College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy!

1. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy! By Allen Brizee, PhD Loyola University Maryland

2. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy! • IntroductionYou’re familiar with how to write a college essay, but writing a report may be new to you. Adjusting your essay writing to report writing primarily consists of two steps: • 1. Adjust how your document looks • Make your text more accessible (HATS) • Topic sentences can become headers for different sections • 2. Adjust how your document reads • Put the bottom line up front in introduction and paragraphs • Compose tight, concise sentences (KIS)

3. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy! 1. How Your Document Looks (HATS) Here is an overview of how the documents look from a distance: Traditional essay, large blocks of text, information difficult and time consuming to retrieve Report format with small, well-balanced blocks of concise data, easy to access data, topic sentence can become heading

4. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing Program Guide for Students This paragraph comes from the student essay, “The American Dream: Remember, It’s Not in Full Color” by Douglas A. Dooley • Topic Sentence for New Section • Black corporate executives are finally having an impact on corporate America. • Topic sentence begins broad and outlines what the next section of the essay will discuss • Heading for New Sections in Report • The Impact of Black Executives in the U.S. • Heading is shorter and more concise allowing for quick, easy access to information

5. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing Program Guide for Students • First Sentence in Paragraph • Richard Carter, former president of public affairs at a major cable television company and current free-lance writer, says that African Americans are “indeed beginning to penetrate the upper ranks of corporate management” (Carter). • Provides more detailed information from inquiry process • First Sentence in New Section in Report • African Americans are “beginning to penetrate the upper ranks of corporate management,” according to Richard Carter, former president of public affairs at a major t.v. company. • Report sentence uses BLUF by stating the most important data first, then the source • Report sentence is also more concise

6. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing Program Guide for Students • Second Sentence in Paragraph • According to The Wall Street Journal, in May of 1992, the number of black professionals managing 100 employees or more has only risen 1.5%, from 3.7% in 1978 to 5.2% in 1992 (Rigdon). • Provides statistical data as a more detailed representation of inquiry process Graphic Representation in Report As we can see in the line graph below, the number of black professionals managing 100 employees or more has risen only marginally. • 1986 1992 • Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 1992 • Provides a visual representation and reinforcement of information – quick, easy access to data

7. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy!2. How Your Document ReadsInquiry Essay taken from the Virginia Tech First Year Writing Program Guide for Students Conclusion First Sentence: As you can see, African Americans in corporate positions face obstacles and discrimination that are truly unique to African Americans. However, being African American in the United States' corporate world is not an entirely negative thing. Last Sentence: Working hard and following the rules increases your chance of success, but ultimately “a host of other factors [including race], having nothing to do with ability or merit, dictates how high one can rise” (Cose 42). • Conclusion • Report Conclusion Sentence: CorporateAfrican Americans still face race-based obstacles. White Americans do not have to face the same types of discrimination as do many minorities. For black executives, working hard and following the rules does not guarantee success because according to Cose, “a host of other factors, having nothing to do with ability or merit, dictates how high one can rise” (42). • Shorter, more concise, to the point, easy access of information and conclusions

8. College Essay to Formal Report – Poof! It’s Easy! • ConclusionSo to wrap up, adjusting your essay writing to report writing primarily consists of two steps: • 1. Adjust how your document looks • Make your text more accessible (HATS) • Topic sentences can become headers for different sections • 2. Adjust how your document reads • Put the bottom line up front in introduction and paragraphs • Compose tight, concise sentences (KIS)