Who is the audience for your report? How will your readers affect the details you gather for it? List items of information that will be new to readers. List items that readers will need help to understand.
To be interesting, the information in your report must be new
to readers. For example, readers may already know about
- the basic rules of baseball
- what the Statue of Liberty looks like
- the basic causes for the Civil War
Readers may not know, however,
- how you achieved your winning season in baseball
- how the Statue of Liberty was designed and erected
- what life was like for a private in the Civil War
Remember that your readers are probably not authorities on
the topic. What terms should be defined?
What information do you already have about your topic? List facts and figures, expert opinions, and direct observations.
Sometimes, information for a report comes entirely from your own experience. For example, if you have had experience with bicycling, you may already know about
- different brands of bikes--costs, features, styles
- safety tips
- techniques for improving speed
What information do you need to find out about your topic? List questions that you and your readers might want answered.
Outside sources of information for your report include
- books, magazines, and newspapers
- reference books such as encyclopedias
- Computer CDs
- videotapes and videodiscs
- community resources such as government offices
For help with using outside sources, click Bibliography Maker.
List the main ideas that you want to cover in your report. You might want to list them as what is known as "5WHow? questions": Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How?
Jot down as many 5WHow? questions as you can think of. Later, you can discard the ones that don't seem important.
Example:
Topic: karate
Who invented karate?
Who are some famous karate experts?
What was the original purpose of karate?
What are some of the basic techniques of karate?
Where and when did karate begin?
How is karate different from other martial arts?
Why is karate studied today?
You'll need to develop each of your main ideas with supporting facts, explanations, and details. Jot down some details to support your ideas.
Here's an example.
Topic:
Mary Henrietta Kingsley, British explorer and scientist of the 19th Century
Main Ideas:
Kingsley's first African journey
Details:
description of West African rain forest
explanation of native customs
list of difficulties of journey
examples of scientific findings
Write one or two sentences that give the controlling idea for your paper.
The controlling idea shows how you will focus your topic. It is a brief statement of what you will cover in your paper.
Example:
Mary Henrietta Kingsley was a Victorian lady who defied the customs of the time to become a great African explorer.
