ENGL 2021: Business Technical Writing
Spring 1999

The purpose of Business Technical Writing is to prepare students for communicating effectively in the business world.  We will discuss and practice strategies for creating a variety of business documents.  Note: completion of the First-Year English sequence is required for enrollment in Business Technical Writing. All page numbers below refer to The Business Writer's Companion (2nd edition).  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in class or to send me an email anytime.

Schedule

Please complete the readings before the class date on which they are assigned. Assignments will be posted online—please be sure to check this web page for complete details of each assignment. 
W 3/24 Introduction/Overview
M 3/29 read: 3-50 (business writing)
Introduction to Business Writing Presentation
W 3/31 read: 277-304 (style, clarity, & tone)
Business Writing Process Presentation 
M 4/5 read: 188-192  (memos) 
discuss memo format / in-class memo work / begin memo assignment
 W 4/7 Request memo due / in-class memo work
M 4/12 Recommendation memo due / in-class memo work
W 4/14 Problem memo due
M 4/19 Report memo due / read: 158-177 (correspondence overview & inquiry letters)
discuss types of messages and buffers / letter format
in-class letter work: format& inquiry
W 4/21 Inquiry letter due / read: 158 (complaint letters) 
in-class letter work: complaint
M 4/26 Complaint letter due / read: 195-196 (refusal letters) 
in-class letter work: refusal /discuss formal report project
W 4/28 Refusal letter due / read: 210-212 (sales letters), 17-21 (openings) 
in-class letter work: sales
M 5/3 Sales letter due / read: 196-210 (résumés), 150-153 (application letters), & 185-187 (job search)
discuss résumés and application letters 
guest speaker: Mary Michael Collignon, Career Center
W 5/5 Résumé/Application Letter draft due (with job description) 
workshop résumés 
 M 5/10 Résumé/Application Letter due (with job description)
read: 101-110 (formal reports), 128-131 (proposals), 93-94 (executive summary) 
discuss report format and criteria / work on team plan
W 5/12 Team Work Plan due / read: 241-273 (visual aids)
discuss visual aids / work on formal reports
M 5/17  read: 228-238 (presentations)
discuss presentations / work on  formal reports and presentations
W 5/19 Team Progress Report due / work on presentations
M 5/24 Presentations
W 5/26 Presentations / Formal Reportdue
Important Links
Resources for Technical Writers 
Index to resources on the web
DU's Career Center
Variety of services including DU JOBS ONLINE
Career Assistance
List of online databases for job searches
Denver Post
Searchable classified section
E-Resources
Research databases at Penrose Library

Helpful Text Sections

  • Strategies for Opening, 17-21
  • Strategies for Concluding, 7-9
  • The "You" Viewpoint, 49-50
  • Positive Writing, 298-299
  • Parallel Structure, 297-298
  • Quotation Integration, 132-134
  • Paraphrase, 121-122
  • MLA Source Documentation, 80-87
Other Course Information
Attendance: You are allowed two absences. Each absence after the second will lower your final course grade by one-third letter grade (A to B), so use absences wisely. Chronic lateness will also affect your final grade adversely.

Conferences: If you would like to talk about your work, please set up an appointment. Email is the best way to reach me outside of class.

Assignments: If you have a question about any assignment, please ask me—I'm happy to help. Please bring a disk and your text each day; you will usually have time to work on assignments in class.

Consider the due date a formal deadline—it is your responsibility to ensure that work is turned in whether or not you are in class. Late work will be reduced by 5 points for each class period. Work more than two class periods late will not be accepted. Please do not email assignments.

All work must be your own, generated this quarter. Representing another person's work as your own or turning in work that you have completed for another class is academic dishonesty. Plagiarism involves using all or part of a source (words or ideas) without correctly citing the source. Academically dishonest or plagiarized work will receive an "F."

Finally, presentation counts! Assignments should be edited carefully. The last two sections in the textbook provide a helpful guide to grammar, punctuation, and mechanics (334-414).

Final Grades: Your final grade will be based on the following framework.
 
Formal Report: 30% 
Letters: 20%
Memos: 20%
Résumé / Application Letter: 20%
Presentation: 10%
93-100 = A 
83-87 = B
73-77 = C
63-67 = D
90-92 = A-
80-82 = B-
70-72 = C-
60-62 = D-
88-89 = B+
78-79 = C+
68-69 = D+
0-60 = F

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