Syllabus

ENGL 325 – Advanced Business Writing
Fall 2008
Room# - online


Instructor: Jamie Thomas
Office: ALU 013b
Office Hours: T/R 11-12, W 10-12 & by appointment
email: thomaj21@ferris.edu
Office phone: 231.591.3076


MATERIALS

- a good college dictionary
- MLA/APA style handbook (may also consult www.mla.org)
- printing costs

Texts:

Kevin J. Harty, Strategies for Business and Technical Writing, 6th edition. (Longman, 2008)

handouts provided by me on FerrisConnect


COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OUTCOMES

English 325 continues the skills begun in English 211 or 250, with a focus on typical documents used in business. There will be an emphasis on audience and rhetorical analysis, working with multiple documents, primary and secondary research skills, and completion of a major analytical report. The topics and assignments we will cover are detailed below; however, the syllabus may change to meet the learning and scheduling needs of the class.

This course prepares students for successful writing experiences in the professional world by:
• Developing the thinking and organizing skills needed for effective business communication.
• Emphasizing analytical and critical thinking and writing and fundamental aspects of composing.
• Focusing on typical problems encountered in business and the documents, formats and features of writing applied in effective business communication.
• Using rhetorical analysis both to explore how features of language use (like audience, medium and purpose, for example) work in business contexts.

• Effective communication is the key to success in business, and businesses hire people who can write well. Effective business writing is a skill you can develop, and the primary goal of this course is to help you do it.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Correctly prepare the appropriate document types for diverse business situations.
2. Prepare documents that demonstrate principles of effective layout and design.
3. Effectively use visuals to represent data and other information in documents.
4. Analyze business situations to identify the different audiences, the discourse expectations, and the rhetorical challenges that the writer confronts.
5. Apply a variety of rhetorical strategies to effectively meet the informative and persuasive demands of different business situations.
6. Manage tone, organization, and content to be business appropriate to diverse audiences and situations.
7. Effectively present information that would aid in making business decisions.
8. Conduct the necessary primary and/or secondary research, analyze and organize the resulting information, and write a longer analytic report for multiple audiences that meets business standards.
9. Carefully and accurately control the informational content and details in the communication to meet professional business expectations effectively.
10. Effectively proofread business documents to meet business expectations.
11. Where appropriate, work collaboratively to produce professional documents.
12. Consciously apply ethical and legal principles in responding to business communication situations.
13. Analyze the political demands of complex business communication situations.
14. Explain the construction of and expectations of complex business

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT ONLINE COURSES

Computer access and e-mail are, of course, critical to this course. Students should plan to use FerrisConnect e-mail (and their assigned Ferris e-mail addresses which can be set to relay to another e-mail address if you wish).

We will be using FerrisConnect as the platform for our course, as well as a class Weblog through Blogger.com that will be created and to which I will invite you. Microsoft Word is the software application students must use for all documents. Microsoft Office Suite is available to all Ferris State University students for a licensing fee of $25 and an additional $10 for the title. For details, contact the Ferris office in the University Center at 231-995-1734 or toll free 866-857-1954.


Computing Skills: You need to have these computing skills before this class begins:
• E-mail with attachments
• FerrisConnect access, login, navigating, discussion boards, attaching text files
• Microsoft Word - all basic word processing skills, margins, fonts, indents, page numbering, and so on
• Microsoft Word comment feature (we can do some tutoring on this during class)




IMPORTANT NOTE: I cannot personally help you with computer problems. Make sure you have phone numbers and backup help for emergencies. There are links on the Ferris homepage to TAC (Tech Support) and you can visit http://www.ferris.edu/webct/knowledge/qna10.cfm for questions regarding connecting to FerrisConnect. It is also a good idea to have a second place to work from if/when your computer crashes. Computer problems do not constitute excuses for not submitting work on time.



Format Issues:
• All rough and final drafts must be typed.
• The drafts must be clearly marked as to their assignments.
• All documents must be dated (with a date on each page after the first one in the footer).
• All letters and memos must follow the formats detailed in the text.
• A letterhead of your design should be used on the first page of letters and memos.
• Headers and bullets must be used to make the document easier to read.
• All pages other than the first page should be numbered and include appropriate material in the header or footer (your name, the company name, or the name of the document).
• Good design and layout is an important part of a document and will be evaluated

GRADING
You must complete all major assignments for the course in order to receive a passing grade. Late work will be deducted 1/3 a letter grade for each day it is late. You will be expected to participate professionally—turn in your work on time, collaborate, and pull your load. The portion of your grade labeled “Professionalism” will evaluate you on these criteria as well as willing participation in all facets of virtual-classroom life, and sincere effort to improve your own writing and that of your peers through any peer review, revision, and online conferencing. Rudeness in any form will not be tolerated. Offenders will be asked to leave the “class”.

Your final grade will be determined, primarily, by your written work. Roughly, I will follow these percentages:


Weekly Discussion posts 15%
Weekly writing, response, blog
assignments (1-2 pgs. ea.) 40%
Long analytical Report (6-8 pgs.) 25%
Final “process” writing (2-3 pgs.) 10%
Professionalism 10%


Scale:
94 - 100 A 77 - 79 C+ 0-63 F
90 - 93 A- 74 - 76 C
87 - 89 B+ 70 - 73 C-
84 - 86 B 67 - 69 D+
80 - 83 B- 64 - 66 D


Specific requirements of individual assignments may change, but in all cases, my evaluation will consider content, originality, command of language, mechanics and maturity of thought. (Please note that effort is not considered in the determination in your grade.) More specifically, assignments will be considered roughly as follows:

Topic/Purpose Development: 50% 

Organization and Support: 30% 

Style and Mechanics: 20%

WEBLOG

During the first week of class, I will create a weblog through Blogger.com. My hope is that our blog will provide a public forum for sorting out what we read, learn, question, discover and celebrate as our work evolves.

DISCUSSION BOARD
Along with the weekly readings and writing assns., you will be expected to answer/respond to short discussion questions. These questions will be my way of sparking virtual "discussion" of topics that will arise. It will also be a forum whereby students can "meet" to bounce ideas off of each other, respond to the poetry in an informal manner, ask questions, bring up ideas, etc. The discussion board will be governed by professional behavior and an attitude of discovery - that is, a place where ideas can be not only formed but tested. Each week you will post both responses to my initial discussion prompts, as well as responding to at least 2 or your peers’ posts (see Grading Form for more info on the subject).

ATTENDANCE POLICY
While students are not required to attend this course in a literal classroom, students are required to participate in this course consistently. Students who disappear (i.e. don’t turn in work) for more than three weeks (either consecutively or nonconsecutively) may be subject to automatic failure of the course.