ESSAY: HOW-TO Magazines, newspapers, and books offer abundant examples of "how-to" articles. To be effective, these articles should incorporate most, if not all, of the eight points characteristic of instruction sheets. Those points create clarity and give precise information to the reader. Writing must be instructive and logical if the reader is to learn. The article will not be credible if the directions are not given clearly.

Here is your goal for this assignment:

Write an original prose instructional composition

To write a "how-to" article, first select a subject that can be written about with authority. Be sure that you clearly understand the task so that you can give correct instructions. Be objective in writing "how-to" articles.

Give facts; do not inject personality into the material. List the steps in chronological order. What is the first thing to do? The second? The third? Be sure to explain precisely by using examples, comparisons, and contrasts.

In writing an article, pretend that the article is written for someone who is new to the process you are describing. To say, "First you put the blanket on the horse," is not sufficient. If the reader has never ridden a horse, the instructions must begin even further back in the process. The horse must first be caught. A lead must be placed around its neck and tied to a post. Don't assume that the reader knows the steps that you are tempted to leave out.