Informational Reports for Non-Expert Readers: An Introduction

Imagine these scenarios:

• You're taking your grandmother to the grocery store, and she asks you about what you want to do after you graduate (because all grandparents do that, right?). You tell her that you'd really like to focus on green engineering because you feel compelled to do all you can for the planet. To this, your grandmother -- who still uses a flip phone, has no idea what a Tweet is, and isn't sure she trusts microwaves -- replies, genuinely interested, "What's green engineering?" How would you teach your grandmother about green engineering?
• You're home for spring break, and your parents -- who aren't the most tech-savvy people in the world, but do love their smartphones -- tell you they're thinking about investing in smart home technology because almost everybody in the neighborhood has it now and they've heard how absolutely great it is, but they're not 100% sure what the heck it really does. "You're young and you have all of these gadgets," your mom says. "What is smart home technology? What's it involve? How does it work?" How would you teach your parents about smart home technology?
• You've taken your six-year-old brother to the local park to fly his new kite. While you're there, you see a group of people in the distance flying drones. Your brother looks at his kite, looks at the drones, and then looks up at you with a disappointed scowl. "That looks like a lot more fun," he whispers. "What are those? How do they work?" How would you teach your brother about drones?

Informational Articles. Informational Reports. White Papers. Regardless of how it is formatted or presented, all of these documents inform their readers about a subject. Whether it takes the form of a report, a guide, a “book,” or a simple “paper,” what we are going to call in this course an informational report is both informative and authoritative.

This module will introduce you to informational reports that are produced not for specialists but for non-expert readers, potential readers like your grandmother, your parents, or your little brother.