Schedule
This schedule was updated on December 1! Note some of the deadline changes for the last week of classes!
Week 1, September 3-5
Begin Wednesday:
- Class introductions
- Getting started with Google docs
Week 2, September 8-12
Begin Monday:
- Continue working with Google Docs
- Discuss Assignment Memo Requirements
- Discuss Personal Statement Assignment
- Watch and discuss “In Defense of Rhetoric.”
- Read and discuss “Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk.
Begin Wednesday:
- Continue discussing “In Defense of Rhetoric.”
- Read and discuss “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing” by Chris Anson and Lee Forsberg (available at the emuonline site).
Week 3, September 15-19
Begin Monday:
- Read and discuss “The Top Twenty” errors from The St. Martin’s Handbook
- Read and discuss “The Wrong Way to Teach Grammar” by Michelle Navarre Cleary
- Read and discuss “Why Teach Grammar?” By Jonathon Owen
- Continue discussing Personal Statement Assignment.
- Setting up peer review groups
Begin Wednesday:
- Begin peer review of Personal Statement Assignment! By the end of the day on Friday, you need to post a link to the Google Doc draft of this assignment to your peer review group. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
- Continue discussing personal statement guidelines
- Continue talking about peer review process
- Introduce email assignment
Week 4, September 22-26
Begin Monday:
- Finish peer review of Personal Statement Assignment! By the end of the day on Monday, you need to finish the peer review for this assignment.
- Read and discuss “A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Email” by Kaitlin Sherwood
- Read and discuss “Email Etiquette” from OWL at Purdue University
Begin Wednesday:
- Read and discuss “5 Essential Email Etiquette Habits: Write Smart Emails” by Bruce Mayhew
- Read and discuss “How to e-mail a professor” by Michael Leddy at Orange Crate Art.
- “How Spelling Mistakes and Bad E-mail Etiquette Can Help You Get Ahead”
- Due Friday: Personal Statement Assignment! By the end of the day Friday, you need to post your revised Personal Statement and your memo about the assignment to emuonline. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade.
Week 5, September 29-October 3
Begin Monday:
- Begin peer review of Email Writing Assignment! By the end of the day on Monday, you need to begin peer review on this project. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
- Discuss the complaint and adjustment letter assignment
- Consider some examples of complaint letters
- Read and discuss “McDonald’s Gave Me the “Girl’s Toy” With My Happy Meal. So I Went to the CEO.”
Begin Wednesday:
- Finish peer review of Email Writing Assignment! By the end of the day on Wednesday, you need to post a link to the Google Doc draft of this assignment to your peer review group.
- Read and discuss Writing@CSU about complaint letters.
- Read and discuss Grammar Girl’s “How to Write a Complaint Letter”
- Other readings/discussions TBA about complaint letters.
- Due Friday: Email Assignment! By the end of the day Friday, you need to email me the emails for this assignment and you need to post your writer’s memo. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade.
Week 6, October 6-10
Begin Monday:
- Letter of Complaint is due! By the end of the day on Monday, you need to post a link of your google doc letter of complaint to your peer review group. We will also discuss the arrangements for answering letters of complaints (e.g. “adjustment letters”).
- Read and discuss Complaint and Adjustment Letters from David McMurrey
- Introduce instructions assignment.
Begin Wednesday:
- What are “good instructions?” Sharing and discussing examples.
- Begin peer review of Letter of Complaint/Adjustment Assignment! By the end of the day on Friday, you need to post links to both of the google doc adjustment letters to your group’s peer review page. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
Week 7, October 13-17
Begin Monday:
- Finish peer review of Letter of Complaint/Adjustment Assignment! By the end of the day on Monday, you need finish this peer review.
- Read and discuss chapter 0 through chapter 4 of the “Tech Writing Handbook.”
Begin Wednesday:
- What are your instructions going to be about? By the end of the day on Wednesday, you need to email me to tell me which of the three choices for instructions you’re going to be following for this assignment.
- Read and discuss chapters 5 through 8 and chapter 11 of the “Tech Writing Handbook.” (just skim through chapters nine and ten).
- Watch and discuss video from Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery Made Easy.
- Due Friday: Letter of Complain and Adjustment Assignment! By the end of the day today, you need to post your revised letters and your memo about the assignment to emuonline. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade.
Week 8, October 20-24
Begin Monday:
- Introduce the informal report assignment
- Introduce the resume and cover letter assignment
- Begin peer review of the Instructions assignment! By the end of the day on Wednesday, you need begin the peer review process for this assignment. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
Begin Wednesday:
- Read and discuss the slideshow “Guidelines for Writing Informal Reports;” guidelines on informal reports from Elon University; and eHow “How to Write an Informal Report.”
- Finish peer review of the Instructions assignment! By the end of the day on Friday, you need to complete the peer review process for this assignment.
- Due by Friday: Midterm participation grade discussion. By the end of the day of Friday of this week, each of you needs to send me an email about your participation for this semester so far.
Week 9, October 27-31
Begin Monday:
- Read and discuss Purdue OWL readings on resumes:
- Read and discuss Resume Types on About.com
- Read and discuss EMU Career Services Materials:
Begin Wednesday:
- Due Wednesday: Instructions assignment. By the end of the day today, you need to post your revised instructions and your memo about the assignment to emuonline. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade
- Read and discuss “Updating Best Practices: Applying On-Screen Reading Strategies to Résumé Writing” by Charlsye Smith Diaz
- Continue work on informal reports
- Introduce formal recommendation report assignment
Week 10, November 3-7
Begin Monday:
- Begin peer review of the resume and cover letter assignment! By the end of the day on Wednesday, you need begin the peer review process for this assignment. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
- View and discuss this Prezi presentation on the difference between formal and informal reports.
- Read and discuss “Report Design” from David A McMurrey.
Begin Wednesday:
- Finish peer review of the resume and cover letter assignment! By the end of the day on Friday, you need to complete the peer review process for this assignment.
- First formal recommendation report progress due. By the end of this week, a progress report on this project will be due. In this first report, you need to tell me (basically) your recommendation!
Week 11, November 10-14
Begin Monday:
- Continue working on formal recommendation reports.
- Discuss “elevator pitch”/short video part of the assignment.
- Revisiting informal reports assignment– peer review for this begins next week!
Begin Wednesday:
- TBA readings and discussions about formal reports.
- Second formal recommendation report progress due. By the end of this week, a progress report on this project will be due.
- Due Friday: resume and cover assignment. By the end of the day today, you need to post your revised resume, cover letter, and your memo about the assignment to emuonline. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade.
Week 12, November 17-21
Begin Monday:
- Continued work and discussion about the formal reports.
- Begin peer review of the informal report assignment! By the end of the day on Monday, you need begin the peer review process for this assignment. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
Begin Wednesday:
- Finish peer review of the informal report assignment! By the end of the day on Wednesday, you need to complete the peer review process for this assignment.
- Third formal recommendation report progress due. By the end of this week, a progress report on this project will be due.
Week 13, November 24-25
Begin Monday:
- Informal report assignment due! By the end of the day Wednesday, you need to post your revise informal report and your memo about the assignment to emuonline. Late or incorrectly posted work will be docked a letter grade.
- Continue work on the formal recommendation report and the micro-presentation. A draft of the report and a final version of your elevator pitch/micro-presentation will be due the Monday after the break!
November 26-28: Thanksgiving break
Week 14, December 1-5
Begin Monday:
- Micro-presentation Review Begins! By the end of the day Monday, each of you needs to have your elevator pitch/micro-presentation version of your formal recommendation report available for everyone’s review and voting.
- Begin peer review on the formal recommendation report. By the end of the day Monday, each of you needs to have a draft of your formal recommendation report available for peer review. Late projects will be docked a letter grade.
Begin Wednesday:
- Continue the micro-presentation review process.
- Finish peer review on the formal recommendation report. By the end of the day Wednesday, you need to finish your peer review for the formal recommendation report assignments.
Week 15, December 8-11
Wednesday, December 10:
- The final version of your formal recommendation report is due! By the end of the day Wednesday, you will need to hand in all the materials for your formal recommendation report and the writer’s memo for the assignment.
- Final/second half of the term participation grade discussion. By the end of the day of Wednesday of this week, each of you needs to send me an email about your participation for the second half of the semester.
Thursday, December 11:
- Your votes for the formal recommendation report pitches and slide shows are due! By the end of the day Thursday, you need to finish your voting for the best recommendation report based the pitches and slide shows you reviewed.
Finals Week
- There is no final for the class, but if there is any remaining work or revisions, it is all due by the end of time for the semester will be Monday, December 15 at 5 pm Michigan time.
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