Clarity Use Clear

By this point in the semester you should have a pretty firm handle on your Long Report situation. Your email will provide an update on your Long Report progress, and give us both a pretty clear indication where you are in the process.

In your email, you will address the following:

Thesis

You provided a “working” thesis in your topic email. Now, discuss any alterations you’ve made, or may need to make, as the process moves forward. For example, have you found a way to narrow your thesis’ scope, or will it be revised in a more persuasive direction?

Audience

You indicated a potential audience for your report in the topic email. Indicate whether your audience has changed since then. If so, explain how, and if your research has played a role in that process.

Research

Describe any previous research you’ve done that might be utilized in your report, research you’ve done since you received topic approval, and research you’re planning to do (what are the “gaps” you need to fill through research to write a quality report?).

Drafting

Provide some indication of how much writing you’ve actually done on the report to this point. Also, be honest. There’s no penalty for being a procrastinator as long as the job gets done.

Your email will reflect consideration of the guidelines provided on pages 100-03. Pay special attention to the following:

• Tone— in this instance, I am your audience, and your tone/word choice should reflect that.
• Clarity— use clear, concrete language; identify and resolve typos and other errors; keep paragraphs to a reasonable (3-to-4 lines) length.
• Brevity— say what you need to say in order to address the objectives listed above, but do so with an economy of language.
• Format— include a clear subject, salutation, ending paragraph, and complimentary close.

Because we typically don’t have the luxury of having others proofread our emails, you will be expected to be your own editor, and your email should be free of obvious errors/typos.