Overview

English 420 teaches students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is guided by the needs and practices of business, industry, and society at large, as well as by the expectations of Purdue students and programs. All sections of English 420 are offered in networked computer classrooms to ensure that students taking the course are prepared for the writing environment of the 21st-century workplace. The course teaches the rhetorical principles that help students shape their business writing ethically, for multiple audiences, in a variety of professional situations. 

Required Texts

Professional Writing Online, by Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Patricia Sullivan, and James Porter. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Longman, 2001. Available at Follet's and University Bookstore. Be sure to purchase unopened copies of the guide because used password codes are not transferable. Keep your receipt in case your password fails to work and see me immediately. Passwords cannot be shared.

Course Goals

Writing in Context
Analyze professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing, such as persuasion, organizational communication, and public discourse.

Writing Process
Develop and understand various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and ethically to professional situations and audiences.

Collaboration
Learn and apply strategies for successful collaboration, such as working and communicating on-line with colleagues, setting and achieving project goals, and responding constructively to peers' work.

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including analyzing professional contexts, assessing and using information resources, and determining how various media and technologies affect and are affected by users and readers. 

Technology
Develop strategies for using and adapting various communication technologies to manage projects and produce informative and usable professional documents.

Document Design
Learn to argue with visual data, understanding and implementing various principles of format, layout, and design of professional documents that meet multiple user and reader needs.

Course Projects and Activities

1. Employment Project (Individual; 300 pts) 

For Project 1, you will be asked to locate a job for which you are qualified and apply for it. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one job to pursue. Step 2 asks you to prepare the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter"). Step 3 asks you to prepare a resume suitable for such a position. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, you will work closely with your peers and me to shape your writing so that it represents you and your experience fully and effectively, given the rhetorical circumstances.

2. E-Commerce Project (Individual; 200 pts)

3. Corporate Web Project (Collaborative; 400 pts)

For Project 3, our class will function as a consulting firm whose goal is to serve clients interested in either revising or developing World Wide Web pages. Your team will be working with an actual business or organization in the community or at Purdue in order to help it better utilize the potential of the WWW.

Grading

Final grades will be determined according to the following letter-grade scale: A=1000-900pts; B=890-800pts; C=790-700pts; D=690-600pts; F=590pts or below. 

Technology Requirements

In order to participate fully in the course, you should already be able to use the technology platform and applications listed below. 

• Mac OS System or Windows
• Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint)
• Web Browser (Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer)
• Email Program (Netscape Mail, Outlook, Eudora, etc.)

Technology Responsibilities

Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you can meet the following responsibilities:

• Have access to your Career Account. 
• Set up your @purdue.edu email address and regularly check your email. 
• Become proficient sending and receiving e-mail attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following e-mail decorum.
• Send an e-mail message to the class list
• Check the course calendar before the beginning of each class. 
• Become more proficient with unfamiliar computer technologies and applications, such as html editors and web-page design, desktop publishing applications, Acrobat, MOOs, and graphics editors.
• Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, and/or e-mail attachments to yourself.

Throughout the semester, you will have opportunities to become more proficient writing in a variety of forms now commonly used in the digital workplace:

• Email Discussion List
• ProNoun MOO Client : http://linnell.english.purdue.edu:7000/
• Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or Netscape Composer (WYSIWIG/HTML Editors)
• Powerpoint

Classroom Computer Use

• Unless we are actively using the computers, students should be facing the instructor, other students, or whoever has the floor and is speaking.
• Do not sit with your back to speakers when they are speaking.
• Unproductive use of the computer (surfing the web, checking email, doing work for other classes) during class time will result in your being marked absent for the day.
• Typing or printing while other students or the instructor are giving presentations will result in your final grade being reduced by one full letter grade.

Collaborative Work

Academic dishonesty is a serious crime and will not be tolerated. If you are suspected of academic dishonesty, you will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students. Forms of academic dishonesty include: Collusion - lending your work to another person to submit as his or her own; Fabrication - deliberately creating false information on a works cited page; and Plagiarism - the presentation of another person's work as your own, whether intentional or not. Please read and familiarize yourself with Purdue's student guide to academic integrity located at: <http://www.purdue.edu/odos/administration/integrity.htm>.

Attendance

Attendance is required at all scheduled electronic and face-to-face (F2F) meetings. Since you will be working in project teams much of the semester, you also will be required to attend any scheduled out-of-class meetings with your team to complete course assignments. You will be allowed three absences, no questions asked. For each class absence over three, your final grade will be lowered by one letter grade. More than six absences will result in a failing grade for the course. Excused absences may be granted for religious holidays or university-sponsored events, provided you make a written request to me no less than two weeks in advance and that you complete any required work before the due date. I take attendance at the beginning of each class meeting. If you are not there when I call your name, you are absent for the entire meeting. You are expected to stay for the entire duration of the class meeting. If you do not stay for our entire meeting, you will be marked absent. Please note that no distinction is made in this course between excused or unexcused absences. Finally, tardiness is unacceptable; please come to class on time or do not come at all

Late Work

I do not accept late work. Therefore, missed class assignments cannot be made up. If you plan to be absent, please make arrangements to turn in your work by the due date.