Inform or Explain: Writing to inform or explain requires students to integrate complex information from multiple sources in a lucid fashion, such as facts about a new technological application or a set of workplace procedures. To achieve coherence, students must illustrate the connections between ideas and events, such as cause and effect. Students also must organize their description or explanation in a manner appropriate to the context, responding to the specific needs of the reader by both covering the relevant ground and anticipating confusions that might arise. Writing is an opportunity for students to show what they know.
