Creating A Guiding Purpose Statement

A report’s guiding purpose statement serve two purposes: first, it unifies the facts and information of a
report by describing the overall purpose; and second, it “forecasts” what the report will discuss. That is,
the guiding purpose statement should answer the questions “Why was this report written?” and “What is
this report about?” Therefore the guiding purpose statement should include the topic of the report, and

Describing the Purpose:

Imagine you found the following information in a report: what would the guiding purpose statement of
such a report look like? Create guiding purpose statements for the groups of information below.
Example
Topic: Free speech
Facts/Info:
• Question: Should there be limitations on freedom of speech?
• Free speech is one of the fundamental rights US citizens cherish
• Some people use speech to slander, insult, harass, or threaten others
GPS: Freedom of speech is an essential right, but it should not be meant to include hate speech.

I. Topic: Punk music II. Topic: hydrogen fueled cars

Facts/Info:
• Question: What is the current state of
punk music?
• Punk music has risen in popularity in the last
20 years.
• Punk was once considered to be on the
fringe of society, embraced by angry and
disillusioned youths.
• The liminal figures of early punk music
were thought to be dangerous rabble-
rousers.
• Current punk bands play to audiences of
hundreds of thousands, and compete with
pop stars for radio and video airtime.
• Stores like Hot Topic have commercialized
the edgy punk look
GPS:
Facts/Info:
• Question: Should carmakers dedicate
time and energy into producing
hydrogen-fueled cars?
• The burning of fossil fuel is one of the
leading causes in air pollution
• Hydrogen fueled cars do not run on fossil
fuels
• Developmental research is needed to create
more efficient hydrogen powered cars
• Developmental research is very expensive
• Hydrogen fuel expels a high amount of
greenhouse gas
• Until enough research can be conducted,
production of hydrogen cells will rely on
fossil fuel for at least the next 10 years.
GPS:

Forecasting:
“Forecasting” simply means “predicting”—a guiding purpose statement will “predict” what happens in
the report by briefly describing the report’s structure.
Example
“In this report, we will first discuss the history of free speech in America and its
Constitutional foundations. Then, we will present some examples of the abuses of free
speech. Finally, we will argue that some limitations should be placed on free speech to
protect the basic rights of Americans.”
In this example, we would expect to find the sections of the report to be structured as follows:
I. History of free speech
II. Abuses of free speech
 III. Proposed limitations of free speech
Create a guiding purpose statement that forecasts the following report structures, indicated by the section
headings:

I. Topic: Punk music II. Topic: hydrogen fueled cars

Section Headings: Section Headings:
I. The Early 80’s Punk Scene I. Pollution and Fossil Fuel
II. Contemporary Punk and The Global II. The Hydrogen Alternative: Friend
Market or Foe?
III. Comparison Between Punk and Pop III. Costs of Development of Hydrogen
Album Sales Fuel Technology
IV. The Current State of Punk Music: A IV. More Research: The Environmental
Change For Better Or For Worse? vs. Economic Costs
GPS: GPS:

The Final Product:

Now, simply combine these two parts to have a complete guiding purpose statement.
Example
“Freedom of speech is an essential right, but should not be meant to include hate speech. In
this report, we will first discuss the history of free speech in America and its Constitutional
foundations. Then, we will present some examples of the abuses of free speech. Finally, we
will argue that some limitations should be placed on free speech to protect the basic rights of
Americans.”
From this guiding purpose statement, we can easily identify the topic, and get a good idea of the scope of
the report: we can tell that the report is about “freedom of speech,” and that it will cover some elements of
free speech in the constitution; conversely, if we were looking for information about free speech in mass
media, we would immediately know that this report would be of little use to us—all from reading the
guiding purpose statement.

Using the answers you’ve created in the worksheet above, write a complete guiding purpose statement for
each of the topics in the space below:

I. Topic: Punk music II. Topic: hydrogen fueled cars

GPS: GPS: