The Report

A composition is writing that develops an idea, concept or thesis.   An essay is a relatively short composition.   It is divided into paragraphs.   A report, like a book, is a relatively long composition.   It is divided into sections or chapters which, in turn, are divided into paragraphs.

Everything that was said about essays applies to reports.   The primary difference between an essay and a report is that a report is usually longer than an essay.   Therefore a report needs further subdivisions to keep subtopics separated.   This is accomplished by dividing it into sections, or chapters, or both.   These, in turn, are divided into paragraphs.   However, because there will be many body paragraphs, the concluding paragraph will be longer than in an essay and will introduce the next section or chapter.   The composition poverty is maybe a little too short for a report.   It is an essay, although the dividing line between the two kinds of compositions is not sharp.

The report needs a topic sentence (thesis) telling what the report is about.   Also, each section and chapter should have a topic sentence that states the topic to be covered in that section or chapter.