ONLINE ENGLISH 1302
INVESTIGATING ESSAY
PUR P O S E
An investigating essay is the writer’s attempt to share newly discovered information with his/her
readers. Since the writer is sharing new information, the introduction and statement of purpose in
an investigating essay needs to reflect this intention. Rather than “inform” the reader or “teach” the
reader, the essay sets out to let the reader know what information has been discovered and
uncovered that is useful and applicable to the topic.
LE N G T H
The final draft of this investigation essay should be about 350 – 500 words, or about 2 ½ - 3
typewritten, double-spaced pages. This is a short essay and requires a narrow, focused subject of
the investigation that is at once useful and practical.
AU D I E N C E
Direct this essay to a diverse audience of classmates. Assume various ethnicities, ages, and
backgrounds, but you can assume your reader is both curious and reasonably educated.
IN S T R U C TIONS
Use this essay to share useful information on a topic that you have chosen as interesting and
important (as in useful) to you. This is not the genre or format to expound upon the causes of global
warming or the reasons for the global economic meltdown. Get practical, get specific, get local, as in
something immediately useful and applicable to yourself.
Use the Internet search engine(s) to locate 3 reliable and authoritative sources. These three sources
may not include Wikipedia, as this interesting web encyclopedia does not control authorship and is
therefore not recognized as a viable academic source.
When incorporating the information from sources into your essay, use Modern Language
Association (MLA) documentation style. This requires that sources be cited parenthetically within
the essay at point of use, and then listed as a source on a Works Cited page following the essay.
Format essay in MLA Paper format. The instructions for this format are included in Learning Unit 2
as well as in a folder under COURSE INFORMATION on our eCampus web site. Make sure your
