Your final writing assignment will be a Formal report on your major group project. Know what particular elements go into this assignment by reading the following directions carefully. (Many elements listed in the textbook are not required here for this assignment.) See generic examples of much of the following on 447-464.

Your final report should contain the following:

FRONT MATTER

COVER:

Include on the cover page:

• a. the title and subtitle of the report
• b. the name/title/address of the person for whom it was prepared
• c. your name and title, address, phone and e-mail
• d. the date of submission

--this is printed on heavy stock paper and often includes a company logo

TITLE PAGE:

Include on the title page:

• a. the title and subtitle of the report
• b. the name/title/address of the person for whom it was prepared
• c. name and title, address, phone and e-mail for each team member
• d. the date of submission

--basically, this is a replication of the Cover, on regular paper, inside the document

PREFACE --Not a Letter of Transmittal:

Include in the Preface a descriptive narrative of:

• a. the problem
• b. your role in relation to the problem
• c. important findings and commentary on the report's organization

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

Effective headings in the paper will result in an effective table of contents. Avoid generic headings if at all possible, though you can use Methods, Results, or Recommendations. Use a hierarchical system of headings that involved capitalization, underlining, indention, outlining, decimalization, change of fonts and size, etc. Headings and subheadings must appear EXACTLY in the same form in the table of contents as they do in the body.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:

Use a separate page and then cite the List of Illustrations within the Table of Contents. --you will be required to have at least one table, one graph, and one chart for this assignment. These are minimums and more, of course, are recommended. It is also recommended that you perform some primary research, in the form of a questionnaire. The results of your primary research can be the basis for your visual aids, an appendix of raw data, and an appendix of the questionnaire or survey tool you designed.

THE REPORT BODY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Limit this nontechnical condensation of your report to one page, double spaced. Give only a basic understanding of the problem or opportunity that led to the project, as well as only the major findings. This must be an "informative" summary--see page 466.

The Body -- Text Discussion

It is recommended that you include somewhere within the body of your report a Case Study of some sort, offering a scenerio whereby you apply some aspect of the generalized subject matter you are writing about to a specific real-life situation. More localized case studies tend to be more concrete, such as applying part of your topic to a scenerio at Millikin University or a business within the central Illinois community. These fictional scenerios often help provide readers with understandable examples of the applications of your study.

The headings of your report are entirely up to you. Be sure that they are appropriate and specific. Leave extra white space before major headings. Avoid long stretches of text that contains no headings or subheadings. (As a rule, try to avoid over a page of text without some sort of heading.) Double space your report and follow all the standard rules of edited English.

Errors in grammar and spelling are not professional and will greatly affect your grade. The body of a report typically contains these headings: an introduction, a methods section, and specific sections on results, a summary, conclusions, and recommendations. Provide ample "Structural Guideposts" for your readers. Each of your major headings should be broken down into many secondary and third-level headings. Again remember that the sections and subsection headings of your paper must appear exactly the same as they do in the table of contents.

Closing Sections of the Body

Close your report with a Summary, that condenses for your readers the most important information in your report, a Conclusions section, that comes to a sense of logical conclusions derived from your summary, and a Recommendations section, where you actually tell your audiences some specific actions to take in regard to your conclusions.

BACK MATTER

WORKS CITED/BIBILIOGRAPHY:

Be consistent in your use of a format of documentation endorsed by your field. Everything cited within your paper must appear on this page.

GLOSSARY:

A glossary is particularly useful if your audience is a mixed one. Use an asterisk to mark words in your report appearing in the glossary. Include a footnote or parenthetical citation after the first use of the asterisk to indicate its purpose. For the purposes of this report, a glossary of vocabulary terms from our course text book is recommended, inserted into the body of your report to make distinct connections between your topic and course content.

APPENDIXES:

Use letters to identify appendixes (Appendix A, Appendix B) and refer to them where appropriate in the text. Include extra information too bulky for your body here and full page illustrations, graphs, charts, and tables. You will also include all "group" documents compiled through the semester.

Important Information about Final Formal Reports:

1. Final reports are all due on the due date listed on the syllabus. No late papers are accepted. Keep a pristine copy of your report for yourself; though you will see your marked and graded final report I will also keep it for my records.

2. Appearance counts as much as content, grammar, and spelling. Pay attention to all margins and other style elements. Avoid the possibility of having to correct any last minute mistakes.

3. Bodies of the better reports usually average 6 to 10 pages long. This is not including the title page, preface, tables of contents, summaries, illustrations, appendixes, etc. Except for the title page, pages prior to the body are numbered in small Roman numerals, so you will never see a "i" but rather will begin with a "ii." The first page of the body (the Executive Summary) is also not numbered but every page thereafter will receive an Arabic number, so you will never see a "1" but will start the second page of your body with a "2."

4. Content is extremely important to an outstanding paper, but remember that this is an English course. Demonstrate knowledge of standard edited English! Major errors or multiple minor errors will result in low grades.

Pay close attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage. Do not allow these surface qualities to negate a semester of hard work. Use a handbook constantly and visit the Writing Center often!

DEADLINES:

A rough draft of the body of your Final Report is due as indicated on the syllabus.

No late papers will be accepted for this major assignment. Early final drafts are gladly accepted.