Good morning, everyone!
All of the information is posted for this week on Blackboard. Please find a partner or a group (3-4 people) to work with on Project 4 and let me know who you will be working with. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Best,
Courtney
Blog Assignment 8: Outline of Group Project Presentation
For this blog assignment, we would like you to provide a carefully thought out outline of what you feel should be included in the group project presentation your team will be required to deliver at the end of the semester. That is, employing the guidelines for creating successful public presentations discussed in Chapter 13 of WAPP, we would like you to draft an extended summary of everything you believe should be included in a 10 to 15 minute presentation on the work your team completed for its final project, as well as any notes on visual aids, handouts, or other types of materials you think would be helpful to give to your audience.
Your outline need not be a word-for-word script of everything that you believe your team members would say during such a presentation, but it does need to include enough specific detail about each topic and point that would be made so that readers have a good sense of what both the structure and substance the your presentation would be like. Indeed, each group may very well consider these postings as a way of making decisions about what to include in their presentations when they collaborate in class, so you’ll want to use this opportunity to sketch out in some detail your own vision of what a successful presentation would look like.
It might be helpful to refer to the discussion in "Guideline 4: Use a Simple Structure," and specifically the sample outline provided in your online reading for this week, as a way of organizing your presentation. If you have time, you might also want to provide links to documents, online videos, and/or other visual aids that you feel might be good illustrations of the types of things you'd want to include in your own presentation, if these would help your reader visualize what you envision.
However you choose to structure your outline, and whatever additional material you prepare to go along with your sketch, this blog posting should be at least 300 words in length.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Blog Seven: Editorial Assignment
Good morning, everyone! I just sent out all of this week's assignment information via Black Board. Here is your seventh blog assignment. I have been impressed with many of your blogs and web sites. Keep up the good work!
Best,
Courtney
Blog Assignment 7: Editorial For this blog assignment, we would like you to write and post an editorial on an issue that seems timely and important, and about which you can present an effective case that will move people to share a particular point of view on this topic. That is, your goal will be to engage an issue, problem, situation, event, or trend that you feel is significant and worth addressing, and to talk about the issue in a way that will appeal to a wider public audience and persuade them to take a particular stance.
You may choose any issue you wish to write about, keeping in mind that in order to write effectively, you will need to think very carefully about four things:
Timing/timeliness; that is, you will want pick a topic that is current, relevant, or interesting to a group of people besides just yourself, and you will need to discuss this topic in ways that engage a real set of readers to want to take some action on the issue;
Situation/context; while it is perfectly acceptable to pick a local topic or issue, you will want to spend some time thinking carefully about where such an editorial might actually appear, and how this context might affect other choices you make as a writer;
Audience; who are you writing to, and how can you discuss this issue or topic in ways that will engage the widest number of people, even those who might not be inclined to think this topic important initially;
Intention; what you hope to accomplish in writing this letter, keeping in mind that you might want different readers to have different reactions to different aspects of your discussion.
Your editorial itself should be between 300 and 500 words long, and should be targeted toward a specific publication or website (with the name of the publication or URL of the website included in your post). To demonstrate that you’ve considered each of the four aspects above, we would like you to submit a 250 word description of your rhetorical situation (your thoughts on the above points) after your editorial.
Remember, your editorial is meant to be persuasive, meaning that you should seek to reinforce, reverse and/or shape a set of ideas and beliefs about this topic. We will also want to see that you engage each of the guidelines for persuasion we’ve been talking about the last few weeks, as well as some of the moves of proposals you've been studying throughout the semester.
Best,
Courtney
Blog Assignment 7: Editorial For this blog assignment, we would like you to write and post an editorial on an issue that seems timely and important, and about which you can present an effective case that will move people to share a particular point of view on this topic. That is, your goal will be to engage an issue, problem, situation, event, or trend that you feel is significant and worth addressing, and to talk about the issue in a way that will appeal to a wider public audience and persuade them to take a particular stance.
You may choose any issue you wish to write about, keeping in mind that in order to write effectively, you will need to think very carefully about four things:
Timing/timeliness; that is, you will want pick a topic that is current, relevant, or interesting to a group of people besides just yourself, and you will need to discuss this topic in ways that engage a real set of readers to want to take some action on the issue;
Situation/context; while it is perfectly acceptable to pick a local topic or issue, you will want to spend some time thinking carefully about where such an editorial might actually appear, and how this context might affect other choices you make as a writer;
Audience; who are you writing to, and how can you discuss this issue or topic in ways that will engage the widest number of people, even those who might not be inclined to think this topic important initially;
Intention; what you hope to accomplish in writing this letter, keeping in mind that you might want different readers to have different reactions to different aspects of your discussion.
Your editorial itself should be between 300 and 500 words long, and should be targeted toward a specific publication or website (with the name of the publication or URL of the website included in your post). To demonstrate that you’ve considered each of the four aspects above, we would like you to submit a 250 word description of your rhetorical situation (your thoughts on the above points) after your editorial.
Remember, your editorial is meant to be persuasive, meaning that you should seek to reinforce, reverse and/or shape a set of ideas and beliefs about this topic. We will also want to see that you engage each of the guidelines for persuasion we’ve been talking about the last few weeks, as well as some of the moves of proposals you've been studying throughout the semester.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Week 6 Blog Assignment
Hi everyone!! For this week's blog assignment, please leave your name and the url for your new website in the comments section below. Visit the sites of three of your classmates and leave comments for them, via their site, about the site's appearance, design, and creative aesthetic. That's it for this week!!
Best,
Courtney
Best,
Courtney
Monday, June 27, 2011
Blog Assignment 5 & Website
Good morning everyone!! Welcome to Week 5 of ENG333.
I just sent out an e-mail to all of your Blackboard accounts explaining your assignments for this week. Please let me know if you are having any issues or confusion regarding any assignments or projects. Listed below is the blog assignment, and I sent out the material for Project 2, in which you will design and build a web site for your field. I can't wait to see how your projects turn out!
Courtney
Blog Assignment 5: Beginning the Job Search
To help you get started with your next major Course Project, we would like you to locate four or more openings that you could realistically hope to apply for in the next few months, and to begin to analyze the needs and skills required for these various positions. To do this well, you should follow these steps:
First, you’ll want to consult a range of online and print sources for information regarding job openings, internships, graduate school programs, or other professional opportunities. For example, one place you might start is checking out resources available through USM Career Services at http://www.usm.edu/cs/students/students.html.
Depending on your major or area of interest, you might also want to check out various professional organizations affiliated with your discipline or field, many of which will probably post job and training opportunities. One place you might start looking for professional associations affiliated with your field or discipline online is: http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Organizations/Professional/.
You might also just try doing an online search with a combination of “[YOUR FIELD OR INDUSTRY] + Professional + organization”.
Finally, you might consider looking at your own department’s website for information about career opportunities, graduate programs, or professional associations that might be of help.
Second, once you have found at least four openings/opportunities that look like they might be potentially interesting, spend some time compiling a master list of the types of qualifications, skills and experiences they all seem to be looking for in a potential candidate. Do this in your blog post itself, and provide any links to the actual job ads and/or websites of the organizations that are hiring.
Next, in a new paragraph, spend some time identifying your major skills, training, accomplishments and experiences that would match up well to each item you identified in the previous list, making notes about how you might demonstrate that you possess these skills on your resume and cover letter.
Finally, select one of these positions in particular you feel like you might be well suited for (or that you’d be very interested in pursuing further), and write a paragraph or two explaining why you would want the position, and how you might go about writing a resume and cover letter to maximize your chances at obtaining it.
This blog entry should be approximately 750 words in length and contain multiple links to the various job ads you've located.
I just sent out an e-mail to all of your Blackboard accounts explaining your assignments for this week. Please let me know if you are having any issues or confusion regarding any assignments or projects. Listed below is the blog assignment, and I sent out the material for Project 2, in which you will design and build a web site for your field. I can't wait to see how your projects turn out!
Courtney
Blog Assignment 5: Beginning the Job Search
To help you get started with your next major Course Project, we would like you to locate four or more openings that you could realistically hope to apply for in the next few months, and to begin to analyze the needs and skills required for these various positions. To do this well, you should follow these steps:
First, you’ll want to consult a range of online and print sources for information regarding job openings, internships, graduate school programs, or other professional opportunities. For example, one place you might start is checking out resources available through USM Career Services at http://www.usm.edu/cs/students/students.html.
Depending on your major or area of interest, you might also want to check out various professional organizations affiliated with your discipline or field, many of which will probably post job and training opportunities. One place you might start looking for professional associations affiliated with your field or discipline online is: http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Organizations/Professional/.
You might also just try doing an online search with a combination of “[YOUR FIELD OR INDUSTRY] + Professional + organization”.
Finally, you might consider looking at your own department’s website for information about career opportunities, graduate programs, or professional associations that might be of help.
Second, once you have found at least four openings/opportunities that look like they might be potentially interesting, spend some time compiling a master list of the types of qualifications, skills and experiences they all seem to be looking for in a potential candidate. Do this in your blog post itself, and provide any links to the actual job ads and/or websites of the organizations that are hiring.
Next, in a new paragraph, spend some time identifying your major skills, training, accomplishments and experiences that would match up well to each item you identified in the previous list, making notes about how you might demonstrate that you possess these skills on your resume and cover letter.
Finally, select one of these positions in particular you feel like you might be well suited for (or that you’d be very interested in pursuing further), and write a paragraph or two explaining why you would want the position, and how you might go about writing a resume and cover letter to maximize your chances at obtaining it.
This blog entry should be approximately 750 words in length and contain multiple links to the various job ads you've located.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Blog Assignment 4
Hi everyone,
Here is Blog Assignment 4, which you can also find in the Weekly Learning Modules section of Black Board under Week 4. The assignment corresponds to Chapter 4 in your book, which is titled: "Letters: Establishing and Maintaining Relationships and which can be found on p. 514. Please have the blog completed by Sunday. Thanks!!
Courtney
Blog Assignment 4: Improving Professional Correspondence Your latest chapter from WAPP discusses in some detail the way that readers in professional settings actually respond to texts as they encounter them, noting that effective communicators need therefore to take a “reader-centered” approach to crafting their messages. The chapter concludes by discussing several strategies for producing more effective emails, letters, memos, and other types of correspondence.
To emphasize this work, we would like you to re-read and then revise the document below (which is offered as an example in the chapter and discussed at some length.) Specifically, we would like you to revise this email message by Donald Pryzblo so that it will be more likely to persuade the personnel manager to follow Pryzblo’s recommendation. To do this well, you'll need to take into account the way you expect the personnel manager to react upon finding such an email in his or her in-box. Indeed, you should make sure your first sentence clearly addresses a person in that frame of mind, and that your other sentences lead effectively from there to the last sentence, which you should leave unchanged.
Additional Background Information: For the purposes of this revision, you can assume that Pryzblo knows that the manager’s clerks are miscopying because he has examined the time sheets, time tickets, and computer files associated with the 37 incorrect payroll checks; in 35 cases, the clerks made the errors.
Text of Email:
To: T. Leoni, Manager, Personnel Department
From: Donald Pryzblo, Manager, Data Processing Department
Subject: INCORRECT PAYROLL CHECKS
I have been reviewing the “errors” in the computer files.
Contrary to what you insinuated in our meeting, the majority of these errors were made by your clerks. I do not feel that my people should be blamed for this. They are correctly copying the faulty time tickets that your clerks are preparing.
You and I discussed requiring my computer operators to perform the very time-consuming task of comparing their entries against the time sheets from which your clerks are miscopying.
My people do not have the time to correct the errors made by your people, and I will not hire additional help for such work.
I recommend that you tell your clerks to review their work carefully before giving it to the computer operators.
Once you have revised this email, please explain the changes you made to the original document, why, and what you hoped to accomplish in the revised version.
This blog entry should be approximately 500 words in length.
Here is Blog Assignment 4, which you can also find in the Weekly Learning Modules section of Black Board under Week 4. The assignment corresponds to Chapter 4 in your book, which is titled: "Letters: Establishing and Maintaining Relationships and which can be found on p. 514. Please have the blog completed by Sunday. Thanks!!
Courtney
Blog Assignment 4: Improving Professional Correspondence Your latest chapter from WAPP discusses in some detail the way that readers in professional settings actually respond to texts as they encounter them, noting that effective communicators need therefore to take a “reader-centered” approach to crafting their messages. The chapter concludes by discussing several strategies for producing more effective emails, letters, memos, and other types of correspondence.
To emphasize this work, we would like you to re-read and then revise the document below (which is offered as an example in the chapter and discussed at some length.) Specifically, we would like you to revise this email message by Donald Pryzblo so that it will be more likely to persuade the personnel manager to follow Pryzblo’s recommendation. To do this well, you'll need to take into account the way you expect the personnel manager to react upon finding such an email in his or her in-box. Indeed, you should make sure your first sentence clearly addresses a person in that frame of mind, and that your other sentences lead effectively from there to the last sentence, which you should leave unchanged.
Additional Background Information: For the purposes of this revision, you can assume that Pryzblo knows that the manager’s clerks are miscopying because he has examined the time sheets, time tickets, and computer files associated with the 37 incorrect payroll checks; in 35 cases, the clerks made the errors.
Text of Email:
To: T. Leoni, Manager, Personnel Department
From: Donald Pryzblo, Manager, Data Processing Department
Subject: INCORRECT PAYROLL CHECKS
I have been reviewing the “errors” in the computer files.
Contrary to what you insinuated in our meeting, the majority of these errors were made by your clerks. I do not feel that my people should be blamed for this. They are correctly copying the faulty time tickets that your clerks are preparing.
You and I discussed requiring my computer operators to perform the very time-consuming task of comparing their entries against the time sheets from which your clerks are miscopying.
My people do not have the time to correct the errors made by your people, and I will not hire additional help for such work.
I recommend that you tell your clerks to review their work carefully before giving it to the computer operators.
Once you have revised this email, please explain the changes you made to the original document, why, and what you hoped to accomplish in the revised version.
This blog entry should be approximately 500 words in length.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Corrections, Quiz, Blog, Etc.
Hi everyone,
It was just brought to my attention that the student copy of the text "Writing in Academic, Professional, and Public Contexts" has a confusing layout that incorporates non-sequential chapters from two separate textbooks. I don't know why the publisher did that, and I agree that it's confusing. To clarify, the reading for this week appears in the book as "Week 4," which covers _not_ Chapters 4 & 5, but rather Chapters 6 and 14. The readings are on pages 119-166. I apologize for any confusion. In the future, the quiz will just be over the reading listed for that week, whatever chapter's those may be. Week 4 is about research in your academic field.
Also, the web administrator posted the wrong assignment for Blog 4, something about a travel brochure. If you did this assignment for your fourth blog, that's fine and you will get credit. However, I took that assignment down and posted the correct one, which corresponds to the discussion that begins on p. 514 about correcting professional correspondence.
The quiz will open this evening and I will leave is posted until Saturday to give you an adequate amount of time to do the reading in case you read the wrong assignment. Again, I apologize for any confusion. I am out of town for the week, but available via e-mail, blog, and Skype in the event that you have any questions.
Thanks!
Courtney
It was just brought to my attention that the student copy of the text "Writing in Academic, Professional, and Public Contexts" has a confusing layout that incorporates non-sequential chapters from two separate textbooks. I don't know why the publisher did that, and I agree that it's confusing. To clarify, the reading for this week appears in the book as "Week 4," which covers _not_ Chapters 4 & 5, but rather Chapters 6 and 14. The readings are on pages 119-166. I apologize for any confusion. In the future, the quiz will just be over the reading listed for that week, whatever chapter's those may be. Week 4 is about research in your academic field.
Also, the web administrator posted the wrong assignment for Blog 4, something about a travel brochure. If you did this assignment for your fourth blog, that's fine and you will get credit. However, I took that assignment down and posted the correct one, which corresponds to the discussion that begins on p. 514 about correcting professional correspondence.
The quiz will open this evening and I will leave is posted until Saturday to give you an adequate amount of time to do the reading in case you read the wrong assignment. Again, I apologize for any confusion. I am out of town for the week, but available via e-mail, blog, and Skype in the event that you have any questions.
Thanks!
Courtney
Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 4
Good morning everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well. I received most of your projects and will start grading them this week. The information for the next unit, which covers Weeks 4, 5, and 6, will be posted today or tomorrow. There will be a quiz over Chapters 4 & 5 on Thursday and Blog Post 4 due on Saturday. We will also start thinking about your second project. I will notify you via Black Board as things get posted, but make sure that you check back frequently. As always, if you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks!
Courtney
I hope everyone is doing well. I received most of your projects and will start grading them this week. The information for the next unit, which covers Weeks 4, 5, and 6, will be posted today or tomorrow. There will be a quiz over Chapters 4 & 5 on Thursday and Blog Post 4 due on Saturday. We will also start thinking about your second project. I will notify you via Black Board as things get posted, but make sure that you check back frequently. As always, if you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks!
Courtney
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