Assessment 4 Instructions: Informative Writing: Drafting, Revising, and Proofreading

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• PRINT
• Complete a 2.5-3-page informative essay based on the outline you wrote for Assessment 3.

The third stage of the Hero’s Journey is the trials faced by the hero as they move along their journey. All of the trials are experiences that should help with gaining wisdom along the way, but they are obstacles at first.

As you complete your work for this course, consider how your trials and obstacles can lead to success. For example, are you struggling with a certain area of writing? Are you struggling with completing the work? This week is a good time to consider areas of struggle, or trials, and reach out to your instructor to think of ways to remove these obstacles to continue on your path to successful course completion. As you continue with the stages of writing to draft your informative essay, be aware of your obstacles and actively seek to overcome these obstacles.

Part of facing obstacles is rethinking and reworking your path as you move along your quest. Writing a draft helps you consider obstacles you can overcome through revisions. You will continue through the stages of writing to first writing a draft of your paper, and then to revise and proofread your paper. As you do this, you will consider the obstacles encountered in the draft and resolve these through the revision process.

Here are some heroes who helped others resolve obstacles and trials:

• Corrie ten Boom, writer, worked with her family members to help many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War by hiding them in her home.
• Alan Turing, father of artificial intelligence and theoretical computer science, helped the Allies defeat the Nazis by intercepting many coded messages. Although hard to measure, it is estimated that his work shortened the Second World War in Europe by 2–4 years and saved millions of lives.
• Emily Greene Balch, Peace Prize recipient, was an economist, sociologist, and pacifist who had a long-standing interest in social issues such as poverty, child labor, and immigration.
• Bill Gates, business person and technology guru, is also a philanthropist. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on health care goals, such as HIV or AIDS research and malaria vaccines.

Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Compose text that articulates meaning relevant to its purpose and audience. 

• Include information based on own professional understanding of the topic.
• Competency 2: Integrate into text the appropriate use of scholarly sources and evidence. 

• Support the topic with academic research from one journal article.
• Competency 3: Apply prewriting, planning, drafting, and revision skills. 

• Revise paper by incorporating feedback.
• Competency 4: Apply accepted style conventions and written expression skills. 

• Apply proper formatting, including a title page, correct margins, font, and spacing.
• Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.

Use your outline from Assessment 3 to write a 2.5–3-page informative essay (page requirement does not include title page or references page). Write your essay to inform your audience about your selected topic. Include one source from the Capella University Library as support. In your informative essay, identify and explain how a concept, a subject, or an experience within your discipline drives your academic and career interests. You can choose from the following disciplines: nursing, public health, business, information technology, or psychology. Revise and proofread until complete. Also, use Library Help.

In this assessment, you are not persuading, or trying to convince your reader of something. Ask yourself: What does my reader need to know? 

Use the Paper Formatting Example [DOCX] to guide your writing and formatting.

In your paper:

• Explain your selected topic.
• Support your explanation of the topic with academic research from one or more scholarly journal articles.
• Develop text using organization, structure, and transitions that demonstrate an understanding of cohesion between main and subtopics.
• Apply proper formatting, including a title page, correct margins, font, and spacing.
• Integrate into text appropriate use of scholarly sources and evidence.

Additional Requirements

Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Standard formatting: Use one-inch margins, appropriate headers, and a title page.
• Length: Submit 2.5–3 double-spaced pages.
• Font and font size: Use Times New Roman, 12-point font.

Your ePortfolio can serve as evidence of your writing growth throughout your academic journey. Your portfolio is also a professional portfolio that you can share with any future professionals who are interested in you as an employee and colleague. To wrap up the course, add your inform essay and persuasive essay to your Pathbrite ePortfolio. Use the ePortfolio resources on Campus to create your ePortfolio

Informative Writing: Drafting, Revising, and Proofreading Scoring Guide