Inquiry+Assessment

You recognized the beauty and the complications of this purpose for writing. On the one hand it can be focused on well-defined questions, such as the "urban myth" or "that's disturbing." These genres have a clear focus, characteristic form, and clear purpose. You proposed a format of question- exploration-conclusion, which I think captures most inquiry. But there are less distinct purposes that aim toward exploration with no clear focus, such as "burning questions" and "I'd like to know more about . . ." These are writer-centered purposes and sometimes have no defined audience. This is a powerful way to learn, but may not have the distinct shape of a genre. They are open-ended and may lead to more questions. In resolving the rubric at the end I think you were torn between these two kinds of writing. The purposes are somewhat in conflict, and only inquiry as genre with a defined audience can really have a form. Inquiry as exploration is powerful because it is formless, with an entirely different purpose-- to discover and learn!

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