- TOPIC AND PURPOSE
Your WP #4 will be an expository Researched Report (Writing Today p. 312-13); you will research then explain a topic agreed upon by your new group. It will have a current social or ethical impact about some issue within the broader topic. [Your topic must be approved by your professor. For example, a general paper about being “for or against” abortion will not work and will not be accepted. If you want to write about abortion, you must do thorough research on the various stakes for various stakeholders and come up with a very particular question that will drive your essay. Likewise, a paper arguing “for or against” gun control will not work. A particular issue involving existing laws regarding the possession, licensing, and use of firearms might lead to an interesting paper.]
- AUDIENCE AND VOICE
Your audience for this essay is your instructor and the rest of the English faculty. This should be your most formal essay of the semester, so adopt a confident, credible tone and voice. Remember, part of building one’s ethos, or credibility, when writing a researched report is to demonstrate that your opinions are informed by and grounded in careful research.