English 420 Course

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 2nd Edition, by Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Patricia Sullivan, and James Porter. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Longman, 2004. Available at University Book Store and Follet's. 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 workplace writing, such as persuasion, organizational communication, and public discourse, with an emphasis on

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

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents

Technology
Select technologies appropriate to the generic conventions of various types of workplace communication, including email, memos, letters, reports, online documents, and white papers.

Document Design
Learning the generic conventions of the design of workplace documents including

Course Projects and Activities

1. Employment Project

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. |
(Individual; 20% of course grade.)

2. Open Source Cases

For Project 2, our class will help launch the first stage of the Purdue's Open Source Development and Documentation Project. In groups, we will investigate and research various aspects of the open source movement, write a white paper on one self-assigned area, and give a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes each group's findings.
(Collaborative: 30% of course grade.)

3. Revision, Revision

In this project, students will use the OSDDP site to communicate with another group concerning their white paper from Project 2. Groups from Project 2 will be assigned a white paper that was written by a group in another English 420 division. Each group member will research the topic of their group's assigned white paper, and write an individual memo suggesting revisions. The group will then collaborate, discuss, disarm, and then write a report compiling all of the agreed-upon changes. This report (along with a marked up draft of the white paper) will be presented to the original writers. The writers of the white paper will then review the report presented to them and revise their work. Discussion on the OSDDP site between writers and reviewers is required. Deliverables: one individual memo, one group revision report, one revised and polished white paper.
(Collaborative; 30% of course grade.)

4. Employment Follow-up Correspondence

For our final project, we will study the importance of the follow-up: whether it is an interview thank you letter or a "thank you for the job offer, but I must decline because I have a better offer" type of thing, we will look at the rhetorical situations that surround this very important piece of writing.
(Individual; 10% of course grade.)

No, you don't have to do this. No, it's not required. Yes, it's really optional. So if you would like to improve your employment project documents, please review my requirements for doing so.

Grading

Each of the 3 major projects in the course will be comprised of several components, each of which will be worth a percentage of your final grade. For the two collaborative projects, students will complete the required Collaborative Evaluation Form.

All major assignments will be graded on the standard letter-grade scale: A=100-90 B=89-80 C=79-70 D=69-60 F=59 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.

Technology Responsibilities

Because the exchange of information and documents in this class will be almost entirely electronic, familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in the course. If you need any assistance now or at any point during the semester, please do not hesitate to ask. During the semester, you'll need frequent access to the Internet and email. If you have a computer at home, you'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, to read course email and participate in online discussions, and to complete other work. (Your Internet Service Provider should be able to help you configure your system.) If you do not have a system at home or cannot get your system configured, you will be able to use any of the standard ITaP labs. One of your first course assignments will be completing a technology checklist and solving any technology access problems that you may encounter. You are also required to subscribe to and participate on a course mailing list.

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

Have access to your Career Account.
Set up your @purdue.edu email address and regularly check your email. Alternative email addresses (@yahoo, @hotmail, etc. are not appropriate for professional communication, so you need to use your @purdue account in ENGL 420).
Become proficient sending and receiving email attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following email decorum.
Send an email message to the class list
Check the course calendar before each class meeting.
Become proficient participating in the class OSDDP space.
Become more proficient with unfamiliar computer technologies and applications, including Web editing software, document cycling systems, desktop publishing applications, and graphics programs.
Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, USB drives, or CDs.

Course Technologies

Email Discussion List
Powerpoint, Word
Acrobat and Acrobat Reader
Drupal (using OSDDP site)

Collaborative Work

Collaborative work is a required component of the course. You and your project team members are responsible for updating one another and me about assignment development and progress. In addition, you also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of your work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments. When I assign a collaborative project, I will provide you with explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. I will also ask individual group members to complete Collaborative Evaluation Forms. The principles of collaboration I encourage students to follow are contained in the brochure, Group Work and Collaborative Writing <http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/index.html>.

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. Three absences may result in your final grade being lowered by as much as a letter grade. More than three absences can 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. Being excessively or regularly late for class or team meetings, both electronic and F2F, can also be counted as an absence.

Academic Integrity

Purdue students and their instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of Students in "Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students," which students are encouraged to read here:

The preamble of this guide states the following: "Purdue University values intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. To be prepared to meet societal needs as leaders and role models, students must be educated in an ethical learning environment that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of Purdue University. Dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success. It diminishes the quality of a Purdue education, which is valued because of Purdue's high academic standards."

Academic dishonesty is defined as follows: "Purdue prohibits "dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty." [University Regulations, Part V, Section III, B, 2, a] Furthermore, the University Senate has stipulated that "the commitment of acts of cheating, lying, and deceit in any of their diverse forms (such as the use of substitutes for taking examinations, the use of illegal cribs, plagiarism, and copying during examinations) is dishonest and must not be tolerated. Moreover, knowingly to aid and abet, directly or indirectly, other parties in committing dishonest acts is in itself dishonest." [University Senate Document 72-18, December 15, 1972]"

Late Work

The majority of missed class assignments cannot be made up. If a serious and unavoidable problem arises, however, you should contact me in writing prior to the deadline to determine whether or not an extension for the work will or will not be granted.

Overview