Response to Melissa Dawson's Thoughts on 6 & 7

I also found that chapter six presented an interesting approach. So far in school I have only had to research for myself. In a job situation, you have to research for others and try to meet their needs with what you are writing. Trying to find what others might view as useful is a daunting task. But, if done correctly, can really help whomever you are presenting your information to. This can be challenging if you don’t know what the reader(s) want to know or if you don’t know them. To try to help figure this out it would be good to use the ideas that were presented in class: talk to others about the person, read things they have written or requested to know about the topic, etc. Hopefully, we will be able to practice more of this before we find ourselves in the workforce writing only what we find interesting and useful.

Good old topic sentences. I have written many of those over the years. Combine topic sentences with transitions, echo words, and forecasting statements and your reader will be significantly more likely to understand and follow what you are trying to say. Headings are also helpful when appropriate, which they are many times in professional writing. All in all, you had great insight into chapters 6 and 7.

Chapters 6 & 7

Chapter six gave plenty of useful information for conducting research. Guideline three went over the value of checking each source for leads to other sources in your topic area. I have found this to be very useful when researching. It is great when your source leads you to another that is just as helpful. The book’s point on carefully evaluating what information you find is very important. There are many times when I have been researching and found my sources are incorrect and biased. Especially with the internet, it is easy to find sources that look well-researched when in fact it was written by someone in high school who didn’t know what they were talking about.

Chapter seven has some interesting information about creating ideas. Personally, I am not in to freewriting just because I don’t like to write with no specific purpose. However, the book presented the idea tree and clustering which I remember from middle school. I haven’t used these approaches in a while and am now considering using them for my research paper. The last idea about conducting a survey seems a bit daunting but if the right questions are asked I believe much information can be gathered.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric has a rather negative connotation because of its use during the election season. In reality, rhetoric is something used daily in every conversation often without any though of deception. Rhetoric is persuasion and is a must-have in professional writing. All rhetoric falls into three categories: ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethos is self; the “I”. When using this type one is trying to persuade on the basis of their reputation or expertise. When a doctor tells a patient that he needs surgery the patient usually listens and agrees. If an accountant tried to tell that same person that they need surgery they probably won’t listen. This example shows that the doctor’s reputation persuaded the man to have the surgery.

Pathos is the emotional persuasion we see in many TV ads. There are many commercials out today that start off showing a poor child digging through the garbage for food. The narrator then begins to describe a day in the life of this boy and many others like him. This commercial touches us and causes us to feel compassions for the boy and want to help by sending money. This is an example of the emotional rhetoric called pathos.

Logos is the logical rhetoric. When the weatherman says there is a storm coming and you should stay indoors it is logical to do what he recommends. When someone tries to persuade you with logic they are using logos rhetoric.

I hear rhetoric all day long and it is good to be able to determine which kind I am hearing and try to determine why I am being persuaded.

Chapters: 4, 5, 16, 23

I found these chapters interesting and useful for my professional writing technique. Chapter four brought up some points that were helpful like trying to identify the information your reader needs. Instead of presenting the information you find most important tailor your documents to what your readers really needs to be reading about. I also liked the idea of putting your bottom line first. This way your reader will know your main point without having to fish for it or stop reading.

Chapter 5 also had interesting points I thought were helpful. The point about not only using sound reasoning but also convincing your readers that your reasoning is sound. This goes back to the ethos rhetoric. To persuade your readers you must be logical and also make them see that you know what you are talking about and that they should respond to your writing.

Chapter 16: developing shared understanding of the communication’s objectives. You must learn about your reader’s values and needs. If you find out what they want you can appeal to it and become a stronger persuasive writer. The idea about making and sharing plans is very important because if your group members are not all on the same page it can be difficult to achieve your goals.

Chapter 23: writing descriptive and understandable instructions can be complicated because what you find understandable may not seem that way to everyone that will be reading the instructions. Being organized and through is the best way to go.

Response to Tayler Black

I agree that the book gave many insights on how to focus your writing. I found it interesting when the book pointed out that you should write in a way that reflects your relationship with your readers. In many situations you may have little to no relationship with the people you are writing to so I guess you just have to take that into account and write as clearly as possible.

I found what you said about the recent graduate and your experience in the workplace to be interesting. Writing skills are so vital and grammar is usually difficult to grasp. One missed comma on a presentation in a meeting could mean people get the wrong idea about what you are saying. I always try to have someone else go over my work before I turn anything in or give a presentation. The credibility issue is also very important. When you are new to a company people don’t really know what to expect. If you come into a business meeting to give a presentation and you spelled something wrong your credibility is probably damaged a bit.

I also found that I had already heard most of the information in the book but they presented many tips in a new light and I still learned information that will help me in the future.

Chapter 3

I found chapter three to be very interesting and useful. I never realized before how much thought must go into a written document. This chapter described so many different ways to consider your reader. I liked what the book said about the Goal State. If you really want something done you must make sure your writing will appeal to the reader and cause them to seek action. If anything can be misinterpreted it might result in a different, disagreeable result. The way the reader reads is also very important. If they tend to skim you can use heading or tables to catch their eye. It is also important to realize that your reader may not see a “problem” the same way you do. Therefore, by the end of reading your writing you may have to change their mind and get them to agree with you proposal for a solution.

The information about cross-cultural communication was helpful to me as well. I thought it interesting that it is a general rule not to show hands in pictures to ensure you are not making rude gestures. When writing to someone from a different culture it is best to do some research in order to avoid being misunderstood or perceived as rude. This chapter helped to open my eyes to all the different ways to consider the reader and get the point across without changing the meaning.

Freestyle on Writing

I have always enjoyed writing. I like to sit down and put words on paper in a way that is creative and expressive. I considered majoring in journalism but decided against it when I became interesting in accounting. Accounting will require me to have professional writing skills that I will learn in this class. One of the many reasons I enjoy writing is because I had an excellent English teacher in the fourth grade that made writing fun and exciting. She gave me a good foundation that made it easy to write any type of paper. I have enjoyed all my other English classes since. I also had a great teacher for ENGL 101 and 102 which made writing that twelve-fourteen page research paper a piece of cake. Sometimes I feel like writing a book, but I get about four words on a page and I give up.

Of course, all the writing I did in the past was descriptive and wordy. I have never really had to de-clutter my work as much as the book described. I have never been told that I should use fewer words rather than more, so this class should be a good place for me to start creating and perfecting my professional writing style.

Thoughts on Chapters 1, 20, & 22

After reading these three chapters I feel much more prepared to write any type of professional document. Here are some points I found interesting and helpful:

• Chapters 1 and 20 both expressed ideas about shortening written documents to help the reader(s) to focus and acquire the information that they need. I found the idea of talking to your readers to be interesting. This would make sense considering the fact that people can have such are hard time understanding each others meanings.
• I liked how the author is following his own ideas, which can definitely help when I start writing my own documents. After reading his work this new way of writing should flow more smoothly.
• One thing I know I have a problem with and was addressed in chapter 20 is the "you" centered approach. It seems natural now, after writing may research papers, to continually use the word "I" and to write about my opinions. I am going to try to structure my sentences so that the reader can see themselves being considered in the text.
• I thought the information on proposals was well presented and useful. I have never written a proposal before so this will help me immensely. I liked the way the chapter was structured and the examples they gave at the end. This very clear method should help me when I go to write a proposal.