Worth 15% of your course grade

Important Dates

• July 20 Rough Drafts for Peer Feedback, due by 9:00 AM
• July 21: Project 1 due by 11:55 PM
• July 23: Grace period ends at 11:55 PM

Goals

learn the characteristics of the kinds of writing you will typically do in the workplace

identify ethical/intercultural and global issues that can impact the kinds of writing in your field

think about the writing you will do in the future as you create something you can use later in your career

The Project Assignment

You will survey the kinds of writing people in your intended career do and arrange the information in a table. You’ll provide a short description of the different kinds of writing, identify the typical audiences and purposes, and classify the kinds of writing, matching the items to the chapters in our textbook and resources online. This chart will be a go-to resource once you are in the workplace.

Step-by-Step Details

Step 1: Decide on the career you will focus on for your project. Your major and the experiences you have had may prepare you for several careers. For this project, you need to choose one (ideally the one you are most likely to pursue after graduation) and explore this field in more detail.

You can choose any career you like. You can focus on a career related to a job or internship you are working in this term. You can also think about an academic future, for instance if grad school is in your future.

Step 2: Set your goals for the project.
As was the case for Project 1, you have the opportunity to aim for the grade you want to earn for Project 2. The options below outline what you need to do for the grade you want to receive.

Again, no one aims for a D, so I have not included any details for below-average work. If you really want a D, just put in minimal effort and do sloppy work.

Complete the B-level project and then use unique strategies and details that are clever, original, creative, and/or imaginative. Your table should include well-chosen graphics or visual elements or examples that increase its effectiveness. It should have no errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, linking, and formatting.

Complete the C-level project and then use design elements (like headings, layout, etc.) to highlight key information and make the table easy to read and visually appealing. Your table should have no more than two or three minor errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, linking, and/or formatting.

Conduct research and create a table summarizing your findings on 10 different kinds of writing that are typical in your field. Describe the different kinds of writing, identify the typical audiences and purposes, and classify the kinds of writing, matching the items to the chapters in our textbook and resources online. Identify ethical/intercultural and global issues that can impact the different kinds of writing. Your table should be complete, well-written, and include no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

Warning! Remember that no grade is guaranteed.
Make sure your work is error-free, fully-developed, and ready to share with the intended audiences. Any work that is incomplete or that contains multiple errors will not earn an A or an A-.

For instance, say the writer aimed for a B and used design elements to make the table visually appealing, but the information in the table was incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. The project earns a C rather than a B.

Step 3: Create your table on writing in your field.
Create your project as a document on Google Drive. I strongly urge you to create your table in Google Docs from the beginning to avoid formatting issues. Avoid Google Sheets, as the formatting options in Google’s spreadsheet tool are extremely limited. Remember that formatting errors will lower your grade.

Do a thorough analysis of the writing in your field. Survey the kinds of writing people in your intended career do and come up with a comprehensive list. In your table, provide a short description of the different kinds of writing, identify the typical audience and purpose, and classify the kinds of writing, matching the items to the chapters in our textbook and resources online.

Think of your audience for this project as yourself. Your goal is to learn about the characteristics of the kinds of writing you will typically do in the workplace. A year from now, if you were in the workplace, you should be able to come back to this analysis to remind yourself of the kinds of features to include in a text you are writing.

You will post the Google Share link to your draft for peer review by 9 AM on Monday, July 20. Use the advice you receive from your readers to revise before the due date. There are no rewrites or revisions after work is graded.

Step 4: Complete the transmittal memo.
A transmittal memo is like a cover letter for your project. It tells me whatever information I need to know to understand the work you did on your project.

You will write a short transmittal memo that gives me the Share link to your table and explains the decisions you made for Project 2. More details on this memo will be included in the post for the due date (July 21). Be sure that you follow the instructions, include the relevant information, and proofread your memo. If you skip this memo, you lower your grade on the project.

Step 5: Submit your work in Scholar.
When you are finished with the project, you will submit your transmittal memo in the Assignment tool on Scholar with the Google Share link to your table. Details on how to submit your work will be included in the post for the due date (July 21).

Note that if the submission is not a Google Drive document, I cannot provide any feedback on your work.