wrtg293 all week discussions latest 2016 july

wrtg293 week 1 discussion 1

WRTG 293 students,

This might be your first class in LEO. Or you might have taken quite a few classes in LEO.

LEO, or Learning Experience Online, is the interface uses in delivering its online classes.

Please respond to this discussion thread and mention three issues you might like to see improved in the LEO interface. If you have taken classes in LEO before, you can draw upon your previous experience. If this is your first class in LEO, you can peruse the interface and gather ideas.

In your response, please write what the issue or function is that you would like to see improved. Then write one or two sentences describing why it needs improvement.

Consider the following definition of tone in your analysis:

http://depts.gpc.edu/~gpcltc/handouts/communications/recognizingtone.pdf.

This discussion is related to our first writing assignment.

Week1

DQ2

Please read through the following problem-based scenario about a credit card company manager who receives an application for a credit card from Todd Riley, who is not old enough to apply for a credit card without a cosigner.

Then write a short response to Todd as the scenario describes. Your response should be about 150-200 words in length.

This might be considered a conventional “bad news” situation. Nonetheless, consider whether you are really giving Todd bad news. He can, after all, get a credit card if he takes some extra steps.

In addition, please respond to at least one other student's post in this discussion thread. In your response to a fellow student, comment on the organization, word choice, tone, or whatever else you feel is appropriate. Please draw upon the Jameson article on tone (located in your eReserves section) in your response to your fellow student. Your response to the other student can be two or three sentences

Problem-Based Scenario

You are the credit manager for FlashExpress, a growing credit card company, and your department receives hundreds of applications for credit cards each month. Frequently, you receive credit card applications from individuals under the legal age who are applying for a credit card. Legal regulations prohibit you from issuing a credit card to underage applicants unless a parent or other guarantor cosigns with them. If the minor does not pay, then the guarantor becomes responsible for the account. In addition to requiring a guarantor, FlashExpress requires underage applicants to fill out an additional supplemental form.

In your role as credit manager, write a letter to Todd Riley, a 17-year-old underage applicant, responding to his request for a credit card. Consider your audience, the context, and the purpose of your letter. Your letter should explain that you have enclosed a necessary supplemental form, along with a new credit card application, both of which need to be filled out. The guarantor must sign both forms. To expedite processing, Todd should mention on the top of the application that he has applied for credit previously and should return the application and supplemental form directly to you.

Week2

DQ1

WRTG 293 students,

Please watch the following short video on how to write an effective email message.

Then respond to this discussion thread by writing an email message for the following situation:

You are a manager at Jordan Telecommunications. You have noticed that, on two different days last week, the alarm for your building was not set properly when the last person left for the day. When you arrived at the office the next day, you noticed that the alarm system had not been properly set.

This presents a dangerous situation. Your property insurance states in your policy that the alarm must be set if no one is in the building. Of course, the purpose of the alarm is to alert the local police department if someone breaks into the building.

Write an email message of no more than three paragraphs to your staff. The message will state the problem. In addition, it will review the steps one has to take in setting the alarm system.

(Use your creativity when writing the steps for setting the alarm. You can make up your own set of steps. They probably shouldn’t involve more than five steps.)

In composing your email message, write what your subject line will be in addition to your actual message. In other words, you will have the following:

Subject:your subject line goes here

Message:

your message goes here

Please give feedback to at least one other student's response to this thread. In your feedback, feel free to draw upon the advice in the video or the advice giving in the reading for week 2.

Week 2

DQ2

A response to this forum is required for this week.

In Forbes magazine's Leadership Forum, Professor Bies of Georgetown University has listed some handy tips to keep in mind when developing a strategy to deliver bad news:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/05/30/10-commandments-for-delivering-bad-news/#4883adf91df9

Think about a situation in which you or your organization had to deliver bad news. Analyze it in light of the points in the Forbes article, and post it here in this forum. Keep your response to under 300 words. Respond to at least one of your peers.

You may also want to consult Purdue's OWL site for effective rhetorical strategies to communicate bad news (you can access OWL via your Writing Resources section of the course as well):

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/654/

Week3

DQ1

The last writing assignment in our class will be a white paper. This discussion thread is designed to help you get started in thinking about this assignment.

Please watch the following video from the Purdue Owl. The video is entitled, “White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations.”

The video is 9:44 long.

White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations

After watching the video, please respond to the following two tasks.

1. Describe a possible white paper for an internal audience. You may consider your workplace or a community organization you belong to. What might be a possible white paper topic that could be written for this audience?

For example, let us consider an example of an individual named Arnold. He coaches soccer for his local soccer team. The soccer league does not have a Facebook page. He could write a white paper to the board of his soccer league discussing why social media presence might be helpful to the league and why Facebook in particular might be a form of social media the league should consider.

This would be an example of an internal audience, as Arnold is familiar with the individuals on the board, coaches for the league, and is involved in the organization.

2. Describe a possible white paper for an external audience. You may consider your workplace or any other organization.

For example, let us consider an example of a person named Sharon. She works for a company that has developed a new method of taking care of outdoor turf for athletic fields. She could write a white paper for athletic leagues in her area. The white paper might compare current methods of treating turf to the new method.

This would be an example of an external audience, as Sharon is not familiar with the individuals who will read her white paper, does not work for or volunteer for these athletic leagues, and is not involved in these organizations.

In this discussion task, you will consider your own work or community situation. What would represent an issue, problem, or development that you might respond to with a white paper to an internal audience? And what would represent an issue, problem, or development that you might respond to with a white paper to an external audience?

Whatever ideas you come up with in responding to this discussion thread, you are not bound to any of these ideas for your last writing assignment. The purpose of this discussion thread is to help you start your thinking process for the last paper.

Week 3 DQ2

You wrote a response to Todd Riley in week 1. Mr. Riley had applied for a credit card with your company, FlashExpress. However, he was 17 years old and not of age to apply for one on his own.

Please read pages 74-79 from the article, "Using Problem-Based Scenarios to Teach Writing," by Hicks et al (please refer to your eReserves). Then answer the following questions.

1. This article provides three possible responses to Mr. Riley. How is response #2 an improvement over response #1? Please write two to four sentences in your response.

2. How is response #3 an improvement over both responses #1 and #2? Does response #3 read like a "bad news" letter? What strategy did Paula Persuader use in her response to Mr. Riley that was different from those of the two other writers? Please write two to four sentences in your response.

3. Please describe a situation in which you had to write a message of bad news. Without giving away names or personal information, please describe in as much detail the situation you encountered. This could be a denial of a request from a customer, a note to a contractor that you no longer want his or her services, a message to a company indicating that you are returning a product, etc. Did you apply any of the principles outlined in this article? The authors in this article state that not all "bad news" situations are necessarily bad. In Todd Riley's situation, it was turned into an opportunity by Paula Persuader. You might comment on whether you used this type of language in your personal situation.

Week4

DQ1

Please watch the following video, “What is a White Paper,” from Mak Pandit.

The video is 16:35 long.

Then answer the following questions. This discussion thread is set up so that you cannot see other students’ answers to the thread until you have posted your answers to the thread.

1. Write one characteristic of a white paper that makes it different from, for example, a book or an article published in a magazine or journal.

2. Why would a person read a white paper?

3. Do some research on the history of white papers and how the term “white paper” came into our lexicon. Write one paragraph of a few sentences describing what you find. You don’t have to cite sources in this paragraph in APA format. Simply list the websites you accessed in finding the information.

4. The lecturer mentions at the 8:00 mark that white papers should have a “neutral presentation (marketing should be subtle).” Why is this the case?

5. Was there any information in this lecture that was different from or gave a different understanding of white papers than the previous lecture from the Purdue OWL gave? If so, state one point from this lecture that you feel represented new or different information from that presented in the Purdue OWL lecture.

Week4 DQ2

Please download the following documents. They are both located in the e-reserves section of our class.

CANRIGHT, "White Paper Basics"

Jackson, M.J, et al, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, “The need for specialty curricula based on core competencies.”

To access the documents, please take the following steps:

Select Content

Select Course Resources

Select eReserves

Click on the eReserves icon in the middle of the interface

Select the paper, “White Paper Basics.”

Click View this item.

Download the document

Select the paper, "The need for speciality curricula base on core competencies

Click View this item.

Download the document

Then, please watch the following video. The video takes you through some highlights of the CANRIGHT document.

After watching this video, please peruse the white paper, “The need for specialty curricula based on core competencies.”

This white paper is structured quite differently from the structures that you have seen in the Purdue OWL lecture and in other materials. It does not have an executive summary or a table of contents. It is set up more like a journal article.

Please answer the following questions:

1. Examine the types of white papers on pages 10-11 in the CANRIGHT document. What type of white paper is this one?

2. What is the problem that this white paper is identifying? Please write one sentence in giving this answer.

3. What is the proposed solution? Please write one sentence in giving this answer.

4. Examine the graphics in this white paper. Do they enhance the message being delivered? Why or why not? You might choose one graphic in this white paper and analyze it in defending your answer.

5. Examine the terms that this white paper defines. Choose one of them. Why is this term defined by the authors of this white paper?

Week 5 Discussion

You have heard some lectures on white papers and have read some materials on them. This discussion thread is designed to help you analyze two sample white papers.

In the e-reserves section of your class, there are two white papers on the topic of education.

from the Committee for Economic Development. The white paper is called “How Business Leaders Can Support College- and Career-Readiness: Staying the Course on the Common Core.”

from R.P. Phelps and R.J. Milgram of the Pioneer Institute. The white paper is called “The Revenge of K-12: How Common Core and the New SAT Lower College Standards in the U.S.”

In this discussion thread, you will peruse both white papers and answer a few questions

Please note that these white papers are rather lengthy. They are much longer than the white paper you will write for this class. In addition, in answering this set of discussion questions, you don’t have to read through every word of both of these white papers.

To access these white papers, please take the following steps:

Select Content

Select Course Resources

Select eReserves

Click on the eReserves icon in the middle of the interface

Locate the first paper.

Click View this item.

Download the document

Locate the second paper.

Click View this item.

Download the document.

Discussion questions:

The first three questions refer to the CED white paper, "How Business Leaders Can Support College- and Career-Readiness: Staying the Course on the Common Core."

1. The CED white paper supports the Common Core. Please read the executive summary. What is the problem that the CED is identifying? What is the CED's solution? Please write one or two sentences in answering this question.

2. Examine the graphics the CED white paper integrates. Please comment on at least one graphic and how it helps (or hinders) the message of the white paper.

3. Who is the audience for this white paper? Please write a few sentences in which you comment on how effectively this white paper reaches this audience.

Questions 4-6 refer to the “The Revenge of K-12” white paper.

1. This white paper, which is from the Pioneer Institute, is opposed to the Common Core. Please read the executive summary. What is the problem the Pioneer Institute is identifying? What is its solution? Please write one or two sentences in answering this question.

2. Examine the graphics the Pioneer Institute white paper integrates. The graphics in this white paper seem to incorporate a slightly different purpose than do the graphics for the CED white paper. Please comment on at least one graphic and how it helps (or hinders) the message of the white paper.

3. Who is the audience for this white paper? Who is the audience for this white paper? Please write a few sentences in which you comment on how effectively this white paper reaches this audience.

Week6 Discussion

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a series of white papers available for download. For this discussion thread, you will download the white paper, “How Cities Can Stop Wasting Money, Move Faster, and Innovate.”

To access this white paper, please go to the following url:

https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/

This white paper is the eighth paper on the website. Please scroll down to this particular white paper and click download Whitepaper.

This white paper is organized in a similar fashion as other white papers you have read in this class. It has a title page, a table of contents on page 4, an abstract on page 4, and then the body of the white paper on pages 5-16. It does not cite any sources, but rather uses testimonies from various cities and municipalities to give credibility to its claims.

Please answer the following questions, answering each one in one to three sentences or so.

1. Who is the audience for this white paper? In other words, what potential clients is it trying to attract?

2. Examine pages 5-7. Is this white paper “marketing” AWS a bit too much? Remember the lecture from Mak Pandit in which he noted that the presentation should be “neutral” and “marketing should be subtle.” Please use one or two examples of words or phrases from pages 5-7 and explain whether you feel Amazon is being subtle here.

3. Notice the headings in the white paper. They are not typical academic headings. They are designed to catch the reader’s attention. This strategy resonates with a strategy given in the Purdue OWL lecture. What strategy did the Purdue OWL mention in this regard?

4. Please comment on whether the graphics in this white paper help communicate the message. You can see Figure 1 on page 6 and Figure 2 on page 14.

5. Various cities are mentioned in this white paper. The white paper first mentions three cities and one county in the United States (McKinney, Texas; Asheville, North Carolina; and King County in Washington State; and Boston, Massachusetts). It then mentions locations outside of the United States—Moovit in Israel, Transport for London, and the London City Airport.

Is there a strategy as to why a particular city or location is mentioned in any particular part of the white paper? In answering this question, you can select one city or location and analyze why it was mentioned in the particular section of the white paper in which it was mentioned.

Week7 Discussion

This discussion thread will be the last one for our class. I am making it a fairly straightforward one, as I know you want time to work on your white papers and other items.

This class is called “Introduction to Professional Writing.” The class has covered some aspects of business writing and some aspects of technical writing. In this discussion thread, we will analyze both business and technical writing.

For this discussion, you will access the article by Kitty O. Locker. It is “Will Professional Communication Be the Death of Business Communication?” The article is in your e-reserves. It is also referred to at the top of the week 8 content items.

You don’t have to read through the whole article. If you would like to, you will find a very interesting historical analysis of the the teaching of technical writing and the teaching of business writing. In a nutshell, Locker makes the following 10 points:

1. In the 1900s, business writing focused on persuasion, while technical writing focused on exposition (see pages 119-122).

2. The term professional writing was used to refer to writing in the professions, such as medicine, law, and religion (see page 122).

3. Textbooks did not use the term professional to mean business or technical writing until around 1987 (see page 122).

4. Journal articles started to use the term professional communication around 1988 (see page 122).

5. The term professional writing then “mushrooms,” in Locker’s view.

6. English departments did not like to use the word business writing because it was associated with money and greed (see page 123). This trend fostered the use of the word professional writing because it avoided the use of the term business (see page 123).

7. The term technical writing has been dominant over the term business writing for three reasons: 1) research in technical writing is more extensive than research on business writing, 2) companies hire people for “technical writer” positions, thus engendering student perceptions that they can make a living by studying technical writing. Companies do not have “business writer” positions. 3) The onset of World War II created the need for technical communication, with complex weaponry and the need for instructions. “Business communication has never been a national or business priority in the same way” (p. 126).

8. In the 1970s, 50 percent of the business writing courses resided in English departments. In 1993, 16 percent of business writing courses resided in English departments. Sixty percent were in business schools. And now business schools are starting to call such courses managerial or executive communication (see page 127).

9. David Dobrin wrote an article in1987 giving technical writing the high road over business writing (see page 128). Locker took exception to his article.

10. Technical writing is different from business writing in that technical writing emphasizes exposition (“One assumes a motivated but ignorant and perhaps impatient audience.”), while business writing emphasizes persuasion (“The communicator’s problem is not primarily exposition…but motivation.) (page 129).

For this discussion thread, please focus on pages 129-130 of the article. Locker makes the case that technical writing is not persuasive writing, but rather expository writing. In other words, it gives information. It does not persuade the reader to take action. However, she argues, business writing does persuade the reader in some way.

Do you agree with Locker? Do you feel that technical writing involves providing information for an audience already motivated to take a certain step, while business writing is persuading an audience?

There is no right or wrong answer on this. You might say that in some ways Locker is correct and in some ways she is not. O r you might say she is totally correct. Or you might say that she is not correct.

Please write a paragraph of 5-10 sentences in responding to this thread. You can draw upon your experience in writing your set of instructions, your experience in writing any other assignments in this class, and your experience in writing in your workplace or community, and your experience in writing for your other classes as you construct your answer.

If you can interact with other classmates on their answers, that interaction will enrich our discussion.