Section: Module 2: Lesson 5: Analytical Report: Writing from Facts | Writing for Health Sciences | NextGenU.org
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Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize bias in reading and oneself, and ask critical thinking questions to explore ideas for a report.
- Define the term myth buster and its connection to field research, answer questions about investigating and reporting information, and gather information from biographical texts.
- Determine the purpose and audience expectations for an analytical report, identify key features and characteristics of both informal and formal reports, and define key terms related to an analytical report.
- Identify the genre conventions of an informal analytical report, analyze the organizational structure of a piece, and recognize how writers use evidence and objectivity to build credibility, including identifying sources of evidence and source citations.
- Identify the elements of the rhetorical situation for a report, find and focus a topic, gather and analyze information from appropriate sources, draft a thesis and create an organizational plan, as well as compose a report that develops ideas and integrates evidence from sources, and giving and act on productive feedback.
- Distinguish between essential and nonessential information in sentences and use commas for clearer, more effective sentences.
- Evaluate feedback on a report and apply another reader's response to the rhetorical choices made as a writer.
- Explain the role of discipline-specific and technical language in various situations and contexts, implement purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, and word choice, and pursue options for publishing a report.
- Write about the development of composing processes, how they affect one's work, and objectivity as a writer.
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Students mustMark as done
Required Learning Resources and Activities
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (10 minutes)
Rice University - 2021
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (5 minutes)
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Students mustViewStart discussions: 1
Instructions:
Read the questions carefully. Make sure you understand what the question is asking.
Gather your thoughts. What do you know about the topic of the question? What are your thoughts and opinions on the matter?
Write a brief outline of your response. This will help you to organize your thoughts and make sure you cover all of the important points.
Write your response. Be sure to answer the question directly and provide evidence to support your claims.
Proofread your response. Make sure there are no errors in grammar or spelling.
Be open to feedback. Ask your classmates for feedback on your responses. This will help you to improve your writing skills and learn from your mistakes.
Here are some additional tips for answering discussion questions:
Be clear and concise. Your response should be easy to understand and follow.
Use evidence to support your claims. This could include quotes from the text, statistics, or your own personal experiences.
Be respectful of other people's opinions. Even if you disagree with someone, you can still be respectful of their point of view.
Questions
- What does Barbara Ehrenreich mean when she describes herself as a “myth buster?” If you were to bust a myth, what would it be?
- What facts do you think Ehrenreich discovered during her time working undercover? What opinions do you think she formed?
- What do you think were Ehrenreich’s sources of information, and how did she obtain such information?
- If you went undercover to investigate and report on an issue that you think people should know about, what would it be? How would you go about your undercover reporting?
- Could someone live on minimum wage in your community? What information about the cost of housing, food, transportation, and medical care would you need to answer the question? How could you find it?
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (14 minutes)
Rice University - 2021
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (18 minutes)
Rice University - 2021
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Students mustViewStart discussions: 1
Instructions:
Read the questions carefully. Make sure you understand what the question is asking.
Gather your thoughts. What do you know about the topic of the question? What are your thoughts and opinions on the matter?
Write a brief outline of your response. This will help you to organize your thoughts and make sure you cover all of the important points.
Write your response. Be sure to answer the question directly and provide evidence to support your claims.
Proofread your response. Make sure there are no errors in grammar or spelling.
Be open to feedback. Ask your classmates for feedback on your responses. This will help you to improve your writing skills and learn from your mistakes.
Here are some additional tips for answering discussion questions:
Be clear and concise. Your response should be easy to understand and follow.
Use evidence to support your claims. This could include quotes from the text, statistics, or your own personal experiences.
Be respectful of other people's opinions. Even if you disagree with someone, you can still be respectful of their point of view.
Questions
- Trevor Garcia identifies three reasons for the failure of the United States to contain the coronavirus in 2020. What are they? Can you think of others he should have included?
- What does Trevor use as evidence—facts, statistics, examples? What are the sources of his evidence? Are his sources credible and reliable?
- Analyze Trevor’s objectivity and bias as a writer. Is his language objective? Give examples of where he is objective and where he reveals his bias.
- In what ways does Trevor view the U.S. response to the pandemic through the lens of critical, analytical thinking? Give examples.
- What are three strengths of Trevor’s report? What are three weaknesses?
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (49 minutes)
Rice University - 2021
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Students mustViewStart discussions: 1
IMPORTANT
Make sure to carefully read and follow the instructions while completing the tasks. Once you have finished activities 8.5 and 8.6, proceed to section 8.7 Evaluation: Reviewing the Final Draft. This section provides rubric tools for self-evaluation and evaluating the work of your classmates. After completing the evaluation, move on to section 8.8 Spotlight on … Discipline-Specific and Technical Language, where you will encounter new challenges to showcase your content. Finally, go to section 8.9 Portfolio: Evidence and Objectivity to find useful tools, recommendations, and reflections for creating your portfolio. Afterward, move on to the next Module.
Now, let's get started! Using the following template, share your tasks, taking into account the order of the different sections detailed chronologically.
Summary of Assignment: Critical Response
Write an analytical report on a topic that interests you and that you want to know more about. The topic can be contemporary or historical, but it must be one that you can analyze and support with evidence from sources.
The following questions can help you think about a topic suitable for analysis:
Why or how did ________ happen?
What are the results or effects of ________?
Is ________ a problem? If so, why?
What are examples of ________ or reasons for ________?
How does ________ compare to or contrast with other issues, concerns, or things?
Consult and cite three to five reliable sources. The sources do not have to be scholarly for this assignment, but they must be credible, trustworthy, and unbiased. Possible sources include academic journals, newspapers, magazines, reputable websites, government publications or agency websites, and visual sources such as TED Talks. You may also use the results of an experiment or survey, and you may want to conduct interviews.
Consider whether visuals and media will enhance your report. Can you present the data you collect visually? Would a map, photograph, chart, or other graphic provide interesting and relevant support? Would video or audio allow you to present evidence that you would otherwise need to describe in words?
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Thesis and Organization
Drafting a Thesis
When you have a grasp of your topic, move on to the next phase: drafting a thesis. The thesis is the central idea that you will explore and support in your report; all paragraphs in your report should relate to it. In an essay-style analytical report, you will likely express this main idea in a thesis statement of one or two sentences toward the end of the introduction.ANSWER
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Drafting an Analytical Report
With a tentative thesis, an organization plan, and evidence, you are ready to begin drafting. For this assignment, you will report information, analyze it, and draw conclusions about the cause of something, the effect of something, or the similarities and differences between two different things. (Introduction, Body paragraphs: Point, Evidence, Analysis, Compare and contrast paragraphs, Conclusion, Citing sources)
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (5 minutes)
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Students mustViewStart discussions: 1
Practice Using Commas
Read each of the following sentences. Decide whether the underlined portion of each sentence is nonessential or essential. Place commas before, after, or around the nonessential information as appropriate.
The department has consulted the curriculum expert Malcolm Green whose textbook is widely usedend.
Two members of the math department Janelle Brady and Tye Lavalleend are retiring next year.
The textbooks that are now in use are outdated.
Students have given feedback on the online classes that have replaced in-person classesend underline.
The math department now offers more evening classes which attract more studentsend and fewer summer classes.
Several instructors who teach mathend also teach computer science classes.
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (6 minutes)
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (6 minutes)
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Students mustView
Read the entire page. (2 minutes)
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