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English 3240: Introduction to the Profession
Spring 2001
Dr. Denise Tillery
Office: Morrill 302A
Phone: 744-6217
Office Hours: MWF 10:30-11:30, W 1:30-3:00, T 1:00-2:00
Email: tillery@okstate.edu
Textbook
Harty, Strategies for Business and Technical Writing
Other readings on reserve
Course Objectives
This class will introduce you to the various professional genres
and environments you may encounter as a professional technical writer.
We’ll cover various career paths and the different genres of
communication you can expect to find. You’ll gain practice
reading and writing business correspondence and reports at a more
general and sophisticated level than English 3323. We’ll look
at many models (ones that I bring in and also ones that you bring
in from your contacts) to understand the qualities of successful
workplace writing. You’ll also gain an understanding of the
process of professional writing.
Assignments
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Description of Assignment
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Audience
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Due date
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Percentage of grade
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memo describing your own writing process (2
pages)
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me and fellow students
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Jan 26
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5%
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1-page papers responding to specific topics
on readings
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me and fellow students
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weekly, per schedule
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10%
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letter of complaint (to external organization)
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organization you don’t belong to
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Feb 9
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10%
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letter of complaint (to internal organization)
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individual in organization you are part of
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Feb 23
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10%
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collaborative report on survey of TC profession
(4-6 pages, with outside research)
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HS and early college students
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March 16
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15%
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individual process report on collaborative report
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me and fellow students
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March 16
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5%
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report on interview of TC professional or professional
in your field
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HS and early college students
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March 30
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5%
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worksheets for final research report
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yourself and me
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April 6
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5%
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draft for final research report
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yourself and me
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April 13
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2%
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draft of paper edited for style
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me and fellow students
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April 20
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3%
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final report on specialization of TC profession
most interesting to you (8-12 pages); or your own profession
and the part that writing plays in it
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HS and early college students
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May 4
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20%
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final process report and evaluative memo
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me
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May 9 (instead of exam)
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10%
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Grading Criteria
Assignments will be graded based on how well the work would be
received at a professional job.
- A work has a sophisticated sense of audience,
purpose, and context; contains few or no errors (1 per page or
fewer); and makes use of the design software in a way that goes
beyond predictable formats.
- B work is clearly above average; has a clear sense
of audience, purpose, and context; contains some errors (1 to
3 per page); and demonstrates some willingness to experiment with
design software.
- C work has a sense of audience, purpose, and
context; has an acceptable level of errors (no more than an average
of 3 per page); and uses the appropriate formats and templates
from the design software.
Work that has no sense of audience, too many errors, or uses inappropriate
templates, is unacceptable and will not be graded. Your group may
rewrite any assignment as many times as you would like to improve
the grade, but you must check with me before you redo assignments
so you can get my feedback.
Course Schedule
Week 1 Jan 17, 19
- Course Introduction
- Introduction and Using PAFEO Planning xiii-11
- Friday: in-class writing
Week 2 Jan 22-26
- The Writing Process, The Direct Writing Process for Getting
Words on Paper, and Evaluating and Testing as You Revise, 12-35.
- Wednesday, response paper 1
- Friday, process memo due
Week 3 Jan 30-Feb 2
- How to Write a Business Letter, Making Your Correspondence Get
Results, 108-121, Guide to Nonsexist Language, 89-94
- Wednesday, response paper 2
Week 4 Feb 5-9
- Letters that Sell, "I Have Some Bad News for You,"
122-134, How to Write Better Memos, 135-138
- Friday, letter of complaint (external)
Week 5 Feb 12-16
- How to Use Bottom-Line Writing, 179-188, Communication Failures
Contributing to the Challenger Accident, 46-57
- Wednesday, response paper 3
Week 6 Feb 19-23
- The File Cabinet Has a Sex Life, 145-178
- Wednesday, response paper 4
- Friday, letter of complaint (internal)
Week 7 Feb 26-Mar 2
- The Project Worksheet for Efficient Writing Management, 36-45,
Audience Analysis: The Problem and a Solution, 195-214
- Wednesday, response paper 5
Week 8 Mar 5-9
- What to Report, 215-222, Ten Report Writing Pitfalls, 228-234
- Wednesday, response paper 6
- Start thinking about setting up interview
Week 9 Mar 12-16
- Gobbledygook, Writing in Your Job, 59-77
- Friday, collaborative and individual process reports due
- Work days on Wednesday and Friday; I will be gone
Week 10
Week 11 Mar 26-30
- The Plain English Revolution, 78-88, Bias-Free Language: Some
Guidelines, 95-103
- Wednesday, response 7
- Friday, interview report due
Week 12 April 2-6
- Strategies of Persuasion, 272-283, How to Lie with Statistics,
264-271
- Wednesday, response 8
- Friday, worksheets due
Week 13 April 9-13
- Creating Tables and Illustrations 235-263
- Friday, draft due
Week 14 April 16-20
- The Writing of Abstracts, 223-227, style exercises
- Wednesday, response paper 9
- Friday, draft report edited for style
Week 15 April 23-27
- The Self-Assessment, 333-350
- Wednesday, response paper 10
Week 16 April 30-May 4
- Email: A New Medium, 189-193
- Readings in document design and ethics
- Final report due May 4
Final exam: Wednesday, May 9, 2:30-4:20
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