Syllabus Turner Fall2015 ENGL394-010102010402
ENGLISH 394: BUSINESS WRITING
Fall, 2015
Section 0101 MWF 09-09:50 TWS 0234
Section 0201 MWF 10-10:50 TWS 0234
Section 0402 MWF 12-12:50 TWS 0207
Instructor: Mrs Mary Dustan Turner
Office and Hours: 1228 TAWES, MWF 11-11:45; by appointment
Phone: 301-681-1142; email: mdturner@umd.edu
Required Text: Business and Administrative Communication, Tenth Edition, Donna
Kienzler and Kitty O. Locker, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2003; ISBN 978-0-07-340318-2
Description of Course
Professionals who advance spend 80% of their time writing. This course will enable
you to gain the critical, professional writing skills necessary to plan, organize,
research, write, edit and design various documents appropriate to your future
organization and audience. Our goal is to produce reports and other shorter business
documents that are readable, clearly structured, concise and informative. We will also
consider proposals, budgets, short briefings, oral presentations, email, resumes and
other aspects of business communication.
The content of your work will come from your investigation of a real local business
and its problems. You will produce a professional report offering solutions to a
problem. We will work on the report in sections. Each exercise and assignment
follows logically, building to your business report.
COURSE GOALS
In each professional communication situation you should be able to complete the
following tasks.
Determine the Purpose to be achieved by the communication.
Analyze the needs of the Audience and the rhetorical situation.
Plan the necessary Research, using ethical sources and citations.
Decide on an effective Form of communication adapting it to the Audience.
State your Thesis clearly.
Use a clear, Standard English prose Style.
Choose the appropriate Sections of the document.
Write Recommendations promoting actions.
Compose a useful Conclusion.
Design the document so that it persuades the Audience and achieves its
Purpose, using appropriate language and visuals.
We will observe the principles of good writing: reading critically; understanding
prose; knowing basic grammar; writing clear sentences; editing for clarity.
Course Schedule Week by Week (subject to change at my discretion)
Principles of Effective Business Writing
Weeks
1
Introduction and Grammar Review
Functions of Prose; self-relections
Critical Reading for Research
2
Audience Analysis and Purpose
Building Goodwill; You Attitude
Business Letter Workshop 9/11
Locker Chapters
1
2, 3, 4
The Process of Writing
3
Planning: Using Outlines and Diagrams
Business Letter Due 9/16
Business Report Proposal Workshop 9/18
5, 17
4
Tone and Style in Global Messages
Short letters, memos, emails
Proposal Due 9/23
7, 9, 10, 11
5
Eliminating Writer’s Block
Individual Conferences on Proposals
Held in my Office (no classes) 9/30 & 10/2
The Practice of Writing
6
Library Resources, Modules
Writing long reports: research, interviewing
Report Outline and Introduction
7
Writing in Teams: Agendas, Minutes, Notes
Proposals, Budgets, Briefings
Report Outline and Introduction Workshop, 10/16
8
Working in a Global Environment; Diversity
Designing reports: sections, layout, headings
Outline & Intro Due 10/21; Agenda Workshop 10/23
9
Visuals and Presentations; Agenda Due 10/28
Workshop on Business Reports, 10/30
15, 18
8
6, 19
10
Presentation continued; Midterm, 11/4
Business Report Draft Workshop, 11/6
11
Resumes and Job Application Letters
Business Report Workshop on Layout, 11/13
12
Resumes continued, Draft Workshop 11/20
Business Report Due 11/18
13
Cover Letters and Resumes
Workshops on Letters, 11/23; THANKSGIVING
12, 13, 14
14, 15, Oral Presentations begin 11/30; Last Class 12/11; Folders Due:
all work, plus Letter and Resume for Job Application; a missing folder is
grounds for Failure.
Evaluations for PWP will be completed in class; UMD evaluations are
Online and entirely separate.
.
COURSE PROCEDUES: THE RULES OF THE GAME
In order to master the skills necessary for effective, useful business writing
you need to read your text, attend and participate in class, turn in your
assignments on time. Think about what you are reading and how it relates to
your profession. Contribute your thoughts to the class.
This course will contain a lot of workshop activities and much peer reviewing
of each other’s papers as preparation for the world of work. If you miss a
workshop you inconvenience not only yourself but also your classmates.
We need each of you present to make it work. Absence on a workshop day
counts as two absences; attending without a hard copy draft will affect your
participation grade.
Keep all work, including rough drafts from peer reviews, notes and final
graded copies in a manila folder with pockets.
Staple pages of your papers together when handing them in, with your name,
my name, the date and section number of the course in the upper right corner.
At the end of the course you must hand in this folder with all your work.
I urge you not to carry it around and to make copies always of everything you
hand in. Do not reprint your papers. Hand in what I have graded.
Obviously you will type all papers except those I ask you to write in class.
There will be self-reflections, spot quizzes of the reading and a midterm.
There will be no final examination. Class participation and professionalism
throughout the semester will be a factor in your final grade.
Allocation of emphasis is as follows:
Short documents, including memos, outlines, letters
Midterm
Business report, oral
Letter , resume, professionalism, quizzes,
20%
20%
40%
20%
Late papers will be downgraded 1/3 of a grade for each class they are late.
Papers later than a week will not be accepted except in a medical emergency.
Please discuss this with me. A short paper receiving C Minus, or less, must be
rewritten within one week. LISTEN IN CLASS!
Please avail yourselves of office hours. Remember, as discussed, that you are
not in competition with each other. Each of us has writing problems to be
solved. I intend to work with you—in class and in conferences—to produce
the clear, clean precise writing you will need to do on your jobs or in graduate
school. The Principles of Effective Writing are true for all writing.
Come talk to me if you have questions or feel unclear about something. See
me early, before it becomes a “problem”. We will be following the
University’s policies and guidelines. Please consult those or discuss questions
with me. PHONES AND LAPTOPS, ETC., MUST BE TURNED OFF except
for specified classes.
ASSIGNMENT: BUSINESS REPORT TOPIC: Note 1
Choose a topic in your major which interests you. It should require a serious,
in-depth focus, on a problem relevant to the world of work. There should be
enough there to engage your mind, to require a variety of research, perhaps
involving interviews, newspapers, professional journals and books. It will not
be enough to quote only from Web sites. It should require anywhere from 15
to 20 sources of various types. Begin to think about your topic and the
Proposal you will write later to me for approval. This should get you started.
Your Proposal will explain What the topic is, Why you want to do it, and How
you think it can be accomplished. Write (See Locker on class proposals) no
more than four pages for your Proposal draft. We will work on these in our
workshop before you hand in the final Proposal for my approval. You need to
get started and to keep working on this every week. Do not fall behind.
Remember, that other types of documents will be written, some in class, using
factual material from your research as the topic. We will write three selfreflections on our work during the semester. You will be graded on your
knowledge of your topic, as well as the type of document required. Work on a
topic which interests you as you will focus on it the entire semester.
ASSIGNMENT: BUSINESS LETTER: Note 2: This is the start of your
semester work leading to your final Business Report. Focus on your research,
using the material you discovered in the Library resources. This letter is your
first written attempt to gain information which you need for the Report.
Each person writes a letter requesting information; members of a group
must write to different people.
WRITING A BUSINESS LETTER
Despite extensive use of electronic mail, business people do still write letters,
often for legal reasons or because they seem more formal.
Letters are short, direct and usually addressed to one person in a company
outside the author’s company. Sometimes a company sends a letter to a
number of people but it is still addressed to individuals.
The formats vary according to house style but the examples in the Appendix
of your textbook are representative. Check with your company when you
write letters at work in order to use the accepted format. Remember to keep it
to one page. Anything longer could become a short report.
Plan all letters using the Five Ws, your Pattern Diagram and logical order
appropriate to your Purpose and Audience. Read your Locker textbook for
detail on different types of letters; I will select one for your letter.
Having started your business report’s research you now find it necessary to
obtain information from a source outside your usual sphere so you must write
a formal letter. This letter requests specific information from someone other
than your Report Audience that you believe may have the information, which
you need for your business report.
If your recipient does not have the information you might request additional
sources to investigate. Be precise about what you need. Find out something
about your recipient’s company so that you appear knowledgeable. Who
knows, you may wind up working there one day.
Be logical about the order of your sentences, respecting your reader’s time.
Do not say more than is needed but do explain why you need this help and a
little about your project. Use the “You” attitude and tone, keeping in mind
your Audience and Purpose. (You may find that you need to write several
letters requesting information when you are actually working on a job.)
Our assignment now is designed to simulate the situation on a job; except that
you would make the decision to write the letter, rather than my assigning it!
Your boss may ask you for the progress of your report at anytime. Keep
Working diligently on your research, narrowing your focus, refining your
Audience and Purpose. Make sure that you come see me if you want to
change your topic. When you write the Proposal for your topic I must approve
it.
ASSIGNMENT: Note 3: WRITING A PROPOSAL TO ME
This Proposal sets out the work you want to do all semester which will
culminate in your final Business Report. It is written as a Memorandum
to me (see Locker). Since this is your work all semester I expect you to
become an expert in the topic.
Choose a topic in which you are interested, locate a company or organization
with a problem that you can solve in the time and with the resources that you
have. In the Proposal identify the Audience and the Problem. Explain the
Purpose of your Report (this may change somewhat as you work on it) and
How the Audience will use the Report (what decision needs to be made).
Describe the company or organization, its staff and products, services, location
and approximate size. This may require demographic analysis of the area it
serves.
List various sources (at least six) that you think will have the information you
need, including interviews, surveys, books, newspapers, professional journals,
etc. The Library should be helpful for this .
Write no more than four pages single-spaced, with one of the pages for
sources. Use MLA format for citations, with author, title, URL, etc. Write
short paragraphs: be clear; be creative. Include all the names of your group
members, as this is a group project.
Remember, you will be meeting new people, making contacts, and may be
offered an internship or even a job through this project. Be professional at all
times in your contacts. Create Goodwill (see Locker on this).
Keep track of what each member of your group is supposed to be doing. We
will hold conferences at which I will return your graded and approved
Proposal. Have fun: this is your project and your proposal.
GRADING PROCEDUES, STANDARDS AND OUR INTEGRITY
I expect each student to do his or her own work. If you use another’s idea or
words give proper attribution (see Locker). My responsibility is to assess your
work using grading standards which follow closely what I believe your
supervisor on the job will also use. This is based upon my experience in the
world of business. Please feel free to come to office hours to discuss any of
your papers.
A: This document completes the assignment, showing creativity and some
brilliance in its presentation of detail, development of its argument and use of
examples to explain the subject. This document is easy to read.
It will follow Aristotle in its Description, Exposition, Argument and Narration
(DEAN). While reading it the Audience will be quite clear about the
Description of the topic, the Explanation of how it works, before the
Argument, if necessary. There is little, if any, Narration in this professional
report.
The Purpose is evident at the beginning. It is virtually perfect in logic,
development, spelling, grammar, punctuation and mechanics. Showing that
extra brilliance of creativity, an A paper is special.
Any manager, boss or supervisor would be pleased to give you difficult work,
knowing that you could handle it with creativity; your promotion would be
your reward.
B: This document does the job very well. While it fulfills the assignment it is
not as creative and inventive as the A. It is solid, predictable with no serious
factual, logical or mechanical errors.
Your manager would be pleased with your work but would make sure to check
it. You would be promoted with other team members.
C: This competent document does the job but omits something. Its flaws may
be mechanical or logical. My notations will indicate the problems and errors
and a C Minus or lower must be rewritten. Papers assigned C or above may
not be rewritten.
Such a document may start off well but it is a disappointment in that it fails to
address the Situation/Problem adequately, lacks essential Explanation or
Argument; or it simply includes too many errors.
This all makes any boss nervous: can you do the job, will every document be
a repetition and will supervision need to be given to all future work? This
may waste company time and money. You might be expendable.
D: This document fails to communicate to the Audience. Its research
foundation is probably wrong; its logical development lacking; its
comprehension of the Problem nil.
This will mean you are too expensive to keep. Re-training would not be worth
the expense.
F: This document is a complete failure. Start over. Quit your job; go back to
school; take Business Writing in the Professional Writing Program at UMCP.
I reserve the right to change the emphasis of any of these elements on
particular assignments as the semester progresses.
RESEACH PROJECT: Note 4.
You should be working on your interviews now and beginning to feel that you
understand the subject and where the research is going. Use the Mindmap to
take notes, to sort through data, to eliminate areas, to find the focus of your
topic.
Rethink your Audience as you narrow the report’s focus. You need at least
15-20 references, with several interviews, at least one book in print and
articles from newspapers and professional journals in the field. Some of your
topics are so new that you will find material only in newspapers. Remember to
check the research ports and sources from our Library Modules. Keep
working on pulling together your Outline of the report so that you will do well
when asked about it on a quiz or the Midterm. Do not fall behind.
ASSIGNMENT: WRITING AN INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE FOR
YOUR REPORT: Note 5.
In the professional world your manager may ask how you are doing on the
report. One way to show what you have accomplished and the direction the
work is going is to produce an Outline (see the sample I will hand out in
class). Always write it in sentences since an outline in phrases will not
indicate specific statements or directions. You must write in clear, short,
sentences of fact.
You will produce an Outline of the report you (one per group) are writing for
class on your project so that I (instead of a manager) can determine the
progress and direction of your work. It should be 2-3 pages with each level of
the Outline written in a sentence, with no headings. We will go over the
sample in class so make sure that you attend.
The second part of this assignment is to write a 2-3 page Introduction of the
Report, to be handed in and graded with the Outline, as a group assignment.
This will give me an idea of how your work is progressing.
The first three sentences of the Introduction must state The Problem,
The Purpose of the Report in terms of the Problem; and the Scope of the
Report. We do this so that anyone starting to read it can determine quickly
whether it pertains to that manager’s area, or should be eliminated. You should
follow the specific topics in Locker in the sample report given. Make sure that
you do not just retype your Proposal. It was written in the future tense as
work you were going to do. The Introduction should be written in the present
tense as it must be included as the Introduction in your Business Report.
What Methods are you using to gather information, what Criteria do you use
to make judgments and arguments, and are there any limitations to the work.
For example, you might have had difficulties obtaining information.
Describe the company, employees, location, before you Explain the Problem.
Remember to use the Functions of Prose: Describing, before Explaining, and
then later Arguing in the Body of the Report.
ASSIGNMENT: WRITING AN AGENDA; Note 6.
This is a special one page Agenda or plan of a meeting which could be held
about your project. We are just planning and writing the Agenda, but not
actually holding the meeting. I want each of you to write a separate Agenda,
about different meetings, to be graded as separate assignments. Make sure
that you each prepare for a different meeting.
Again, I will give you samples in class to indicate the format which is
important, as in all assignments, and as it will be when you are working.
This is fairly simple and you should do well on it. Since it is something new
employees are often expected to do (and to take the notes in a meeting) this
should give you some expertise.
Think about and include the name of the organization or committee holding
the meeting, the name of the meeting, a statement of its purpose, location, time
and date, possibly directions, attendees, guest speakers or just guests. You
may invite anyone you want to, except me, to the meeting. You can have
some fun with this assignment if you want to (have fun).
As always, be in class to learn more and always come to the Workshop with
your draft document.
ASSIGNMENT: MIDTERM IN CLASS; Note 7
This will be a note to your boss, or Audience, about the Report that you are
working on. That will be the content. The format will be a document from
Locker, in the chapters listed up to the date of the Midterm on the Syllabus.
You must be ready to discuss your Report, so if you have done little work you
will not do well.
We will discuss this in class closer to the date.
ASSIGNMENT: FINAL REPORT; Note 8
Your Final Business Report Describes the Problem and Explains how it works
and what Solutions are possible. Argue for the solution you think is best; and
Recommend specific actions to be taken. Use MLA format. See the report
example in your textbook.
Use examples, statistics, interviews, newspapers, professional journals and
other acceptable academic, governmental and organizational sources. We will
discuss these in conferences and in class. Write from your Outline, adding to it
as you gain information for a section. The report should be 10-15 pages,
depending on the size of your group and your topic, single-spaced, plus
bibliography, graphics, title and content pages, summary.
As a real report about a real problem you must use sources other than those
you find on the internet and in the library. As discussed during the semester,
Interviews and current articles are important and crucial sources for these
reports. Do write short sentences: your Audience will not appreciate fluff.
Have fun!
ASSIGNMENT: ORAL REPORTS; RESUME AND LETTER IN FINAL
FOLDER; Note 9
Oral Reports will be discussed in class.
We will spend the week before Orals discussing and writing drafts of your
resume and cover letter for a particular job which you would like and we will
examine various sample resumes. You must prepare a new one.
Please feel free to come and discuss the syllabus with me in office hours.
EMERGENCIES AND ABSENCES: Please discuss extended absences or
special situations with me at least three weeks in advance. You must write a
note explaining absences with dates which must be true and correct. False
information is in violation of Part 9(h) of the Code of Student Conduct.
HONOR CODE: each paper submitted for grading must include the
University of Maryland Honor Pledge which reads:
“I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any
unauthorized assistance on this examination (or assignment).”
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: The University of Maryland is
committed to providing appropriate accommodation for students with
disabilities. Students with a documented disability should inform the
instructor within the add-drop period if academic accommodations are needed.
To obtain an Accommodation Letter prepared by Disability Support Services
(DSS), a division of the Student Counseling Center, please call 301-314-7682,
or email dissup@umd.edu, or visit the Shoemaker Building for information.