White Paper for an External Audience
Summary of the Assignment:
Task: In this paper, you will write a document that provides information that an external audience can use to inform a decision.
We have read various white papers in the class this semester. White papers can be any
one of the following types:
technical papers
business benefit papers
advocacy papers
hybrid technical/business papers
The CANRIGHT document that is provided in the class in LEO describes all four of
these types of white papers.
Length: 1300–1600 words
Graphics: at least three graphics, one of which has to be original
Format in Citing and Listing Sources: APA
Number and Sources: at least five sources, at least one of which has to be obtained
through OneSearch
Brief Description of the White Paper:
In preparing for this assignment, you will want to review the following video:
“White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations,” from the Purdue OWL
You may take any of the following approaches:
a general white paper to an external audience – written to individuals in a particular
industry or field of study, but not an organization you are a part of. The white paper
could address a problem you are attempting to solve in the organization or to inform an external audience about a relevant trend.
a white paper promoting a new product or service to potential customers. This is an
example of a white paper to an external audience, but it features different rhetorical
considerations than the typical white paper written to an external audience does
