Engl317 project1 slidedoc4_deliverable1_memoreport_edited

© Karen Thompson ● Department of English ● University of Idaho

Deliverable 1: Memo ReportRequirements and Guidelines

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ENGL 317: Technical Writing

Project 1: Technical & Scientific Prose Style

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Memorandum To: First and Last Name From: First and Last Name Date: Date Sent Subject: What the Memo is About

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Type "Memo or Memorandum"at the top of the page.

Next, create separate lines forTo:From: Date:Subject:

and fill them in.

How to Format Your Memo Report

Set margins at 1" all around.

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Left justify and single-space

text.

Use one line of additional

white space to separate

paragraphs. Do not indent

the first sentences of those

paragraphs.

Use heading levels and

other document design

elements to assist readability

Create Visual Hierarchy

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Create Visual Hierarchy using:

• White Space

• Heading Levels

• Contrast

• Alignment

Refer to:

Use a header and page numbers for all pages after the first page.

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Learning how to use the heading templates in Word with the field feature (Mac) or quick parts (PC) to add page numbers is useful because once the header is set up, you don't have to type it again.

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Compose a short introduction

using a rhetorical move

(see next slides).

Memos and Memo reports do

not use salutations or closings.

Rhetorical Moves

for Memo Report Introductions

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Rhetorical Move 1. When someone requests information from you, remind them they requested it and add a forecasting statement about what is in the document.

This move shows you responded to the request and gave readers what they asked for.

Examples:

• Here is the information you requested about X. Included in the sections that follow are A, B, and C.

• This memo contains the information you requested about X. The following sections explain A, B, and C.

• I have finished the analysis you requested about X. My findings about A, B, and C are presented in the sections that follow.

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Rhetorical Move II. When readers didn’t request the information,

make it clear why you are writing in the first sentence.

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Example:

• This memo explains problems we are having with X. The extent of the problems are . . .

Writing the Findings

• "Findings" are what you discovered when you analyzed your prior writing.

• Report findings in the body of your report for the three concepts (be concise, be precise, and be direct) and include all corresponding causes/topics.

•In addition, report findings from analyzing your writing for noticeable error.

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For each finding, include the following:

• define the concept in a sentence or two. Use the definition

that the courses uses. It's okay to use the same wording and

no need to quote,

• make a claim that your writing is weak in this concept and

identify one or more causes by referring to the topics.

• provide supporting evidence (sentences or very short

excerpts from your writing) to support the claim you make,

• connect the claim to the evidence by using device

emphasis (highlighting, crossing out, underlining, or use of color), so you are able to point to specific aspects of the

problem.

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Being Concise:To be concise means that every word in a sentence is needed and the level of detail and specifics are appropriate for the audience and writer’s purpose. {definition}.

Unnecessary Words. I noticed many unnecessary words in my sentences. {claim}. For example, I repeated the phrase “is meant to” ten times in sentences like this one where I was defining symbols in my calculations: {cause}

X1 is meant to represent the percentage of the population with access to an improved water source. {evidence}

I could easily eliminate this phrase in each of these sentences and just use the verb "represents." {connection}

Level of Detail and Specifics. The following excerpt was from a report written to professionals in my field of study, so the jargon was appropriate, Also, the audience needed to know specific methods we used to evaluate water quality: {claim and connection}

Water samples were taken from the existing systems, including the tanks and the sources, and the stream running through the community. 3M E.coli/ Coliform Petrifilms were used to identify potential bacteriological contamination. Samples were incubated in a portable electric incubator for 24 hours before colonies were counted. {evidence}

Example of an entry reporting findings.

Notice headings and white space. You don’t need to add

definition, claim,

cause, evidence, and

connection, but if it

helps you, then fine.

What to do if you do not find weaknesses in your prose style.

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• If you did not find any problems when analyzing your

writing for the concept Be Concise, make the claim

that your writing is concise and provide a short

excerpt (paragraph) from your prior writing to support that claim.

• If you found some areas of weakness, then report the

findings only for those areas.

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If you did not find problems when analyzing your prior writing for the

concepts Be Precise and Be Direct, you will need to demonstrate that

your writing is strong for each topic area under the concept.

Write the entry per the guidelines in slide 5 but instead of claiming your

writing is weak, make the claim that it is strong in a topic area and follow

slide 5 guidelines to complete the entry.

Example of a strong claim with evidence:

• Jargon is the use of technical terminology. I used an appropriate level of jargon in the paper considering the class level.

A reader outside of the finance discipline, however, may not know about or completely understand terms I used such as:

• Fixed Income Accounts

• Capital Asset Pricing Model

• Modern Portfolio Theory

How to report findings from analyzing your writing for noticeable error.

• If you did not find any errors that workplace readers are likely to notice, then state that you analyzed your writing for those specific errors but did not find noticeable error.

• If you did find noticeable error, report the findings as follows:

• Define the error you made and explain what you would need to do to fix it. Provide the sentence where you made the error and use highlighting or other device emphasis to help you discuss the problem.

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Example of a noticeable error entry.

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Comma Splices:A comma splice joins two or more sentences with commas. I don't make this error often, but I did find one example. To fix this error, I need to replace the comma with a period and capitalize the "S" in "students" to create two sentences.

The Raven is a classic poem by Poe, students love to read it out loud.

Writing the Conclusion

• Here are some possible choices for concluding the memo report:

• State a major weakness you identified, and set a goal for working on it.

• State what surprised you the most about doing the analysis.

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Examples: a few ways to end your memo report.

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The major weakness I want to work on is improving X aspect(s) of my prose style.

This project helped me to understand how to improve my

prose style. I look forward to working on these areas I found

that were weak: [name the weaknesses].

Although I found that my writing was strong in most

prose style concepts, I do have a problem with X.

Education

Engl317 project1 slidedoc4_deliverable1_memoreport_edited