Preparation: Purpose

We have been examining the purpose of documents and expectations of our readers. Now, write the purpose statement for your document. Write the purpose in a way that suggests the type of action the reader will take as a result of reading the document. Begin with this phrase:

When my primary reader reads this document, he/she will…

If you are writing part of a report or proposal rather than the entire document, we suggest you first write a general purpose statement for the document itself, then a more specific statement indicating the purpose of your section of it.

You will submit your purpose statement to your tutor as part of your assignment and it forms one of the components of your Report/Proposal Planning Document. You will be completing other components of this planning document as you work through this module, so keep it handy.