Overview

ENG302 : The Class : Forms and Formats : HSort and Informal : Overview
Interactive Overview for Topic 1

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In the working world, as much as possible gets done in a short, informal manner. This does not mean sloppily or poorly; it just means that the focus is on efficiency and accuracy, rather than on the packaging. There are many kinds of reports, but in every case the focus is on transmitting information to a specific audience, for a specific purpose, in a voice calculated to appeal to that audience and increase the likelihood that the purpose is achieved. As always in technical writing, the writer uses as many graphics and as few sentences as possible. As always in technical writing, the main point appears up front, and the supporting details follow. As always in technical writing, the entire report is concise and easy to read.

For your final project, you will write one short, informal report and one more elaborate and formal report. You will do the short formal report in Module 3, Topic 1 (this topic), and the elaborate, formal report in Module 3, Topic 2 (the next topic). The short, informal report will be a prospectus of the elaborate, formal one.

There are four basic choices for the formal report:

A. A thesis report: a report which has an arguable main point, supported by hard data and possibly other types of evidence.

B. A report of original research: a thesis report in which much of the evidence comes from the writer’s own experiments or other data gathering efforts in the field, as opposed to data taken from written or electronic sources.

C. A problem/solution report: a thesis report in which a problem is first presented and then a solution to that problem is offered.

D. A practical application report: a thesis report in which a successful method or solution that works in one field or situation is applied to a new and different field or situation.

A thesis report is simply an arguable point, supported by a collection of data, which "proves" that point--or at least makes the audience willing to accept the point. Therefore, as indicated above, it could be said that all reports are thesis reports and that the other three are simply specific subtypes of the thesis report

1. Now let’s look closely at the word "arguable." To be arguable, the point must not be merely an unsupportable personal opinion.

Give me an example of an unsupportable personal opinion:

2. On the other hand, to be arguable, the point must not be so obvious, well known, or factual, that it needs no support or proof at all because everyone already knows and accepts the point. In other words, it cannot be a matter of indisputable fact.

Give me an example of an indisputable fact:

3.
Now give me a point that you might like to write up into a formal report, that is not merely an unsupportable personal opinion, nor an indisputable fact.

4. Your short informal report will be a prospectus of your formal report. I will explain what is required in this report in detail in the first assignment for this topic.

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E-mail Greg Larkin at Gregory.Larkin@nau.edu
or call (520) 523-4911

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