue.

Subgenres

The report can be in any style or format that you think best suits it. Here is a list of possible choices:

Grading

We will work together to develop the grading criteria for the report.