Last Blog: Summer B

For your last blog, I would like you to draft a one-paragraph proposal for the formal analytical report. Try to decide in this paragraph whether or not you want to do a research paper or a newsletter.  When you have your idea, think how the four contexts of use (ethical, physical, economic, and political) might influence your paper's topic. Name your document's purpose---inform, persuade, report, resolve, etc.---, and make a plan of action, detailing how will you begin and complete this assignment.  To receive full credit, I must see the following items mentioned in your blog:
(1)You have decided to do a research paper or a newsletter.
(2)Pick two of the contexts of use and apply their relevancy to your topic.
(3)Name your document's purpose.
(4)With at least three sentences, detail your plan of action for completing this assignment.
Good luck! It's been fun reading your blogs, and I look forward to reading this one.

Blog III and IV (Summer B)

This blog posting is worth double points.  I strongly suggest you take the time to do it well.  For this posting, you must look to the future.  You have completed your education, and now you must find a job of some kind.  To get full points, you must answer the following questions: (1) What’s your dream job is and how you plan to apply (are you going to consult the paper, jobsearch.com, or some other source?); (2) What are your salary expectations? (3) How you plan to dress for the interview?  (4) Suppose the interviewer asks you what your greatest weakness is.  What would be your response to that question? You must write at least two paragraphs to receive full credit for this assignment.

Summer B: Blog II

(2)Suppose you had to draft a technical document for a company.   Before doing so, you have to take your audience into consideration.  Using Chapter 3 to guide you, come up with a document that you would like to write for a certain company.  To get full credit for this posting you must do the following: (1)Create your own fictitious company;  (2) define the purpose of the company and their document; (3) name the genre of your document;  (4) briefly discuss  the physical, economic, and political contexts of your document.

Summer B: Blog B

(1)For this first blog posting, I would like you to pretend that you an angry email from a colleague of yours.  The email contains abusive language and fabricated accusations that you neglected company policies.  For full credit, you must answer the following questions:  (1) What is your first course of action? Are you immediately going to respond, or are you going to wait to craft your response? (2) Will you run to a higher authority, a boss or a supervisor, to help you with your email, or will you handle it alone? (3) Write a brief, three-to-four sentence message to your accuser.  Make sure you consider points about Email Netiquette as found in the Chapter 13.

Blog V: Formal Analytical Report Proposal

For your last blog, I would like you to draft a one-paragraph proposal for the formal analytical report. Try to decide in this paragraph whether or not you want to do a research paper or a newsletter.  When you have your idea, think how the four contexts of use (ethical, physical, economic, and political) might influence your paper's topic. Name your document's purpose---inform, persuade, report, resolve, etc.---, and make a plan of action, detailing how will you begin and complete this assignment.  To receive full credit, I must see the following items mentioned in your blog:
(1)You have decided to do a research paper or a newsletter.
(2)Pick two of the contexts of use and apply their relevancy to your topic.
(3)Name your document's purpose.
(4)With at least three sentences, detail your plan of action for completing this assignment.
Good luck! It's been fun reading your blogs, and I look forward to reading this one.

Blog III and IV (Summer A)

You’ve paid your dues, climbed the proverbial ladder, clawed your way through the human pile of talentless hacks, and now you’ve landed your dream job.  For the first part of this blog, you must write about your daily routine at your dream job.   Basically, answer these questions: (1) describe your job, (2) how much you are getting paid (realistically), and (3) your plan for retirement.  Once you have answered those three questions, think about the ethical considerations o f your job.  And then write about a real or fictional situation that involves a communication-related ethical dilemma.  As you describe the situation, try to bring personal, social, and, if applicable, conservation ethics into the conflict. At the end of the situation, leave your readers with a difficult question to answer.  

Proposal Projects

Suppose you are a professional technical writer for global company.  Your boss has asked you to write a persuasive document that can help the company's growth in developing countries. (What that persuasive style entails us up to you).  From what you have read in Chapter 2 of your text, write about your action plan for this assignment.  How will you gather your sources?  What tone will your document have?  What will you put in the beginning, middle, and end of your document?

To receive full points for Blog II, you must answer the above questions to best your ability.  Remember, get in the habit of showing, not telling in your writing. Best of luck.

Blog Posting Summer: A (Here we go again)

As you have read in Chapters 1 and 13, effective communication affects the productivity of a technical workplace.   Suppose you were to start your own company.  What would be your company’s mission statement?  What personal qualities would you look for in you employees?  Name some of the restrictions  you would place on workplace communication.

To receive full credit for this blog, you must do and answer the following: (1)Create your own company; (2)name the qualities a good employee, at your company, should have;  (3) write a one-sentence mission statement, disclosing your company’s purpose;  (4)name some your company’s restrictions on communication within your workplace.   Your response must be at least one full paragraph, meaning five to seven sentences.  Best of luck.

Blog I: Summer A

As you have read in Chapters 1 and 13, communication in a technical workplace is essential to productivity.   Suppose you were to start a technical company of your own.  What type of technical company would you start?  What qualities would look for in potential employees?  Name some of your rules in policies regarding company emails.  Would you terminate an employee because of an email outside of your policies?  How would you communicate an employee’s breach of your company’s polices?

To get full credit on this posting, you must create your own company and establish its purpose.  List the qualities you want in potential employers.  Then name a few of your disciplinary policies regarding inappropriate emails.  Finally, think of either a mission statement or goal unique to your company.  Remember, you are the brain of your organization.  Its success not only depends on your smarts, but also the dependability of your employees.   Good luck.

Difficult Presentations

(*Note) This blog is worth 25pts.  Turn to 448 in your textbook.  There you will find the story entitled, "The Coward," starring our intrepid heroine, Jennifer Sandman.  Apparently, Jennifer is about to give a presentation that does not sit comfortably with the town regulars.  They do not want a GrandMart in their little community.  In addition to all this, Jennifer thinks her boss is a coward.

Suppose you had to give a difficult speech in front of a hostile crowd.  How would you handle yourself? Would you risk your life to get your company's point across? Would you leave if the people got out of hand, and started to chuck stones in your direction? Though they probably would not put Jennifer's head on a pike, she could still be hurt by a hostile crowd. In the end, is it worth it?