Element 1 A general summary of the assignment, including a rationale explaining the assignment's importance and its connection with past, current, or future work.

Element 2 A statement of the assignment's purpose: in history, to inform or persuade (note: entertainment is another valid purpose of writing, and, while secondary, forms a valid purpose in history writing). The purpose of a report might be to provide clear information (practical/informative writing). The ultimate purpose of writing in history is to develop persuasive analytical/expository writing. Such writing analyzes and explains why, in the writer's informed judgment, something is the way it is. It can also focus on persuading a reader why, on the basis of available evidence, s/he should adopt the author's point of view on the issue in question.

Element 3 A description of the writer's role: will they be writing as themselves, or as a textbook editor, or as a voter in 1852, or as a 1930s congressman to his constituents, or as a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the 1890s?

Element 4 A description of the audience for the work: will they be writing to a younger, less-knowledgeable audience (a very good simulated audience for whom they must define terms, articulate hidden assumptions, provide adequate background information)? Other possibilities include: President Lincoln; the readers of a Revolutionary-era newspaper, the master of a southern plantation, a robber baron.

Element 5 A description of the writing form or type, including, but far from limited to, the expository essay, a letter to the editor, a diary entry, an op/ed piece in a newspaper, a play set in a particular historical era, a speech, an application, a personal letter. Set the length according to the assignment's purpose, the amount of writing required to get the job done (you must decide this), and the proficiency of your students (this will require adjustments in the first two). Specify length in number of lines.

Element 6 The focus correction areas. Be sure to mix among style, content, organization, and mechanics, and resist the temptation to overemphasize mechanics.

Element 7 Procedure--specify any steps needed to complete the assignment (e.g. "Find appropriate library resources, draft an outline, write a first draft, read-aloud edit, turn in draft on ___"). The procedure will vary with the type of assignment, the form, the students' proficiency. A teacher should always specify due dates, offer guiding questions, and include reminders about any decisions that need to be made.

Examples of Type 3 and 4 assignments