Assignment Question
Write & Revise
● Write and revise, write and revise, and write and revise some more for your original draft.
● Begin by reviewing: The Rubric The Your final issue brief for this class will include: section on p. 2-3.
● Reminders:
○ Be succinct – Your audience does not have the time or inclination to read an in-depth 20 page argument on a policy/issue problem. Once you have a clear draft, start editing it down. Be clear, concise, and focused. This might take more than a few additional drafts. 6 pages maximum (not including appendices)
■ What information is necessary?
■ Does every piece of information focus on my well-defined problem?
■ What information is best conveyed with a picture or graph or bulleted list?
○ Make your own graphs and tables. It is very unlikely that an existing chart or table will be exactly tailored to your purpose and your audience. By creating your own original tables, charts and graphs, you are showing your expertise, matching the formatting of your chart to your issue brief (i.e. using complementary colors) and only using specific and relevant data.
○ Use clear headings for each section and consider using colors, images, boxed text, etc…
○ Thoughtful and practical: take your time to become an expert and consider all alternatives
○ Focused – all aspects of the issue brief (from the message to the layout) need to be strategically focused on achieving the intended goal of convincing the audience to follow your advice. ○ Be professional, but not necessarily academic – Your audience is not interested in the research process or procedures conducted to produce the evidence, but are interested to know the writer’s perspective on the problem and potential solutions.
○ Focus on being Evidence-based – This is NOT about your wit or persuasive techniques. You are an expert and your audience expects a rational presentation that is supported.
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