What Are Informative Articles?

An informative article gives the reader unbiased facts about a topic.

An informative article informs the reader by explaining and giving details on a given topic. The informative article is not an argumentative article that tries to persuade the reader to one side or the other. It covers all the pertinent details: who, what, when, where and why. Newspaper reporting uses informative articles; how-to articles represent another category.

1 Who

An informative article identifies the people involved. For instance, if the informative article is about a governmental policy change, it includes the congressmen, senators or lobbyists involved in the issue. The article also identifies the stakeholders, those affected by the topic, if any.

2 What

An informative article includes a brief history of the subject, changes over the years and its present state. An informative article about training golden retrievers, for example, may contain a brief history of training patterns for the breed, what owners train dogs for now and some methods for training.

3 When

Informative articles contain pertinent dates. For example, in an article about a July 4th event, the reader will want to know the day and time of the event. An article about a historical event, such as the first Constitutional Congress, includes the dates of the event.

4 Where

Informative articles provide location details for the topic. When reading an informative article, the reader learns about where the topic takes place. In a July 4th event article, the informative article tells the reader where the event is taking place.

5 Conclusion

The conclusion of an informative article presents the highlights of the article and connects them to the article's purpose. For example, the conclusion of an article about a government policy may remind the reader of possible implications of the policy or cover the historical importance of the issue.

Rebecca Cooper holds a B.A. in English and is pursuing an M.A. in English. She has contributed to her university newspaper, as well as a vacation website. She specializes in topics related to contemporary American literature and the publishing industry.

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