The following suggestions offer ideas for writing an informative essay or another type of informative document.

Suggestions for Essays

1. DESCRIBE A SITUATION TO YOUR CLASSMATES

Inform your classmates about a situation that is likely to affect them. For example, you might report on changes to your school’s course registration system, or you might let them know about a proposed student fee increase. In your essay, describe the situation clearly, drawing on personal observation, an interview with someone who is familiar with the situation, or written sources.

2. EXPLAIN HOW SOMETHING WORKS

Explain how something works to an audience of your choice, such as your classmates, other college students, your instructor, your parents, or members of the community. For example, you might explain how a new technology improves the performance of a digital music player, or how a new diet supplement affects the health of those who use it. In your essay, identify the key features or processes that allow the subject of your essay to accomplish its purpose.

3. CHRONICLE A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Write an informative essay that describes a series of events. You might choose a historical event, such as the first Gulf War or the decision to send manned missions to the moon, or a more recent event, such as the decision to fire the coach of a local professional sports team, a major layoff at a national high-technology firm, or a recently passed law that has caused some controversy. In your essay, identify the event you will chronicle and lay out the sequence of events that led up to it.

4. DEFINE A PROBLEM

Write an essay that clearly defines a problem. Address your essay to your instructor, to people affected by the problem, or to those in a position to solve the problem. In your essay, describe the situation that you view as problematic. For example, you might call attention to a potential funding shortfall for your college or university or for a local school system. Or you might identify the lack of natural resources needed for a particular purpose, such as farming, manufacturing, power generation, or transportation. Then describe the potential consequences of the situation, indicate who or what will be affected by those consequences, and describe the severity of the effects.

5. REPORT THE NEWS

Share news of a recent event, discovery, or disaster with an audience of your choice. You might direct your essay to your instructor, your classmates, other college students, your friends, or people from your hometown. Choose a subject that would interest your readers but that they are unlikely to know about. For example, if you are writing to people from your hometown, you might choose to write about something that has occurred at your college or university. If you are writing to your instructor or classmates, you might choose something that recently occurred in your hometown.

Suggestions for Other Genres

6. CREATE AN INFORMATIVE BROCHURE

Begin working on your brochure by considering your purpose and your readers. Identify the single most important message you want to convey to your readers, and determine how you would like them to react to your message. Then brainstorm the organizing patterns and design strategies you might use to convey that message. Once you’ve decided on the content, organization, and design of your brochure, create a mockup and ask for feedback from a friend, a classmate, a relative, or an instructor. Keep their feedback in mind as you revise and edit your brochure.

7. DEVELOP AN INFORMATIVE WEB SITE

Begin working on your Web site by considering your purpose and your readers. Once you’ve identified the information you want to provide, consider how best to present it. Give some thought to the overall structure of your site — that is, the number of and relations among the pages on your site. Then determine which information you will present on each page, and choose the type of navigation tools you’ll provide so that your readers can easily move from page to page.

Once you’ve worked out the overall structure of the site, spend time developing a consistent look and feel for your pages. Your pages should have a similar design (such as a standard color scheme, consistent placement of navigation tools, consistent fonts for headers and body text, and so on). Finally, decide on the type of illustrations and the nature of communication tools, if any, that you’ll use on the site. (For guidance on designing Web sites, see Chapter 17.)

8. DRAFT AND DESIGN AN INFORMATIVE ARTICLE FOR A PRINT PUBLICATION

First, decide whether you want to write about a particular subject or to publish in a particular magazine, journal, or newspaper. If you want to write about a particular subject, search your library’s databases and the Web for relevant articles. This search can also help you identify publications that might be interested in your article. If you want to publish your article in a particular publication, read it carefully to determine the kinds of subjects it normally addresses. Once you’ve selected a target publication, analyze it to determine its writing conventions (such as level of formality and the manner in which sources are acknowledged) and design conventions.

As you learn about your subject and plan, organize, and design your article, keep in mind what you’ve learned about the articles you’ve read. Your article should reflect those writing and design conventions.

9. WRITE A PROFILE OF A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER

Select a friend or family member and write a profile for a newspaper, magazine, journal, blog, or Web site. Interview the person you plan to profile and, if possible, interview friends or family members who are well acquainted with the subject of your profile. Your profile should offer insights into the person’s character and contributions to your life. Support your reflections about him or her with personal experience, information from interviews, and your own reasoning.

10. WRITE A PROFILE OF A PUBLIC FIGURE

Select a public figure who interests you on a personal, professional, or academic level, and write a profile for a newspaper, magazine, journal, blog, or Web site. If you can, interview the person. If you cannot conduct an interview, locate sources that offer information about the person. Your profile should offer insights into his or her accomplishments, interests, and plans. You should reflect on the person’s impact on society and the implications of his or her work for the future. Support your reflections with personal experience, information from a published source or an interview with someone who is aware of or acquainted with the person, and your own reasoning.