Summer Session A 2006 Website:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~cthaiss/302bsu06.html
Phone:
703-993-1273
E-mail: cthaiss@gmu.edu
Office: Robinson A423
Hours: MT 2-3 PM and by appt.
*memos
*letters
*proposals
*brief research reports
*white papers
*webpage construction (optional--see Technical
Support)
As customary in business, the writing in
this course will be highly
collaborative.
Its effectiveness depends on both individual energy and cooperation.
In these sections, the collaborative writing will be carried out by
such
means as
*electronic mail and real-time
discussion/response (via GMU
Townhall)
*planning, preparation, and presentation
of a small-group field research
project and of a "white paper" based on that research
*small-group "feedback" on drafted
writings
*dialogue with the instructor.
I trust that each person in the course
will emerge from it with a better-developed
sense of the principles and typical methods of business
writing,
plus improved ability to carry out typical business-writing tasks.
Check out the English Department's TEC
Program (Technology in the English Concentrations) for tutorials on
a wide range of web skills, from basic webpage design and searching
databases
to such advanced skills as image manipulation, sound recording, and
video
capture. ITU
Support at GMU (Innovation Hall 233) offers a range of services and
guides for students who want to improve their computer skills. Grading standards are as follows (grades
to be determined at the discretion
of the instructor):
A = outstanding work: among the specific
virtues, full, active, cooperative,
and imaginative participation in all activities, exercises, and
projects
of the course; prose that consistently demonstrates the principles of
effective
business writing, as outlined in the core text;
B = very good work: full, active, and
cooperative participation in all
activities, exercises and projects; prose that almost always
demonstrates
the principles of effective business writing;
C = satisfactory work: full, cooperative
participation in all activities,
exercises, and projects; prose that, with revision, almost always
demonstrates
the principles of effective business writing;
D = almost satisfactory work: almost
full, usually cooperative participation
in all activities, exercises, and projects: prose that, with revision,
usually demonstrates the principles of effective business writing;
F = unsatisfactory work: inconsistent
participation in activities, exercises,
and projects; or prose that, with revision, still fails to demonstrate
consistent application of the principles of effective business writing.
I will give plusses and minuses
according to GMU policy.
NOTE: A written project will
receive an F if a student does not
participate in every phase of the development of the project
and
meet all deadlines for preliminary materials.
Incidental expenses for xeroxed copying
of project materials.
The University Library System contains
extensive holdings of business-related
books and periodicals, plus online access to many business-related
services.
See Subject
Guides
in Business and Economics
Although we will be working daily in the
computer lab, it will be useful
to you, though not essential, to have home access to Townhall, for any
necessary communication with other members of your research group after
class hours.
I also strongly recommend the additional
advice on your writing that
you can receive through the University
Writing Center, which is open in the summer and where you can
schedule appointments with a tutor to get additional comment on your
drafts. Further advice on your writing in the
School of Management is available in the SOM online writing guide
sponsored by the GMU writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) program. Only one of these articles may
be from a national general
interest online news source (such as www.washingtonpost.com). The other
must be from a
print business publication, such as the Wall Street
Journal,
Forbes, etc. We will practice in class using databases
(e.g., Lexis-Nexis, Dow Jones Interactive) that index print and
electronic
materials on business-relevant topics. I must approve your sources. We
will develop in class questions to ask about the two articles by which
to do a well-informed comparison. Among the areas
of comparison will be purposes, intended audiences,
kinds
of evidence, organization, tone, and graphic presentation.
Your completed analysis will consist of four
main sections:
A. Executive Summary of Your
Comparison--in no more than 200
words you must let your reader know the most important info in
the report (e.g., the two articles you compared, the topic of
comparison, and your judgment). Remember: the executive summary in any business document
grabs the reader's attention and gives him/her a good reason to read on. B. Synopsis
of the
Issue/Event--In 500 well-chosen words,
you will summarize the contents of the issue/event. You should use the
two
articles
as sources for the summary, but you may also use other sources, which
you will need to cite accurately using APA or MLA style (see below).
Since the articles will more than likely agree on many
of the details, summarizing should not be difficult. However, where the
two articles differ, you'll need accurately to state these differences.
C. Assessment of the Important
Differences between the
Articles--In 500 well-chosen words, you will show how the two
pieces
differ in purposes and intended audiences. Most
likely, these differences will be shown indirectly: that is, you will need
to read closely to see differences in the bias of each article
and in the kinds of information
they
use to elaborate and explain. Most journalists strive for balance in
their
reporting, so that articles often appear unbiased and fair. But all
publications
subtly try to sway opinion and action of readers both
by
what they include and by what they leave out. Hence,
the
need for comparative reading on all public issues! D. Judgment: Which article does
the better job of meeting its purposes for its intended readers?--In 300
well-chosen words, argue for your
preference. HINT: the longer article need not be the more
fair
nor the more thorough, though it often is. HINT TWO: be aware of your
own
political and other biases (you have them) and try to do a fair
analysis. Procedure:
Drafts and revised drafts should be submitted using standard
memo
format (see WOJ, 21-25) and should be roughly 1500 words.
Revised
drafts must be accompanied by first drafts (with annotations by
peer reviewers), filled-in critique sheets from peer reviewers,
a one-page "change" memo that describes and justifies the
changes in the
revised draft, and an Appendix that includes photocopies
of the compared documents. MLA or
APA
Documentation Style: Your comparison report should cite your
sources in either American Psychological
Assocation (APA) style, the Documentation style often
preferred by scholars in the
School of Management, or Modern Language Association
(MLA) style, which is required in SOM 301 and some other
SOM courses. The style you choose should be used both for "in-text"
citations and for your list of
sources at the end of the report. The research report itself will consist
of two main parts: an analysis
of five or more typical, significant documents written by the firm
(1-2 double-spaced pages per document analyzed), analyzed for those six
features learned and applied in the Comparative Document Analysis
assignment,
and
a detailed interview or
interviews (minimum of 5 double-spaced pages) with
an experienced employee or employees of the firm knowledgeable about
the range and
types of writing done by the firm as part of its work. Appearance
of Final Report A positive visual impression means that
the reader is more likely to read a business report. Looking good won't
hide poor writng and thinking--but looking sloppy or "thrown together"
often means that even the best writing and thinking will be ignored. I
won't dictate appearance--surprise me and your classmates in a good
way, impressing us with your creativity and style, even as you earn our
respect for the quality and organization of your writing. Evaluation
of Company's Website A third part of the report will be done
online in class: an evaluation
of a web page either produced by the firm or closely related to a
primary
kind of work done by the firm. The method of analysis will be based on
my adaptation of a website
evaluation assignment originally designed by Professor Virginia
Montecino.
Due
Dates of Each Phase of Project Due dates are noted in the schedule
below. Remember that credit for
the entire project is contingent on full,
active, and cooperative
participation
in all phases. Evaluation
Criteria My criteria for evaluating the written
projects are
based
on the principles of effective business writing detailed in the
pertinent
chapters of WOJ and in our class discussions. In addition, I
will grade on the appearance of the final report, as described above,
and on how well each team member meets deadlines and cooperates in the
team venture. Oral
Presentations Because there will be comparatively
little time to prepare and practice
the oral presentations, evaluation
will be less formal; nevertheless,
I will be devoting class time to explaining principles of effective
oral
presentation, and these should be followed precisely. I have been
generally
pleased by the presentations that students have worked up in this
course,
even under severe time constraints. You CAN do it! The deadlines of
this
course are excellent practice for the time pressure you'll regularly be
under in the workplace.
These projects will receive a group
grade; thus, the grade earned by
the team will be the grade earned by each individual on the team.
Nevertheless,
one element of the final report will be the team's self-assessment
of
each person's contribution, and I will take the liberty of
adjusting
individual credit, if necessary. Team members who contribute little
(this
happens rarely, but it does happen) will receive significantly less
credit. In the course of your team field
research on the writing culture of
a business organization, each team
member will identify a communication
issue or problem at the company/agency/business that will form the
basis
for a "white paper" (i.e., a position statement or formal
recommendation).
The white paper is an important form of business report that is used in
both university courses and the workplace. Each member of the team
will
write a separate white paper on a separate issue. I must approve
topics.
Your white paper should be addressed to a relevant manager with the
firm
(though whether you indeed deliver the white paper is up to you!),
rather
than to me as an interested outsider. Your white paper will need to
(1) succinctly describe the issue or
problem, including any relevant
background the reader needs;
(2) state your position on the issue
and/or make recommendations toward
solving the problem;
(3) support your position and/or
recommendations with all relevant data
and sources; (4) cite sources using APA or MLA style. Source material may include your
own relevant experience and
observation and that of others whom you can accurately and specifically
cite; sources may also include print or online articles or product specifications that you must
accurately cite and document. Databases may come in handy in
this
project. A table (e.g., of data, options, or pros and cons)
must
be included somewhere in the document, as appropriate to your subject.
Your final draft should be between 1200
and 1500 words. Include your
first draft, critique sheets, and a
change memo in the final packet.
Student writers
are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only
direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need
citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual
information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did
not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include factual information
which can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers' own
insights or findings from their own field research, (what has been
called common knowledge). What constitutes common knowledge can
sometimes be precarious; what is common knowledge for one audience may
be so for another. In such situations, it is helpful to keep the reader
in mind and to think of citations as being "reader friendly." In other
words, writers provide a citation for any piece of information that
they think their readers might want to investigate further. Not only is
this attitude considerate of readers, it will almost certainly ensure
that writers will not be guilty of plagiarism. M May 22:: Introductions and Exercises; activate e-mail
accounts (see ITU
Support if you need help); T May 23:: Townhall--Getting Started and
the "Junk Mail" exercise; The
Process and Principles of Business
W May 24:: Composing and Revising
Effective Business
Prose (memo and letter exercises); post proposal
for team field research; reading due:
WOJ, Chapters 1, 6b
R May 25:: Effective Editing of Business
Prose: reading due: WOJ Chs. 10 and 11. Teams
begin to compose detailed interview
questionnaire
to conduct fieldwork: reading due
WOJ,
Chapter 3a, to begin prep
for research interviews. Post revised
research proposal.
F May 26:: Last day to ADD classes.
M May 29:: Memorial Day (No Class) T May 30:: Small-group
workshop: compose and post letter of
introduction/commitment
to company. Teams continue composing
interview questionnaires and
POST them to Townhall group sites.. W May 31:: Begin discussion
of "Comparative Document Analysis" assignment and do exercises in
class. **Choose
two articles for Comparative Document Analysis. R June 1:: Continue
discussion of
Document
Analysis criteria (exercise);Bring two (2) articles for CDA to class.
**draft
Comparative
Document Analysis
NOTE: Friday June 2 is the last day to
drop classes without the Dean's
permission. M June 5:: Small-group
workshop on drafts of comparative analyses; discussion
of research progress; **revise and
edit
comparative analyses;
T June 6:: Principles of the "White
Paper"--after our discussion of
examples, submit
proposal paragraphs and
begin
drafting; reading due:
WOJ,
Ch.
6a as prep for discussion of "White Papers"
W June 7:: Workshop: continue drafting
of
white papers in class;
post Field
Research progress memos (interview results); discussion R June 8::
Revised drafts of
Comparative Analyses (plus addenda) due
in class;
Workshop: Drafting,
Organizing, and Formatting Research Reports
M June 12:: Small-group
workshop on drafts of white papers;**begin drafting
reports of field research; revise
and edit white papers
T June 13:: Critique Workshop--Evaluating
WEB Pages Pertinent to Team
Field Research; **continue
drafting of
Field
Research reports
W June 14:: Revised white
papers (plus addenda) due in class; Workshop on
Web Page
Evaluation II--draft
and post web critiques by end of class
R June 15:: Cross-group
workshop on drafts of field research interview
reports; **revise
and edit reports.
M June 19:: Cross-group
workshop on drafts of field research document-analysis
reports; workshop
on ten-fifteen minute oral
presentations of team field research; reading due:
handout/web-based material on oral presentation techniques.
**Prepare and
practice
oral presentations.
T June 20:: Revised drafts of
both parts of Team Field Research reports,
plus addenda, due in class; ten-fifteen minute
presentations; course review.
There will be no final exam in this
course.English
302B:
Advanced
Composition for Business
Professor
Chris
Thaiss
MISSED DEADLINES
ASSIGNMENTS:
COURSE PROJECTS and PROPORTIONS
OF CREDIT
2. Comparative
Document Analysis
(10%)--We
will work on comparative
analysis of two articles on the same issue or event from
business-related
publications. My aim in this assignment is to increase your
attentiveness
to both the blatant and the subtle differences between accounts of the
"same" event by different publications. Whether as producer or
consumer,
you need to be aware of these differences in building your own informed
perspectives on the issues. Practice in doing this sort of analysis
will
also make you more articulate in writing "white papers" (position
statements
or formal recommendations) on any issue.
We'll look at the six areas of comparison
listed above to help us see these differences. Of these six areas,
clearly the most important are purposes
and intended audiences.
The other four areas of comparison: evidence,
organization, tone, and graphic presentation, are the
tools used by the writer to fulfill purposes and reach audiences. As a
business reader and decision-maker, you need to see and understand
these differences in order to make wise judgments. As a business
writer, you need to learn how to use these tools in order to reach your
objectives for the poeple you wish to serve.
3. Team
Field Research Project
(50%)--Throughout the
course,
we will be developing aspects of a two- to three-person project that
will
be based on your investigation of the documents and writing practices
of
a local business organization
of your choice (I must approve proposed
choices).
In class, we will discuss methods, materials, and presentation of the
projects.
Chapters 3a and 6 of WOJ will be assigned and
adapted. Aspects
of
the project include the project research
proposal, a letter
of
introduction
to the firm, a series of progress memos sent
electronically,
the full
report of the research, and a 10-15 minute oral
presentation
by each group to the class (on the final day of the course).
4. "White
Paper" Based on
Team Field
Research (10%)
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism means using the exact
words, opinions, or factual information from another source without
giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of
accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation,
footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and
websites is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of
intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting.
Writing; **begin
group formation and proposal-writing for team field
research; reading due:
WOJ,
Introduction