• Time Required
• 7–8 hours, including reading time

The writing activities for this week focus on the body of the report. The projects you have worked on so far in the course—the Research Description, Instructions for your primary research, and your Pitch—will all fold into the body of your report. By the end of the week, you should have a working draft for all five sections of the body of your report (shown in the image below).

Next week, we will work on the front and back matter, so that you have a complete draft of your report before Thanksgiving. You will have three more chances for feedback discussions. Your recommendation report (and all other work in the course) is due by 11:59 PM on Friday, December 3.

 

What You Will Learn & Practice

• How to analyze your audience and purpose so that you can choose supporting material that is convincing to your readers and decide the best way to present information clearly and effectively. [CLO 1]
• How to find and evaluate ethical evidence in secondary sources, such as books, articles, podcasts, and videos, and through primary research, such as observation, inspection, experiment, and interview, that supports your position, that supports your position. [CLOs 2 & 3]
• How to write documents you may encounter in the workplace, such as letters, memos, instructions, proposals, reports, and presentations. [CLO 4]
• Collaborate with classmates in planning, researching, writing, revising, and presenting information. [CLO 5]
• How to use colors, layout, and formatting that make your documents understandable and easy to read and how to take advantage of design principles, including contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity, to communicate your ideas effectively. [CLO 6]

 

Activities to Complete

📚 To Read This Week

• Chapter 18 of Markel & Selber, "Writing Recommendation Reports"
• Chapter 11 of Markel & Selber, “Designing Print and Online Documents”
• Chart Your Data with Images (video, 2m 26s)
• Add Visuals to a Technical Report (video, 9m)
• Recommendation Report Criteria
• Documentation and Citations for Your Projects
• Professional Design for Reports

📝 To Write This Week

• Find effective ways to incorporate visuals in your report draft, following the advice of the two videos listed in the readings.
• Compose a full draft of the body of your Recommendation Report by working through these instructions:

  Feedback on These Activities

  I will see the work you do for these six activities when I read the draft that you submit for feedback. Each of these activities provides you with the instructions for the section and advice on how to compose the sections effectively.

  • Brainstorming Your Intro
  • Writing Your Introduction
  • Writing Your Methods Section
  • Writing Your Results Section
  • Writing Your Conclusions Section
  • Writing Your Recommendations Section

💬 To Discuss This Week

• Post any Questions about the Recommendation Report that you have (optional). You can check this Discussion for answers as well.
• You can participate in either of these discussions, depending upon when you have a draft ready to share. If you want, you can participate in both of them as well. It’s completely up to you. Just remember that if you post a draft, you will assigned two drafts to add feedback to.

  Body Feedback Discussion

  • Follow the directions in the Report Body Feedback Discussion to share what you have created with the class for peer feedback.
  • After peer review partners are assigned (Saturday, November 13), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, November 17.

  Second-Chance Body Feedback Discussion

  • If you needed more time to write your script draft, follow the directions in the Second-Chance Report Body Feedback Discussion.
  • After peer review partners are assigned (Thursday, November 18), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, November 29. If you can, however, share your feedback sooner.

📓 To Track This Week

• Track and reflect on the work you have done for the week in your Work Log for the Week of 11/08, reviewing the Weekly Work Log Guidelines if needed.