John Jay College of Criminal Justice
New York, NY
The Composed Business Apprentice
Prof. Mark McBeth
Course Description:
In the world of business and management, people write letters, resumes, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, reports, and brochures all for the purpose of getting things done. Through their written words, they want to elicit responses, attain employment, notify and/or request action, report activities and progress, inform and, perhaps even, persuade an audience to do something. By composing and distributing written text, they want to make things happens. During this semester, we will ask the question: How do we make words do things?
In this business writing course, we will consider how authors of administrative documents (a.k.a., technical writers) shape and craft their words to make things happen. You will rehearse your rhetorical reading, critical thinking, and composing abilities. First, we will read Cicero who articulated different types of public composing as well as delineated strategies of composing. We will read J. L. Austin who wrote a book called How to do things with words? (You get a break however because you will only read an abridged essay he wrote on the same subject of the entire book.) After we consider his philosophy of language alongside those of others, we will apply it to the workings of business writing. Throughout this course, you will consider what you know about rhetoric, technical writing, and communication as well as what you still have to learn. You will analyze how particular situations and organizational forces shape your writing and how you must tailor your words to specific audiences. Several times, you will also self-evaluate your progress. At the end of the semester, you and your classmates will develop a group project. (I know that most students loathe group work, but I think I’ve perfected a method of making these projects productive, successful and, well fun.) Since most of those employed in Criminal Justice work in groups (police officers in partnerships, firefighters in squads, profilers in teams, even the solitary judge has a group of court room assistants), students must absolutely perfect their collaborative, teamwork skills. (In other words, you must learn to play well with others and to excel as a team player you must express yourself well.)
Students should know that they share the writing that they do in this course with other classmates and me. Like the writing you do for “the office,” you will expose your writing to the public. This practice provides a chance to respond critically to others’ work and to see how other people’s strengths and challenges mirror our own expressive capabilities.
Course Objectives:
- Students learn linguistic and rhetorical theories of composing.
- Students learn various genres and conventions of business writing.
- Students learn rhetorical reading strategies.
- Students learn rhetorical writing strategies.
- Students learn strategies to revise the organizational structure of documents.
- Students learn the responsibilities and discipline of meeting writing deadlines.
- Students learn strategies to revise at the sentence level of their writing.
- Students learn strategies and processes of group work.
- Students learn to reflect upon and articulate their own processes of writing and learning.
Course Prerequisites
English 101 & 201
Grading, Absence, Lateness, and Deadline Policies
We will treat this course as a business proposition and transaction. Your words will earn your grade for you – not only by the quantity that you produce but also by the quality of their expression. Each assignment will have a certain value that you will accumulate in your McCredit account. For example, a memorandum may be worth 100 credit points. The first time you submit a draft of the memo you may receive only 25 points because you didn’t fulfill the expectations of the assignment. Don’t despair. You may then revise the memo and have credit added to the subsequent drafts. After multiple drafts your memorandum may go from a value of 25 points to 95 points, but this depends upon your willingness to revise, your ability to respond to critique about your writing, and your motivation to resubmit your work.
You may also lose points from your account. In the business and administrative world, people must adhere to strict deadlines. If an employer requests something done by a specified time and date, your reputation and position depend upon your ability to produce the assigned task. In this course, for every day you submit your assignments late, you lose ten (10) points. Once you lose these“missed-deadline” losses, you may not recover them.
You may also lose points by lateness to class or absence from class. For every ten (10) minutes that you arrive at class late (class begins at 10:50PM), you lose five (5) points. You may regain these “tardiness losses” by submitting a memorandum to Mark during the course’s next session meeting which states the reason for your lateness. You must compose this memorandum, fulfilling all of the criteria of the course (clearly written, convincingly persuasive, and professionally presented (proofread and typed). Absences are a different situation. For every absence you lose 50 (fifty ) points. If you want to retain these points, you must also submit a memorandum, but this memo must state why you were absent, what evidence you are attaching to justify your absence, and what you’ve done to inform yourself about what you missed. Depending upon your rationale, your evidence, and your efforts to be prepared, you could regain a partial or the complete amount of your absentee losses. Notice that in all these memoranda you are attempting to make something happen: securing your points and thus improving your ultimate grade.
Submitting Drafts Via Email
During the semester, I will ask you to bring drafts of your writing to share with your peers in class. If you don’t bring a hard copy, then we can’t do the classroom activities I have planned. (The same goes for reading. If I assign a reading for a certain day, you should bring a hard copy of that reading to class. Or, alternatively have it available on your laptop or other digital device.)
However, I do not collect hard copies of papers for commentary and critique. You must email me your draft to JJMark.McBeth@yahoo.com. When I receive it, I read it and placed tracked comments throughout the text, acknowledging your strengths as well as suggesting improvements.
I require this tagging of emailed and attached assignments because I sometimes receive over 50 drafts a day and, without the prescribed tagging, I can’t keep track of your work. Also, businesses often require their employees to use such tags for emailed tasks as well. So you should practice following such required email regulations. If you send me work without the appropriate tag, I’ll send it back to you without reading and wait for you to do it properly and then resend. You cannot gain points for your assignments unless you tag your attachments and subject lines exactly as I have requested.
Tagging your Submissions
Please remember that when you email me drafts of your assignments, you MUST TAG both the subject line of your email and the name of your attachment. When you save the attachment, name it with the following title: your first initial, your last name, an abbreviated name of the assignment, and the number of the draft. So for example if John Suarez sent me the first draft of his complaint letter, he would title his attachment: jsuarezcompl1. You should also place this tag in the subject line of the email that you send me. The second draft of the complaint letter John Suarez sent me would be renamed: jsuarezcompl2 and so forth for each subsequent draft.
Below you will find the tagging abbreviations for all of the required assignments:
Required Assignments and Tag Abbreviations for Eng 235:
- Request/Complaint letter (compl)
- Response to request/complaint letter (respcompl)
- Resumé (resu)
- Resumé Cover Letter (resucovlet)
- Mid-Term Exam (mtexam)
- Memorandum reviewing one-on-one conference (confmemo)
- Event Flyers (evefly)
- 235 Flyer (235fly)
- Brochure (broch)
- Cooperative Group Project (Newsletter, Printed • Proposal
Materials for Grassroots Letter Drive, or Progress • Presentation
Report) This project entails a group project proposal, • Journal
a completed project, and a personal work journal.
Plagiarism/Cheating Policy
You will find the John Jay Policy on Academic Integrity at: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/academics/762.php
I stand strictly by my plagiarism and cheating policy: Don’t!
Assignment Points & Grading Scale:
Complaint letter 100 pts.
Response to complaint letter 100 pts.
Resume 100 pts.
Resume Cover Letter 100 pts.
Mid-semester self-evaluation report 100 pts
Mid-Term Exam 300 pts.
Post-Conference Memorandum 100 pts.
Brochure 100 pts.
Event Flyer 100 pts.
235 Flyer 100 pts.
Cooperative Group Project (Newsletter, Printed Proposal 75 pts.
Materials for Grassroots Letter Drive, or Progress Project 125 pts.
Report) This project entails a group project proposal, Journal 200 pts.
a completed project, and a personal work journal.
Portfolio Cover Letter 100 pts.
Total 1700 pts.
There are 1700 total points that you can accumulate from your revised assignments. Throughout the semester, you and I will keep an account of your point credit, and, at the end of the semester, you will exchange your accrued points for the grade you earn. The point grade scale follows:
A+ 1700 + extra credit or extra effort points
A 1650-1699
A- 1600-1649
B+ 1550-1599
B 1500-1549
B- 1450-1499
C+ 1400-1449
C 1350-1399
C- 1300-1349
D+ 1200-1399
D 1101-1199
D- 1001-1100
F 1000≥
Required Text:
Brereton, J.C. & Mansfield, M.A. Writing on the Job
I will email you the other required readings for the course.
Optional Text:
Williams, J., Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week1.1
Introductions & Course Description
Read Plain English Articles
Week 1.2
Welcome latecomers.
In-class assignment: Read Writing on the Job (WotJ), pp. 131-142.
For next class read: For next class read: Read Cicero, M. T., I, rhetorica ad herennium 40 –43
Prepare a document that outlines the major ideas of Cicero’s ideas. Make these copious annotations on a separate paper from the copy of the reading itself. Bring this document to class.
Week 2.1
Discuss Cicero
For next class, read: J. L. Austin, Performative utterances (electronic reserve) & J. Williams, Lesson 10: The Ethics of Style
Prepare a document that outlines the major ideas of Austin’s and Williams’ ideas. Bring this document to class.
Discuss “to be” criteria.
For next class write: Write a letter that addresses a problem you have encountered at John Jay College. This letter should be a combination of a letter of complaint and request (See WotJ, pp. 11 – 21). Address your letter to a college representative who could reasonably resolve your issue. Be sure to state your complaint/request, give a brief history/context of the situation, support your position with specific evidence, and call for specific action. Bring two copies to next class.
Some Preliminary Guidelines:
— Don’t begin your letter with “My name is . . . ”
— Don’t begin your letter “I am writing this letter to inform you . . . ” (or any form of this opening). Open your letter by specifically stating the issue you are addressing.
— Create a letterhead for your letter; it will make it appear official.
— Don’t forget any of the required sections of this letter: an explicit statement of the problem, a succinct but clear history of problem, a carefully chosen set of facts which support your position with specific evidence, and a call for specific action. See WotJ for structural guidance.
Week 2.2
Discuss Austin & Williams.
Peer Review of complaint/request letter.
Peers exchange complaint/request letters to complete next assignment.
Homework assignments: Read pp. 11 – 21 in WotJ
A response to a peer’s complaint letter (See WotJ, pp. 18) Trade your complaint letter with a classmate. You are going to respond to this complaint letter as if you were the assistant to the person to whom it was addressed. You are responding on behalf of your boss and your department. Consider the problem/complaint this letter has brought to your attention and how your office should address the problem. If you were the person who wrote the complaint letter, how would you want to be responded to?
week 3.1
NO CLASS/Classes Follow Monday’s Schedule
Week 3.2
Peer Critique of response letter to complaint. Discuss cover letter.
Homework for September 21: Write a resume and a cover letter to accompany your resume. Read 145 – 156 in WotJ
Week 4.1
Peer Critique of resume and cover letter.
Week 4.2
Assignment: Creating Flyers and/or Brochures (See WotJ, pp. 81-100)
Flyer & Brochure Directions
For this assignment, you are to design two flyers and one brochure. One flyer will advertise an event that occurs at John Jay College, the second flyer will advertise this course (English 235), and the brochure will inform the John Jay community about a student program, organization, or service that exists (or should exist) at the college.
If you do not how to use any desktop publishing program, Powerpoint will serve you sufficiently in creating posters and brochures. You will need to play with the program to figure out how to upload images, change fonts, choose colors, and navigate other design possibilities in Powerpoint.
What I do not want to see is a poster that simply types some words into a document, centers the copy, and adds some images randomly around the words. This strategy of poster design is, in fact, not designing; it is simply centering and placing an image.
You can search for a lot of images in Google image. You should use the opportunity of this assignment to play and learn design elements that could be very useful for presentations or other work projects that you may have.
Resources for this assignment:
http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/infolit/poster.htm
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/NewSite/
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj/designing.html
Week 5.1
Catch up Day
For next class, read: Nappi, M., “Dark Side of the Moon”
Hernandez, Edwin, “Dropping the Bomb: Ending WWII & Beginning of a Superpower—A Rhetorical Analysis”
Week 5.2
Deadline: Flyers & Brochure
Discuss aspects of Rhetorical Analysis Genre
Week 6.1
For next class: Choose and bring a document for your rhetorical analysis. See Resources listed under September 30. In groups of three, share chosen documents. Decide for each document: What historical background or information context, the readers of a rhetorical analysis about this document would need to know? What rhetorical decisions did the author make that you can easily identify? What rhetorical tactics need more analysis? What claims will you make about the rhetorical tactics and strategies that this author has made?
Week 6.2
Discuss aspects of rhetorical analysis (What to identify?), persuasive technique (How do they work?), and Perlocutionary Effects (What do these words do?)
Library Visit for rhetorical analysis research. Discuss historical contexts of rhetorical analysis. Students do in-class on-line research for their rhetorical analysis historical background/informational context.
Week 7.1
Bring first draft of your rhetorical analysis for In-class writing and peer review of rhetorical analysis draft.
Week 7.2
Discuss
Week 8.1
Deadline: Rhetorical Analysis Assignment
Mid-Semester Conference Directions
Office Phone: 212 237 8815 (If you are running late, please call me at this office phone number.)
On Tuesday, November 1st & Thursday, November 3rd, I will meet with each student individually to discuss your progress in English 235. I will meet each of you in my office at 619 W. 54th Street between 11th & 12th at scheduled time that you will choose below. My office is number 711(on the Seventh Floor).
For the conference you should prepare a mock portfolio. You should bring this portfolio to the conference. It should contain your current drafts of the following assignments:
_____ Complaint Letter
_____ Response to Complaint Letter
_____ Rhetorical Analysis
_____ Two flyers
_____ Brochure
_____ Mid-term Self-Evaluation Report (This self-evaluation report should convey what type of writer you were coming into the course, what you’ve learned this semester, and what you would like to improve about your writing before the end of the semester.)
After our conference, you will prepare a one to two page memorandum that restates what conversation we had during our meeting. The memo should reiterate our conversation as well as lay out what revision work you need to complete for your final portfolio.
My meeting time with Mark is at _______.
Email Mark your mid-term self-evaluation report before next class period.
Week 8.2
Conference meeting instead of regular class, although I will have the computer classroom open so that you can work on your portfolio projects.
Week 9.1
Conference meeting instead of regular class, although I will have the computer classroom open so that you can work on your portfolio projects. is
Week 9.2
Deadline for mid-term post conference memorandum.
Introduce Group Assignment
For the group projects, students will work collaboratively on a project such as a newsletter, printed materials for a grassroots letter drive, a college booklet describing some student service, or events planning. The projects require a group project proposal, a completed project (with class presentation), and a personal work journal that records the processes of the group from each individual student’s perspective.
The group proposal will be a 1-2 page explanation of the project. It must include the purpose of the project, how the project will be approached, who the target audience will be, and what materials (letters/memos, press releases, flyers/brochures, instructional handbook, etc.) will be produced for the project. Each person in the group receives the same grade for this part of the project. Each person in the group will also receive the same grade for the project and presentation. The proposal plus the presentation are together worth one-half of the project grade. Groups will give presentations (15 minutes) and provide copies of materials for the entire class. A budget with receipts should be kept so that group members can split the cost of the project.
Individual group members will gain the remaining half of the project grade by keeping a journal which chronicles the dynamics of the group. Since this is half of the project grade, the journal should be extensive, richly detailed, and thoughtfully reflective.
Week 10.1
Discuss Individual Group Journals & View Former Group Projects
In-Class Group Work
Week 10.2
Group Proposal Deadline
In-Class Group Work
Week 11.1
In-Class Group Work
Week 11.2
In-Class Group Work
Week 12.1
In-Class Group Work
Week 12.2
Dress Rehearsal & Critique for Group Work Presentation
In-Class Group Work
Week 13.1
Discussion of Final Portfolio Submission
Final Portfolio Directions
The portfolio should contain edited, proofread final drafts (typed double-spaced and one-sided to a page), and should represent your best work. Your final semester grade will be based on the quality of writing that you submit in this portfolio. If the portfolio is not complete, I will not be able to grade it.
The following will be the contents of your final portfolio :
Contents Amt. of Time Needed to Finish Finished
Complaint Letter _____ _____
Response to Complaint Letter _____ _____
Resume _____ _____
Resume Cover Letter _____ _____
English 235 Flyer _____ _____
Event Flyer _____ _____
Brochure _____ _____
Mid-semester self-evaluation _____ _____
Post-conference memo _____ _____
Rhetorical Analysis _____ _____
Group Project Journal _____ _____
Cover Letter describing what
you learned in this course. _____ _____
In-Class Group Work
Week 13.2
In-Class Group Work
Week 14.1
Deadline for Portfolio Submission
Final Presentations of Group Work
Week 14.2
Final Presentations of Group Work
In-Class Portfolio Workshop for Students Who Are Not Satisfied with Their GradeWeek 15
Finals Week
Deadline for Resubmission of Portfolio
