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rubric is arranged, the most important aspects of your writing are on the top. This is not to say that mechan-
ics are not important, but content and organization are always the most important parts of writing for infor-
mation and understanding. They are the way you make it clear to your reader/evaluator that you have
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THE TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT EXPRESS YOURSELF
understood the task, identified the important elements of information needed to explain the task, and orga-
nized the information into a logically ordered written presentation.
A sample essay and explanation of how it would be scored can be found on pages 146-147.
Not all reading and writing for information and understanding is related to test questions and term
paper assignments. Now let s take a look at how this kind of expository writing impacts your everyday life.
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EXPRESS YOURSELF THE TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT
C H A P T E R
THREE
EVERYDAY
WRITING
THIS CHAPTER explains some of the everyday
purposes that apply to reading and writing for
information and understanding. You will learn
how to apply the skills you have just learned to
write business letters, directions/instructions,
and general summaries.
ust how does writing which seems so geared to school have any connection to your everyday life? You
may even be thinking that once you re out of school you ll never have to write again. Well, that s sim-
J
J
ply not the case. With e-mail developing as a primary means of everyday communication, writing to
communicate information and demonstrate understanding is of major importance.
This is especially true as you enter the business world and hope to climb the corporate ladder. Remem-
ber what we said at the very beginning of this book? Writing is the way we make our thinking visible to the
world. Consider then the likelihood that your boss or business manager would want to promote you to a
leadership position if he or she hasn t seen a particularly clear and organized mind. And we re not talking
about waiting until you re out of college or graduate school. Even if you re just working your way through
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EVERYDAY WRITING EXPRESS YOURSELF
school waiting until you can finally land the job of your dreams, your writing can establish you as a compe-
tent, confident individual worthy of responsibility.
Here are some of the most important characteristics of business writing in general, and e-mail in par-
ticular:
¡' Know your audience.
¡' Anticipate your audience s needs and questions.
¡' State your main idea in the opening sentence.
¡' Be brief. Avoid wordy, repetitive writing.
¡' Avoid slang, buzz words, jargon, and colloquialisms.
¡' Never include jokes, clichés, and ethnic references.
¡' Be factual, not emotional.
¡' Focus on the positive by choosing positive words and phrases.
¡' Always proofread to be sure that you have followed the conventions of standard written English.
Even in e-mail: correct grammar including capitalization and diction apply.
Let s look at each of these and see how they actually affect business writing. First, the concept of know-
ing your audience is important no matter what your purpose for writing. In the case of the business memo
or letter, knowing your audience will determine how much information you need to provide, and what spe-
cific questions and/or needs will have to be addressed. For example, your manager has asked that you e-mail
the other employees about the annual Memorial Day picnic. You could write:
To: Everybody
From: Chuck
Re: Our annual picnic
The Memorial Day picnic is going to be at Sherwood Park on Monday. Mark Manager
asked me to invite you guys.
Bring burgers and stuff and get ready for a blast!
See ya
The response to your e-mail is slow and steady. You are asked by all of the people you e-mailed what
time they should come and what they should bring other than their own burgers. Or did you mean that every-
one should simply supply everything, including soda and chips and paper goods. And exactly what did you
mean by a blast? Last year there was an organized volleyball game. Is that happening again this year? Should
they bring volleyballs? You know all the answers and by the time you have recited them all for the fourteenth
time you are behind in your work and not at all sure if anyone will actually attend the picnic. Mark Manager
isn t too happy with you either. He s heard from several people that the e-mail he sent was confusing. Appar-
ently, some people assumed that it was his invitation because he s the boss.
So what went wrong? First, you wrote for an audience that you assumed had the same background infor-
mation that you did. They were all there last year. Right? Wrong. There were several old-timers who missed
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EXPRESS YOURSELF EVERYDAY WRITING
last year, and there are at least three new people who had no previous experience. Second, for everyone con-
cerned, dates (not just Monday), times (from 3 to midnight), and location (specific street) would have been
helpful. Third, you said bring burgers. Did that mean that the company was providing everything else?
Mark Manager is right to think that you didn t give much thought or planning to this task. So he re-
wrote the memo.
TO: All employees, families and friends
FROM: Mark Manager
RE: Annual Memorial Day Picnic
Please plan to attend our Memorial Day Picnic on Monday, May 25th, at Sherwood
Park from 3PM to midnight. A direction map is attached for those of you who are
new to our company.
We ll provide all the beverages and paper goods but the food is up to you. Please
bring enough food, snacks, et cetera for your own group. As always, family and
friends are welcome.
We need a head count, so let me know by Friday, the 22nd how many you ll be
bringing.
We will have our annual volleyball tournament! Come ready to have a good time!
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