umuc
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 UMUC
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:
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 newsâ€
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 shouldnâ€
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:
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):
.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/654/”>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.â€
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,â€
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 donâ€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).â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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
donâ€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.â€
To access this white paper, please go to the following url:
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 readerâ€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.â€
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
donâ€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,â€
in
Lockerâ€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 writerâ€
positions, thus engendering student perceptions that they
can
make a living by studying technical writing. Companies do not have
“business writerâ€
positions. 3) The onset of World
War II
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