Title: Inquiry Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy! Inquiry Essay taken from the First Year Writing Program Guide for Students
1College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its Easy!
By Allen Brizee, PhD Loyola University Maryland
2College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!
- IntroductionYoure familiar with how to write a
college essay, but writing a report may be new to
you. Adjusting your essay writing to report
writing primarily consists of two steps - 1. Adjust how your document looks
- Make your text more accessible (HATS)
- Topic sentences can become headers for different
sections - 2. Adjust how your document reads
- Put the bottom line up front in introduction and
paragraphs - Compose tight, concise sentences (KIS)
3College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy! 1. How Your Document Looks (HATS)
Here is an overview of how the documents look
from a distance
Traditional essay, large blocks of text,
information difficult and time consuming to
retrieve
Report format with small, well-balanced blocks of
concise data, easy to access data, topic sentence
can become heading
4College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay
taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing
Program Guide for Students
- This paragraph comes from the student essay, The
American Dream Remember, Its Not in Full Color
by Douglas A. Dooley
- Topic Sentence for New Section
- Black corporate executives are finally having an
impact on corporate America. - Topic sentence begins broad and outlines what
the next section of the essay will discuss
- Heading for New Sections in Report
- The Impact of Black Executives in the U.S.
- Heading is shorter and more concise allowing for
quick, easy access to information
5College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay
taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing
Program Guide for Students
- First Sentence in Paragraph
- Richard Carter, former president of public
affairs at a major cable television company and
current free-lance writer, says that African
Americans are indeed beginning to penetrate the
upper ranks of corporate management (Carter). - Provides more detailed information from inquiry
process
- First Sentence in New Section in Report
- African Americans are beginning to penetrate the
upper ranks of corporate management, according
to Richard Carter, former president of public
affairs at a major t.v. company. - Report sentence uses BLUF by stating the most
important data first, then the source - Report sentence is also more concise
6College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay
taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing
Program Guide for Students
- Second Sentence in Paragraph
- According to The Wall Street Journal, in May of
1992, the number of black professionals managing
100 employees or more has only risen 1.5, from
3.7 in 1978 to 5.2 in 1992 (Rigdon). - Provides statistical data as a more detailed
representation of inquiry process
Graphic Representation in Report As we can see in
the line graph below, the number of black
professionals managing 100 employees or more has
risen only marginally.
- 1986 1992
- Source The Wall Street Journal, May 1992
- Provides a visual representation and
reinforcement of information quick, easy access
to data
7College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay
taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing
Program Guide for Students
Conclusion First Sentence As you can see,
African Americans in corporate positions face
obstacles and discrimination that are truly
unique to African Americans. However, being
African American in the United States' corporate
world is not an entirely negative thing. Last
Sentence Working hard and following the rules
increases your chance of success, but ultimately
a host of other factors including race, having
nothing to do with ability or merit, dictates how
high one can rise (Cose 42).
- Conclusion
- Report Conclusion Sentence Corporate African
Americans still face race-based obstacles. White
Americans do not have to face the same types of
discrimination as do many minorities. For black
executives, working hard and following the rules
does not guarantee success because according to
Cose, a host of other factors, having nothing to
do with ability or merit, dictates how high one
can rise (42). - Shorter, more concise, to the point, easy access
of information and conclusions
8College Essay to Formal Report Poof! Its
Easy!
- ConclusionSo to wrap up, adjusting your essay
writing to report writing primarily consists of
two steps - 1. Adjust how your document looks
- Make your text more accessible (HATS)
- Topic sentences can become headers for different
sections - 2. Adjust how your document reads
- Put the bottom line up front in introduction and
paragraphs - Compose tight, concise sentences (KIS)