Today you will submit your fourth project.

Readings for August 11

For today’s session, please read (or review) the following:

• FAQs on the Google Drive system.
• Guidelines on “Organizing a Memo” in Markel, on p. 232.

Work for August 11

There are two parts to submitting Project 1:

• Writing your transmittal memo.
  As I explained in the assignment, the transmittal memo is your chance to tell me anything you want me to know about your project. I will read your memo before I read your bio.

• Sharing your project link.
  For this project, your transmittal memo will give me the link to your biography statement on Google Drive (or wherever it is). Since you may have worked on LinkedIn or elsewhere, your link for this project may not go to the Google Drive.

Writing Your Transmittal Memo and Submitting Your Project

Follow these instructions to submit your work:

1. Go to the Assignments tab on the left menu in Scholar.
2. Choose “P4: Genre Analysis Report.”
3. Scroll down to the text box below the headings Submission and Assignment Text. You will write your transmittal memo in this box. (Alternately, you can write in a word processor and copy/paste your text into this box.)
4. Add your memo headers (To, From, Subject, and Date). For your transmittal memo, you’ll use the following:
• Address your memo to me (Traci) and from you (use your name).
• Add a subject line that indicates this is your transmittal memo and which project it is for.
• Add the current date.
5. Insert a horizontal divider line under the headers (using the button indicated with the red arrow in the image below):
   
6. Introduce your project:
   • Tell me about the analytical report you are submitting for your project.
   • Explain what grade you aimed for and how well you think you met your goals.
7. Make sure that your document is a Google Doc (and not a PDF or Word Docx file). See the tips below for information on how to convert your files if necessary.
8. Add the Share link to the document on your Google Drive. Use the instructions for how to get the Share link on the FAQ site if you are unsure how to share documents (see the tips below).
9. Agree to the Honor Code by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the page in Scholar. You cannot finish submitting the project without clicking that checkbox.
10. Submit your Project, and save a copy of the confirmation and submission ID. If something goes wrong in Scholar, you can contact 4HELP with that information.

Tips on Using Google Drive

The FAQ site has step-by-step instructions for tasks you will complete with your Google Drive, including converting your document if you have worked in another word processor, adding comments, and sharing your documents are all included.

To make sure that you can submit your first project smoothly, pay attention to the following FAQs:

• If you worked in something other than Google Drive, you can use your preferences to automatically convert files you upload to Google Drive automatically.
  This step is important so that I can use the commenting features in Google Drive.
• If you already uploaded a document to Google Drive, check the format of your files and manually convert the files on Google Drive if necessary.
• Follow the instructions on how to set permissions and get the Google Drive Share link to get a link that will allow me to read and comment on your document.

Note that if your documents are in the wrong format or the permissions do not allow me to comment, I will return your work ungraded.

Because Project 4 is a larger project, I have opened up peer review on Friday, so that those of you who want more time can complete your peer review and revision during the weekend. Details are below.

Readings for August 7 & 10

For this week, please review the following, as necessary:

• Editing and Proofreading tips and skim Appendix B of Markel.
• FAQs on the Google Drive system.

Work for August 7 & 10

• Complete the peer review activities (full instructions):
  • Post the share link to your draft for Project 4 in the forums by 9 AM on Monday, 8/10. You may post earlier.
  • Respond to two students in the forums by 11:55 PM on Tuesday, 8/11.
  • Revise your Project based on the feedback.

• You will submit the share link to your project along with your transmittal memo on Tuesday, 8/11. Remember that you have a two-day grace period if you need an extension. We begin Project 5 (the final) on Wednesday.

• Post the share link to your draft for Project 4 in the forums by 9 AM on Monday, 8/10. You may post earlier.
• Respond to two students in the forums by 11:55 PM on Tuesday, 8/11. You may respond earlier.
• Revise your Project based on the feedback and submit your project by 11:55 PM on Tuesday, 8/11.
• Take advantage of the grace period if you need it, which ends at 11:55 PM on Thursday, 8/13.

Posting Your Drafts for Project 4

1. Follow the instructions in Step 1 of How do I use Google Drive for peer review? to set up sharing permissions for your documents. You need to share your draft with “Anyone with the link” or “People at Virginia Tech with the link” so that we can read your work.
2. Create a new topic in the Rough Drafts for Project 4 section of the forums.
3. Share the link to your analytical report in Google Docs. You can follow these instructions to make your link in the forum post clickable.
4. Add a brief note that tells readers anything they need to know before reading the draft of your report.
5. If you have any specific concerns that you want your readers to consider, add a note on that as well.
6. Be sure to Preview your forum post to make sure everything shows up the way you want it to, and then Submit your message.

Replying to Project 4 Drafts

Next, you will reply to the posts of some of your classmates:

1. Review the instructions in Step 2 of How do I use Google Drive for peer review? if you need a reminder on how to use the Comment features in Google Drive.

2. Go to the Rough Drafts for Project 4 section of the forums, and read the drafts of at least two of your classmates and add a reply with advice and encouragement (more below).
   • Find one post that no other student has replied to (so that we can be sure everyone gets a reply).
   • Find a second post that has only one other student reply.

3. Use the link your classmate provided to go to his or her project and do the following:

   • Check the title and any headings in the document, and add a comment to tell your classmate if these design elements are clear and effective.
   • If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, mark them as you read, but please focus more on the content rather than editing.
   • Add comments on the content of the draft. Comment on at least three things your classmate does well and at least three things that your classmate could improve on. It’s fine to include more than the minimum number of comments.

4. Go back to the forums and add a reply to your classmate’s topic. In that topic, make an overall comment that sums up what you thought of the report and gives your classmate some encouragement.

Reviewing the Comments You Received

Once you have finished adding comments to your classmates’ projects, return to your own draft, read the comments that your classmates have given you, and add replies as appropriate. For instance, you might thank your partner for catching an error, ask your partner for more detail on feedback you don’t understand, or share a revision and ask your partner if it is an improvement.

Readings for August 5 & 6

Here are the resources for Project 4:

• Assignment for Project 4: Capstone Analysis Report
• Genre Analysis Examples
• Questions about Project 4 in the forums

Work for August 5 & 6

Wednesday and Thursday are work days, so I am posting one combined post for both days.

• Continue working on Project 4, using the Genre Analysis Examples to guide your work.

• Check Questions about Project 4 thread in the forums for some additional tips and information on the project. If you have a question yourself, add it to the thread, and I’ll answer asap.

• Review the Discussing Example Reports post in the forums as well for possible tips and ideas that you can apply to your own report.

• As a reminder, review the Forum Posts & Participation page and assess where you stand for your participation grade. If your participation numbers are not where you want them to be, you need to act now. Note that the quantity requirements for participation will not change.

• Please consider adding your opinions on the topics in the optional forum on Ethics and Technical Writing. I am finding your responses so far very interesting.

Readings for August 4

Read or review the following for today’s work:

• Information on progress reports on pp. 302–311 in Markel (in Chapter 12)
• Example Progress Reports
  • TNG Progress Report
  • Shrek Progress Report
  • Progress of My Research on the Evacuation of the R.M.S. Titanic

Work for August 4

• Continue working on Project 4, using the Genre Analysis Examples to guide your work.

• Post a progress report in the forums (full instructions), explaining what you have done so far and outlining what you still need to do. Your progress report is due by 11:55 PM tonight (Tuesday, 8/4).

• As a reminder, review the Forum Posts & Participation page and assess where you stand for your participation grade. There are only 11 days until the end of the course, so if your participation numbers are not where you want them to be, you need to act now. There is an optional forum on Ethics and Technical Writing with a number of posts you can contribute to if desired. Note that the quantity requirements for participation will not change.

1. Write a progress report (1 to 2 single-spaced pages) that outlines what you have completed, what work you still have to do, and how you plan to complete the remaining work for the project. You can work in any word processor and copy your text to the forums. Outline any questions or concerns you have that may affect your progress. Use headings and design to make your report easy to read and understand. Here are three examples:
   • TNG Progress Report
   • Shrek Progress Report
   • Progress of My Research on the Evacuation of the R.M.S. Titanic

   Also see pp. 302–311 in Markel for another example and additional information on writing your report, including alternate ways to organize your report and suggestions for what to include in your concluding paragraph. Pay particular attention to the notes on ethics and being honest in how you report your progress.

2. Go to the Progress Reports for Project 4 forum, and create a new topic.
3. Add a strong subject line that will differentiate your report from everyone else’s.
4. Add your progress report to the body (copy and paste it over).
5. Use the formatting buttons to make your headings and design visually effective.
6. Submit your progress report to turn it in.

Readings for July 31

Read or review the following for today’s work:

• Assignment for Project 4: Capstone Analysis Report
• Genre Analysis Examples (3 example reports)
• Genre Analysis Proposal

Calendar Updates

Project 4 is a bigger project, and you will need more working time to get it done. I’m making some minor changes to the schedule that is posted on the Syllabus:

Work for July 31

• Use the Genre Analysis Examples to guide you as you gather information and draft your own report. You will work on different topics, but you the arrangement and kind of information that they include is similar to what you need to work on. After reading the examples, go to the Discussing Example Reports post in the forums and make two replies, following the instructions that you find in the post.

• By 11:55 PM tonight (Friday), reply to the Published Writing in Your Field topic in the Project 4: Genre Analysis Report forum, in order to do some additional research on writing in your field.

• Continue working on your project. You should be in good shape if you complete most of your research by the weekend. That will give you all of next week to work through your findings and write your report.

• I will reply to your proposals by Saturday evening. Be sure that you check the feedback for any changes that you need to make or advice that may help you with your writing.

• If you have any questions about the assignments, go to the forums and post them in the Questions about Project 4 thread. I’m back in Virginia now, so I will be answering mail several times a day.

Readings for July 30

Read or review the following for today’s work:

• Assignment for Project 4: Capstone Analysis Report
• Genre Analysis Examples (3 example reports)
• Genre Analysis Proposal

Work for July 30

• Propose your project in the forums by 11:55 PM tonight, following the instructions on the Genre Analysis Proposal page. If you need an extension, take advantage of the 24-hour grace period for daily work. Remember that this project is worth 30% of your course grade. It is longer and more involved. The proposal is an important part of the process, since it makes sure that you’re on the right track before you dive into writing the actual report.

• By Friday, July 31, reply to the Published Writing in Your Field topic in the Project 4: Genre Analysis Report forum, in order to do some additional research on writing in your field.

• If you have any questions about the assignments, go to the forums and post them in the Questions about Project 4 thread. I’m back in Virginia now, so I will be answering mail several times a day.

Readings for July 29

• Assignment for Project 4: Capstone Analysis Report
• Genre Analysis Examples (3 example reports)

Work for July 29

• Begin work on Project 4. Take time today to explore the various kinds of writing you might examine in your report. You will propose your project in the forums tomorrow.

• By Friday, July 31, reply to the Published Writing in Your Field topic in the Project 4: Genre Analysis Report forum, in order to do some additional research on writing in your field.

• If you have any questions about the assignments, go to the forums and post them in the Questions about Project 4 thread.

• When I’ll reply to any questions: I will arrive back in Virginia late tonight. Look for replies after 9 PM Eastern or first thing in the morning. I will reply earlier when possible.

Limited Access

I am limiting access to these examples to students in this class, since they were not written for classes I teach. You will have to log into Scholar to get to these documents.

To access the files, go to the Resources Folder in our Scholar site, and download the three files:

• GenreAnalysisReport1.pdf
• GenreAnalysisReport2.pdf
• GenreAnalysisReport3.pdf

Using the Examples

These examples were written in different situations. One is a collaborative report. The others were written for another, parallel professional writing course. While the writing situations are slightly different for the students involved, they are all writing for the same assignment you are using. Don’t let the slight differences throw you off.

Future Examples

I am hoping to use some of your reports as examples for classes in the future. I will ask for your permission during the last week of class.