draft introduction
Purpose:
1. Your draft introduction helps the reader to understand the problem and the potential solution you offer.
Read my comments on your draft introduction for additional insight on your white paper report. Remember, discussing your dream job search as the basis for the report is not helpful to potential employers. They placed the job posting so they know the type of person they want to hire. Instead, they want to see if you can identify an industry problem and offer a solution, just to show your benefit to them.
2. Now it’s time to think about how you want to develop the report. Drafting an outline will help you get your thoughts together.
3. You should also locate two more sources of information – one should be an academic article from a journal, the other should be a personal opinion from a blog.
If your first source was not from a formal news source, locate one. Think about national and international news on television or cable, rather than a non-verifiable (or more opinionated) news source. State government and educational institution sites are ok also – but we will be using those sources later.
These news sources could be:
ABC
NBC
CBS
Fox News
USA Today
NPR
CNN
Euronews
BBC
Reuters
Remember –
This will be the purpose of our white paper report:
“That a certain solution is best for a particular problem.”
This will be the structure of our white paper report:
Cover page
Introduction (150 to 200 words)
Discussion (550 to 800 words)
Recommendation/s (150 to 200 words)
Sources (7 sources)
Reading assignment:
Read The Elements of Technical Writing, Chapter 3.
Discussion assignment:
In your Discussion thread, post a draft outline for your white paper report – chapter 3 offers some examples. The outline can help you determine the sources needed to help shape your report.
Your outline should be a guide to how you will factually present the problem, and offer a solution – not a conclusion. Since you are presenting this to a manager or supervisor, they will make the final decision, but your input will be valuable.
List your three sources (of the seven required). We will format them later, but it is important to post the links so you won’t lose them.
Your draft outline should be rather detailed – but not overly detailed. Your introduction, discussion, and recommendation sections will be from 850 to 1,200 words, so plan your outline accordingly.
Posting the sections of the white paper report in your discussion thread helps to keep all your notes and ideas in one place.
Peer/group assignment:
None.
Written assignment:
None.
Comments on last week’s memorandum are general (the course text has a good example):
- Use the file name and file type listed in the assignment instructions.
- A memo in portrait view is preferable over landscape view.
- In your entry level position, you are probably not going to be communicating with the CEO, CFO, or any top level executives. Specify an individual, not a company or division. In a small company, it is ok to communicate with the owner.
- Citing your information in a company memo is not necessary.
- The memo uses specific information in its structure – “To whom it may concern” is not that information. The correct information is listed in the course text.
- The memo does not have a closing section, where you thank someone and “sign” your name.
- A generic subject such as “white paper report” does not help your recipient understand the need to read your memo. Identify a specific topic or issue.
- For a company memo, an address is not necessary – everyone works in the same place.
- Two or three paragraphs is better than one long paragraph. Try to balance the paragraphs, so they are similar sizes – a paragraph of seven sentences and then a paragraph of one sentence could be restructured to two paragraphs of four sentences (or 3 and 5 sentences).
- Don’t use the person’s name in the first paragraph – they are already mentioned in the “To:” statement.
Due date:
Friday, week 4, 5:00 p.m.