Course Reflection

This class has helped me to make sense of the theory that has consumed my thoughts since I've been at Clemson. Although theory is incredibly painful to learn, it provides reasoning for the practice. Computer programs, detailed how-to books, and other tools are helpful for only a short while, but they soon become outdated and obsolete. Theoretical knowledge does not.

This course has been one of my three favorite classes at Clemson. Labeling it as one of my favorites hardly implies that it was easy. On the contrary, I fought tooth and nail to keep up with the class and to try to understand what had been said. In hindsight, I am so glad I did because I know more now than I did when I began, and this experience has made me a more valuable candidate entering the workforce.

Katz's "Ethics of Expediency"

Katz's article reveals that blindly following guidelines and not being critical of writing can be dangerous. Terms like ethics, rhetoric, and truth are not safe, angelic, objective words. His Ethics of Expediency is a prime example. To Hitler, Just, and the Nazis, it was ethical to “reduce” the number of “units” by efficiently and expediently stuffing more of them in trucks because it was for the good of their people. Obviously, this tacit was a way of using terms, symbols, expediency, and persuasion to justify, trivialize, and cast a blind eye on the senseless genocide of thousands.

Language has everything to do with ethics and should not be used as a means to an end. Katz's article argues that the problem lies in the various definitions of what is or is not ethical, which relates to Kenneth Burke's terministic screens concept. Essentially, writing or doing something expediently neither qualifies it as good nor ethical. Professional writers must be aware of what they write, what the goals are, how it affects the audience, and what the ethical implications are.

A Word on Ethics

Before coming to Clemson, I never would have coupled technical writing/editing with ethics. To me, technical writing was completely objective and did not need to be contested because it was writing that would help others to achieve a task. I was utterly misguided and wrong.

On the contrary, words are collected, assembled, and expressed with particular purposes in mind. The effects of these words and how they are presented is where ethics is important. As the texts from this section of Harty's book shows, sometimes editors and writers unintentionally misinform their audience because of carelessness or lack of attention to the document purpose. However, being careless and unintentionally misleading are not mistakes that should be blindly forgiven. Winsor's article about the O-ring echoes this very point.

Many companies try to establish and enforce their codes of ethics through the use of mission statements, company "hero" stories, and employee handbooks. However, professionals must be able to discern what is ethical from what is not and then act accordingly. As Dan Jones' article discusses, the internet is an excellent opportunity for many people to use it in unethical ways. Hence, it is vital that professionals, particularly professional communicators, understand the ramifications of doing their jobs properly and ethically. Ethics is about distinguishing right from wrong and making appropriate choices that will not be harmful to oneself or others.

Resumes and Other Written Materials on a Job Search

Reading the the two articles by Graber and Dikel and Roehm, I thought that the information they mentioned was pretty self explanatory. On the contrary, many people make this very mistake and end up with terribly written representations of themselves. This "know it all" approach is also the same attitude that many people use when arranging and distributing their resumes. However, as these texts reveal, the best resume to use is one written specifically for the sought-after job: not a one size fits all resume.

I found Dikel and Roehm's article extremely helpful and insightful. For example, having used various methods to apply for jobs previously, I had a firm understanding on how each of the four resume types should be formatted. However, I neither understood how to get the margins "just right" so that the document looked nice in email format nor know the benefit and purpose of saving a resume as text only. Also, I always assumed that filling out the field-entry resume form on websites was the "best" way of getting my resume noticed. Now that I think about it, I actually avoided copying and pasting my resume into the field for fear of it reaching the hiring manager and looking awkward. Actually, I didn't think the fields made the resumes look badly until I was on an interview and two upper management officials had to fumble through 3-5 pages of resume jibberish. Even though the managers themselves brought it to the interview to ask me questions about it, I was so happy that I brought extra hard copies of my standard resume. After they realized the information was the same, they used the one-page copies I brought with me.

Resume Reading

Munschauer's article was informative on a number of levels. In particular, I intend to use the section on C.V. to help me to better plan my own vita. Reading this article made me think of several things.

One of my hobbies as a recent college graduate was to apply to new jobs. During this time, I already had a job, but was very unhappy with it. I thought I was doing the "right" thing by simply changing the companies' names and my objective. Now I realize that not adjusting the content and layout potentially costed me the chance for several interviews. I was sure that as long as I changed the company name, objective, and had soft yellow resume paper that I would get any job. I was terribly wrong.

Secondly, this summer I was able to see firsthand how a hiring manager wades through stacks on resumes. The hiring manager I observed, my sister, explained to me that she looked for keywords and presentation in resumes. Even though I tried to slow her down to get her to consider some applicants I thought she may have overlooked, she exclaimed that more people will eventually apply and that the discarded resumes lacked clarity and relevance.

Lastly, one of my students in ENGL 103 class asked for help writing resumes. After almost two years in the MAPC program, I felt obligated to remind him that he needs to consider his intended audience and its purpose or needs for offering the position. I am hesitant to give him an example for fear that he, as an impressionable freshman, will take my example and use it as the "Ten Commandments of Resumes" as I had when I was younger. Consequently, I think I will let him write what he believes to be a "good" resume and talk with him about it. Maybe I will even benefit from helping him.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2009 MA Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina

2003 BA Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia

Thesis

The Rhetorical Influence of Color in Residential Real Estate Design Marketing. Clemson, SC: Clemson, University 2009

Research Interests

Professional communication, organization design, visual rhetoric, technical writing, interior design, graphic communication, advertising, marketing, technical editing, digital literacy, usability testing

Teaching Experience

2006-2008 Clemson University – Accelerated Composition ENGL 103

Other Experience

2003-2007 – Management Assistant
2001-2003 Lynchburg College – Alton L. Wilmer Writing Center Tutor

Publications

Refereed chapters and articles

April Davis. [“NEED TITLE”]. Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA) 2000.

April Davis. “Mother.” In The Agora, 2003. [Publisher]: The agora, 2003, pp. ??-??.

April Davis. “A Day At the Park”. In The Agora, 2002. [Publisher]: The agora, 2002, pp. ??-??.

April Davis. [“NEED TITLE”]. In The Prism, 2002. [Publisher]: The prism, 2005, pp. ??-??.



Personal Statement

Introduction
Throughout my life, I have always maintained a passion for writing, technology, and design. I enjoyed watching decorating shows and drawing pictures just as much as I did playing video games, making PowerPoint presentations, and typing creative writing papers. Yet, as a Lynchburg College undergraduate studying English, I never thought that I could combine all three of my interests to be used in academia or the workforce, so I chose to focus solely on writing. Fortunately, graduate school changed how I began to see myself professionally. It ultimately set me on course for pursing a Doctorate of Philosophy in English with a specialization in Professional Writing and New Media from Old Dominion University.

Clemson University’s MA of Professional Communication program trained me to recognize writing, technology, design, research, and usability as rhetorical elements. Moreover, I learned that these interests were closely interrelated, and in some cases, interchangeable. Essentially, writing is both design and technology. My graduate thesis project is a marriage of this very concept and is road map of what I will pursue for a career. I welcome the experience of earning a degree from Old Dominion University in hopes of honing the analytical skills I have developed and preparing myself for leadership roles within the technical and professional communication community.

Academic and Professional Goals
Immediately after graduation in May of 2009 from Clemson University’s Master of Arts in Professional Communication, my goal is to enroll in classes at Old Dominion University as a part-time student. Excited about a career in industry, education, or a combination of the two, I intend to begin working with an organization while earning my doctorate and using the skills I learn. Applying the extensive historical, theoretical, pedagogical, practical, and research knowledge about professional communication that I learned from Clemson, I will focus on how form, purpose, technology of composition, audience, cultural location, and communities of discourse affect the creation and reception of texts and media.

My professional interests are in visual rhetoric, technical writing, technical editing, proposal writing, real estate, information technology, and organization/interior design. Earning this degree will ensure my goal of securing a successful career and enable me to apply it to many a number of different industries.

Importance of this Degree
During college and as a working adult, my recognized strength was and is my ability to operate efficiently under pressure while remaining creative and on task. The ability to manage my time well while also working on several projects is a trait I have continued to perfect over the years. The technical writing field requires one to conduct research in addition to writing. Fact-finding has always been something that I have done well because I am very patient and am thorough in my work. I have always been motivated by the desire to put forth my best effort in whatever I do. I want to excel and to be successful as a student, employee, and for my own personal satisfaction.

Kostelnick and Petroski

These two texts argue that seemingly typical design decisions such as using bold lettering or choosing a bridge layout not be treated arbitrarily. Kostelnick's article is important for any form of professional writing. Specifically, as I read this article, I thought about how easy it was for me to put my thesis headings in bold, large letters. Yet, Kostelnick and Foucault's articles reminded me that ease of use and convention should not be the basis of solving a problem.

Design is rhetorical; hence, I should have considered the fact that although bold text is easier for an audience to find on a page, my audience, three MAPC professors, read student thesis proposals every year and can recognize headings and sub-headings. Therefore, it was not necessary that I used bold lettering. Also, Kostelnick's article suggests that (which I had forgotten) bold text can also be offensive if used in the wrong context. Certainly my intention was not to offend three of the most important people currently in my life, but this point proves that I have to be very careful as to how I implement such choices - even if my audience is design professionals who know the difference.

The Petroski text was a perfect complement to both Kostelnick and Dorothy Winsor's articles. Obviously, Winsor's article talks about how engineers write themselves as engineers and Petroski's shows how engineers go about being engineers: invention through previous design interaction. For instance, Petroski discusses at length about how many people were fearful of using iron in railway bridges because of the numerous failed designs. Consequently, many engineers and their audiences rallied behind using wooden bridges because "that was the way things had always been done". Yet, Petroski points out that although the wooden bridges were widely used, they too were not without problems.

Another example of "good" design gone wrong is Alcatraz. Built as an impenetrable keep for the nation's most notorious prisoners, Alcatraz, or "the Rock", only lived up to its name for a short while. Made of mostly iron and concrete, the building is located on its own island in the San Francisco Bay. The design was effective as far as the intimidation factor was concerned; however, the salt water surrounding the island wore on the building over the years causing it to deteriorate and foster prison escapes. Although the inmates themselves actually did the crime, this design oversight could be blamed for numerous prison guard murders and the mass hysteria in San Francisco during the building's operation years.

I really enjoyed reading these two texts and don't have any nasty commentary to make about them. As a change, I thought I would show a clip from YouTube.com of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster. Ironically, I saw a special on the History Channel about bridges, and this one was mentioned. I did not see this situation in a rhetorical light until I read Petroski's article. I also commend Petroski for daring to combine the two extremes of writing: poetry and professional writing (Robert Frost's poem).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs

Project Draft 1

Curriculum Vitae

April J. Davis

Education
2009 MA Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina

2003 BA Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia

Thesis
The Rhetorical Influence of Color in Residential Real Estate Design Marketing. Clemson, SC: Clemson, University 2009

Research Interests
Interior design study, professional communication, organization design, technical editing

Teaching Experience
2006-2008 Clemson University – Accelerated Composition ENGL 103

Relevant Experience

Publications
April Davis. Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA) 2000.

Proposal Revision

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many college graduates who seek enrollment into a doctoral program have neither a firm understanding about what documentation to submit nor knowledge of how to format it. I propose to develop a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae (cv), and professional website portfolio and submit three recommendation letters to include in my application packet to such a program. This project will proactively enable me to apply to a program before the deadline and will serve as a guideline for other graduate students with doctoral degree aspirations.

INTRODUCTION
Many college graduates aspiring to continue their education beyond the Master's degree level have a general idea about the caliber of students such programs accept, but have little or no understanding about what documentation to submit to a doctoral program and how to format it. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

While the content of this project will contain information specifically pertaining to me and my educational and career goals, the process itself is also beneficial to other students in that they can use the components from this project as useful guidelines for creating and compiling their own application portfolios. Moreover, prospective applicants may discover opportunities within these templates to add pertinent information to some areas in the portfolio that may not have been considered earlier.

It is important, however, to emphasize that this project is not regarded as the only correct way of arranging a packet for a doctoral program submission. Each student will have to research the specific conditions her desired program requests and decide what information is appropriate to meet those constraints. Learning this process will not only inform the student on the major components of a doctoral application, but he will understand that replicating the process is not the answer: he must assess the needs and decide accordingly how to address the situation.

CURRENT SITUATION
To date, the following items need to be produced in order to apply to a program:
· an application letter
· a curriculum vitae (cv)
· a professional website portfolio
· three recommendation letters

Although I do have a functional, one-page resume, it is an abbreviated account of my education and work experience and will not suffice for this particular undertaking. I also have several documents that could be used as evidence of my intelligence and achievements, yet they are scattered among four to six digital memory storage devices and some bear little or no relevance to the type of program for which I hope to apply. I also am yet to write a letter to any schools and am not sure about what it needs to say. Given the materials I currently have and considering the exacting standards that many programs set, it is apparent that I am not yet prepared to apply to such a program.

One of the possible reasons why some doctoral program applicants do not get into their desired programs is because they equate this application process with that of an undergraduate or graduate level study. Some students may even consider that earning a Master’s degree is all the qualification an applicant needs to qualify for the next academic level and refuse to spend enough time developing a portfolio packet. Other potential applicants may want to apply, but may feel intimidated and overwhelmed by what they believe is expected of them and abandon their goals of attending because of fear.

At the doctoral level, many program officials expect the candidates to introduce and “sell” themselves to the officials. Some people may consider this process unreasonable and humiliating, but it is actually a unique case of how audience analysis functions. Even though graduate programs rely on people to apply and come to the schools so that the professors can teach, the students are ultimately the main beneficiaries of attending the college as they are gaining knowledge and honing their skills to make themselves more marketable professionals.

Another integral aspect of audience analysis that applicants must consider is that even though it is important to distinguish oneself from the applicant pool, they must operate within the program’s set limitations. Doctoral programs are usually small, typically admitting fewer students than would a Master’s degree program. Hence, students should not submit materials that simply appear to be “impressive” and do not serve any importance other than the fact the students’ may have received high marks on them. This misconception may prove more harmful than helpful. Instead, they need to adhere to the specifications established by the academic community of professors while also successfully distinguishing themselves from other students.

PROJECT PLAN
Reaching my goal is not as simple as merely creating a website, writing a letter, and typing an employment history statement. On the contrary, the actual process for getting there is much more intricate. Granted, if a student already knows which school he is interested in, he may be able to bypass some of the underlying work and begin the process of preparing the materials. However, some college graduates, especially those who are busily trying to finish their current program, may not be as fortunate and would benefit from other solutions. Therefore, I will create a preliminary checklist of tasks for such students to complete before they begin working on the application packet. The main elements of this checklist appear in bulleted format below:
· Set aside time over the course of a week to look for programs of interest
· Narrow the choices to the three top schools listing the attributes of each
· Decide on applying to a program or programs
· Create a sensible, numbered schedule detailing what the admission particulars are when they are due
· Prioritize time to begin working on the submission materials

Now the fun part begins: actually doing the work. As a place to start, it is advisable to work on the curriculum vitae first because this document will determine what information is to be highlighted on the website portfolio and application letter. Although each of the three components of the application packet (letter, cv, and website portfolio) serve specific purposes, each one should be constructed based on the following guidelines: audience, format, and content.

In his article, The Basics of a Cover Letter, managing editor Steven Graber states, “Before reading a word of your cover letter, a potential employer has already made an assessment of your organizational skills and attention to detail simply by observing its appearance” (306). With regard to content, Graber suggests personalizing the letter and “mapping it out”. Both of these suggestions will address the audience analysis, formatting, and content factors.

Following this same format, I will structure my curriculum vitae around a Dr. Jan Holmevik’s personal copy, the specifications of the program, and credible sources from the Internet. The following is a preliminary list of the curriculum vitae contents:
· candidate's objectives and/or goals
· educational background
· previous work experience
· notable qualifications
· pertinent information specified by the program and Dr. Holmevik

Likewise, the website portfolio will address audience, format, content, but will showcase evidence of the letter and curriculum vitae. Specifically, the major components of the professional website are
· a bibliography about the applicant
· an overview of education history and relevant employment experience
· scholarly documents and projects completed
· particulars mentioned from the prospective doctoral program

Although this document can serve as a resource for other students, the document itself will not be without its flaws and will require numerous revisions. In addition to referring to the doctoral program prerequisites, the success of this project depends on constructive criticism by classroom peers and advice from the first client/audience: Dr. Holmevik.

The following computer applications and website will be used to create each component of the application submission:
· Microsoft Word: curriculum vitae and application letter
· InDesign: curriculum vitae
· ePortfolio website(http://www.clemson.edu/ugs/eportfolio): web portfolio

QUALIFICATIONS
Composing an application letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio now will enable me to submit these required materials to a doctoral program before the general deadline date early next year. Completing this task as a class assignment will provide me with helpful feedback during the process and reduce the chance of submitting an insufficient application package.

In addition to this project being a major class assignment, it will also help me to make my dreams of earning a Ph. D a reality. Beginning this process has further convinced me that even the greatest challenges are attainable with necessary planning.

PROJECT SCHEDULE
Tentatively, the project itinerary will emulate the following:
· September 16 - Proposal outline due
· September 25 - Proposal due
· October 1 – Create checklist
· October 16 - First deliverable draft completed
· October 30 - Second deliverable draft completed
· November 13 - Technology preview due
· December 4 - Project presentation

CONCLUSION
For many graduate students, the greatest measure of academic achievement is a doctoral degree. Unfortunately, some students have no concept of how to proceed with the application process or what materials are needed for submission. This project will produce the necessary components for applying to a doctoral program and will direct other students by example about how to proceed with such an undertaking.

Reports and Other Long Documents - Part 2

In his article, Richard Johnson-Sheehan talks about writing style, specifically how plain writing is persuasive. This idea almost seems like a contradiction in itself. Yet, in comparison to reading goobledygook, the connection is crystal clear.

Johnson-Sheehan offers eight guidelines for structuring sentences. In summation, the guidelines stress sentence clarity by focusing on the "doer" (active subject), avoiding redundancy, and eliminating wordiness. Generally speaking, academic writing seems to ignore these two suggestions completely. Using Johnson-Sheehan's words, considering the "breathing length" appears to be a non-issue to many writers.

The arrogance of academia suggests that because the writers already understand the information, they should flaunt their knowledge and penalize students for not being experts. As a matter of fact, several texts I have read while in the program have left me feeling out of breath and exhausted. Of course I am a biased student, but I never pass the opportunity to shun academic authors and their writer-based prose.

I do understand that some people do not intend to write in convoluted ways, but simply have a different style. It is also apparent that the topic of the text will usually determine how the text is written (e.g. Foucault). However, it just seems that any writing other than poetry or self-reflection essays are meant to be interpreted by an audience. Hence, I do not understand why arrogant complicated writing is necessary. As an audience member of such material, I would suggest the K.I.S.S. concept to many authors: Keep It Simple Stupid/Silly.

Reports and Other Longer Documents

If I had to rank the three readings by the authors' names from worst to best regarding how effectively each text practiced what it preached, it would be in this order: Mathes and Stevenson, Dodge, and Vinci. I preface this response by saying that each section contained invaluable information that did open my eyes to concepts for which I was not familiar. Yet, as a student of this field, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the effectiveness of these documents. Hence, I offer my observation for each.

Mathes and Stevenson's article thoroughly detailed the problems with audience analysis and offered solutions. The strengths of this article included identifying the false assumptions by listing them, classifying the audience groups, and using visuals to further explain these concepts. However, the visuals are confusing, they use foreign terminology to explain these concepts ("bloc"), some of the examples are convoluted, and the document as a whole is very wordy. Using figure 3 on page 177 as an example, the authors attempt to explain the importance of identifying individuals rather than organizations. Although I do understand how the chart is to function, I am distracted by what Tufte would describe as "chart junk", or the large ovals in the chart. I could not understand the purpose of the ovals and thought it would be too much of a task to meander through the dense text. So my experience as the user was not a very pleasant one in this instance.

Dodge's article addressed writing abstracts. Perhaps I ranked his article higher because this particular topic is of interest to me, but I believe it mainly had to do with my ease of comprehension with the text. One factor that made this article more pleasing was the "you factor". In other words, he made the article personal and addressed me directly. Secondly, the document was four and a half pages long in contrast to the last article's seven and a half. Granted, I understand that all articles cannot be condensed to four pages, but in this instance, it was harder to read the Mathes and Stevenson article because it was dry, impersonal, and long. Finally, the examples were appropriate and the "rules" used subheadings for quick reference.

Lastly, the Vinci article was impressive to me on several levels. For starters, the title informs me immediately that this text intends to address ten points. I subconsciously think to myself, "Ten points aren't so bad. I'll read it." Also, the headings of each of the ten pitfalls reflect back to the title. Even this detail helps eliminate the chances of pitfalls three (multiple aims) and four (inconsistency) from happening. The final reason I ranked this article high was because it spoke directly to the problems that I have within my own writing. While I am stronger in some areas, I have struggled with a few pitfalls such as having multiple aims, being inconsistent, and misintroducing.

Again, in no ways did I mean to say that the Mathes/Stevenson and Dodge articles were poorly written. Rather, I now read texts for more than just content. I credit my experience with the MAPC program and now hope that I can apply the same scrutiny to my own proposal and thesis.

Project Proposal

TO: Dr. Jan Holmevik
FROM: April Davis
DATE: September 24, 2008
RE: ENGL 690 Project Proposal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Development of a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae (cv), and professional website portfolio will aid future MAPC graduate in applying to a doctoral degree program. Before submitting it, the student's thesis committee chair will assess and respond to the effectiveness and quality of the deliverables.

INTRODUCTION
Many college graduates aspiring to continue their education beyond the Master's degree level have a general idea about the caliber of students such programs accept, but have little or no understanding about what documentation to submit to a doctoral program and how to format it. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

While the content of this project will contain information specifically pertaining to me and my educational and career goals, the process itself is also beneficial to other students in that they can use the components from this project as useful guidelines for creating and compiling their own application portfolios. Moreover, prospective applicants may discover opportunities within these templates to add pertinent information to some areas in the portfolio that may not have been considered earlier.

It is important, however, to emphasize that this project is not regarded as the only correct way of arranging a packet for a doctoral program submission. Each student will have to research the specific conditions her desired program requests and decide what information is appropriate to meet those constraints. Learning this process will not only inform the student on the major components of a doctoral application, but he will understand that replicating the process is not the answer: he must assess the needs and decide accordingly how to address the situation.

CURRENT SITUATION
To date, the following items need to be produced in order to apply to a program:
· an application letter
· a curriculum vitae (cv)
· a professional website portfolio

Although I do have a functional, one-page resume, it is an abbreviated account of my education and work experience and will not suffice for this particular undertaking. I also have several documents that could be used as evidence of my intelligence and achievements, yet they are scattered among four to six digital memory storage devices and some bear little or no relevance to the type of program for which I hope to apply. I also am yet to write a letter to any schools and am not sure about what it needs to say. Given the materials I currently have and considering the exacting standards that many programs set, it is apparent that I am not yet prepared to apply to such a program.

One of the possible reasons why some doctoral program applicants do not get into their desired programs is because they equate this application process with that of an undergraduate or graduate level study. Some students may even consider that earning a Master’s degree is all the qualification an applicant needs to qualify for the next academic level and refuse to spend enough time developing a portfolio packet. Other potential applicants may want to apply, but may feel intimidated and overwhelmed by what they believe is expected of them and abandon their goals of attending because of fear.

At the doctoral level, many program dignitaries expect the candidates to introduce and “sell” themselves to the officials. Some people may consider this process unreasonable and humiliating, but it is actually a unique case of how audience analysis functions. Even though graduate programs rely on people to apply and come to the schools so that the professors can teach, the students are ultimately the main beneficiaries of attending the college as they are gaining knowledge and honing their skills to make themselves more marketable professionals.

Another integral aspect of audience analysis that applicants must consider is that even though it is important to distinguish oneself from the applicant pool, they must operate within the program’s set limitations. Doctoral programs are usually small, typically admitting fewer students than would a Master’s degree program. Hence, students should not submit materials that simply appear to be “impressive” and do not serve any importance other than the fact the students’ may have received high marks on them. This misconception may prove more harmful than helpful. Instead, they need to adhere to the specifications established by the academic community of professors while also successfully distinguishing themselves from other students.

PROJECT PLAN
Reaching my goal is not as simple as merely creating a website, writing a letter, and typing an employment history statement. On the contrary, the actual process for getting there is much more intricate. Granted, if a student already knows which school he is interested in, he may be able to bypass some of the underlying work and begin the process of preparing the materials. However, some college graduates, especially those who are busily trying to finish their current program, may not be as fortunate and would benefit from other solutions. Therefore, I will create a preliminary checklist of tasks for such students to complete before they begin working on the application packet. The main elements of this checklist appear in bulleted format below:

· Set aside time over the course of a week to look for programs of interest
· Narrow the choices to the three top schools listing the attributes of each
· Decide on applying to a program or programs
· Create a sensible, numbered schedule detailing what the admission particulars are when they are due
· Prioritize time to begin working on the submission materials

Now the fun part begins: actually doing the work. As a place to start, it is advisable to work on either the application letter or curriculum vitae first because these documents will determine what information is to be highlighted on the website portfolio. Although each of the three components of the application packet (letter, cv, and website portfolio) serve specific purposes, each one should be constructed based on the following guidelines: audience, format, and content.

In his article, The Basics of a Cover Letter, managing editor Steven Graber states, “Before reading a word of your cover letter, a potential employer has already made an assessment of your organizational skills and attention to detail simply by observing its appearance” (306). With regard to content, Graber suggests personalizing the letter and “mapping it out”. Both of these suggestions will address the audience analysis, formatting, and content factors.

Following this same format, I will structure my curriculum vitae around a Dr. Jan Holmevik’s personal copy, the specifications of the program, and credible sources from the Internet. The following is a preliminary list of the curriculum vitae contents:
· candidate's objectives and/or goals
· educational background
· previous work experience
· notable qualifications
· pertinent information specified by the program and Dr. Holmevik

Likewise, the website portfolio will address audience, format, content, but will showcase evidence of the letter and curriculum vitae. Specifically, the major components of the professional website are
· a bibliography about the applicant
· an overview of education history and relevant employment experience
· scholarly documents and projects completed
· particulars mentioned from the prospective doctoral program

Although this document can serve as a resource for other students, the document itself will not be without its flaws and will require numerous revisions. In addition to referring to the doctoral program prerequisites, the success of this project depends on constructive criticism by classroom peers and advice from the first client/audience: Dr. Holmevik.

The following computer applications and website will be used to create each component of the application submission:
· Microsoft Word: curriculum vitae and application letter
· InDesign: curriculum vitae
· ePortfolio website(http://www.clemson.edu/ugs/eportfolio): web portfolio

QUALIFICATIONS
Composing an application letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio now will enable me to submit these required materials to a doctoral program before the general deadline date early next year. Completing this task as a class assignment will provide me with helpful feedback during the process and reduce the chance of submitting an insufficient document.
In addition to this project being a major class assignment, it will also help me to make my dreams of earning a Ph. D a reality. Beginning this process has further convinced me that even the greatest challenges are attainable with necessary planning.

PROJECT SCHEDULE
Tentatively, the project itinerary will look like the following:
· September 16 - Proposal outline due
· September 25 - Proposal due
· October 1 – Create checklist
· October 16 - First deliverable draft completed
· October 30 - Second deliverable draft completed
· November 13 - Technology preview due
· December 4 - Project presentation

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WORKS CITED
Graber, Steven. “The Basics of a Cover Letter”. Strategies for Business and Technical
Writing. Ed. Kevin J. Harty. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. 306-320.
Holmevik, Jan R. Personal curriculum vitae.

Business and Technical Correspondence

Audience analysis is an essential part of a professional communicator's job. As shown in the examples on page 122, a professional communicator must balance purpose with personality or risk audience misinterpretation and dissatisfaction. The first example on page 122 is efficient, but insults the reader; hence, it is not effective. The writer's "matter-of-fact" tone not only informs the recipient of the rejection, but makes her feel as if she is beneath the company and that the company doesn't really "look forward to doing business" with her.

Reader-based writing is centered on diplomacy, not neutrality. Neutral writing attempts to communicate in an impersonal way, but only contradicts itself: to write neutrally is to write to no one. Instead, David Lewis suggests writing the way you talk. My only concern with this notion is that some people speak incorrectly and could do more damage to document comprehension than good. Even in an attempt to encourage their readers' understanding, the writers of this book compromise proper grammar, such as ending sentences with prepositions (example on page 125).

On another note, I still feel very awkward using personal pronouns in my writing. Throughout my schooling, I was trained to only use them for personal narratives or letters and not research papers and other documents. Moreover, I still worry about my writing being too "flowery" and not getting straight to the point. Yet, as Fielden and Dulek note, in order to write effectively, it is my responsibility to teach myself how to avoid "circuitous" writing. As long as I remember to focus my writing on the intended audience, accomplishing my writing goals are possible.

Three additional points:
1. What do the letters "CYA" on page 143 represent?
2. Did you notice that "comma" is misspelled on page 161?
3. Are the examples on page 164 the same, or did I stare at them too long?

Problem Statement Structures

Executive Summary:
Development of a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio will aid future MAPC graduate in applying to a doctoral degree program. The student's thesis committee chair will assess and respond to the effectiveness and quality of the deliverable.

1. Introduction:
Many college graduates aspiring to continue their education beyond the Master's degree level have a general idea about the caliber of students such programs accept, but have little or no understanding about what documentation to submit to a doctoral program and how to format it. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

2. Introduction:
Many college graduates would like to be accepted into a doctoral degree program that cultivates a high level of thinking, fulfills their expectations, and provides a foundation for a career. In actuality, the real situation college graduates are facing doesn’t fulfill any of the aforementioned. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

3. Introduction:
Many college graduates aspiring to continue their education beyond the Master's degree level have little or no understanding about what documentation to submit to a doctoral program and how to format it. Lacking this information prevents prospective students from knowing how to construct formal documents, address academic professionals, and ultimately, being admitted into the desired program. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

Project Proposal Outline

Executive Summary
Development of a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio will aid future MAPC graduate in applying to a doctoral degree program. The student's thesis committee chair will assess and respond to the effectiveness and quality of the deliverable.

Introduction
Many college graduates aspiring to continue their education beyond the Master's degree level have a general idea about the caliber of students such programs accept, but have little or no understanding about what documentation to submit to a doctoral program and how to format it. As a candidate for admission to a doctoral program, I will create a prospectus letter, curriculum vitae, and professional website portfolio to submit for this very purpose.

Current Situation
To date, April Davis has neither a professional website portfolio nor an application letter for admittance to a doctoral degree program. She has a functional resume and several digital memory instruments containing her work samples, but these components solely will not suffice for this particular undertaking.

Project Plan
The application letter will consist of the candidate's objective, goals, educational background, qualifications, and other pertinent elements as specified by thesis committee chair, Dr. Jan Holmevik. The major components of the professional website will be a bibliography about the applicant, scholarly documents and projects completed, and a current, suitable resume detailing her educational history and relevant employment experience. Structural and formatting advice from Dr. Holmevik will be used to compose and arrange the deliverable.

Qualifications
Composing an application letter and professional website portfolio will enable the student to submit the required materials to a doctoral program before the general deadline date early next year. Completing this task as a class assignment will provide the student applicant with helpful feedback during the process and reduce the chance of submitting an insufficient document.

Project Schedule
September 16 - Proposal outline due
September 25 - Proposal due
October 16 - First deliverable draft completed
October 30 - Second deliverable draft completed
November 13 - Technology preview due
December 4 - Project presentation

Myers and Selzer Analysis

Generally speaking, both articles focus on the importance of audience analysis, diction, and tone in proposal writing. Selzer's article details engineer Kenneth Nelson's composing process (planning, arranging, writing, and revising) while the Myers text shows the specific changes the two biologists, Bloch and Crews, made in their documents.

One major differences between the two articles was the revision process. Nelson's writing process is linear because he essentially moves from one writing step to another in a one-directional method. Specifically, any changes made are few in number and minor in detail because of this process. Nelson admits to writing with his audience in mind, but seems to combine the revising phase with the planning and outlining. It is quite possible that in some of his writing, he could possibly use the outline almost verbatim for the final draft. Yet, as revealed in the Myers text, even seemingly unassuming words and word combinations carry alternate meanings and can drastically alter a document's voice or tone.

The two scientists' writing processes were obviously recursive. Not only did their peers evaluate these proposals, but they had to scrutinize every aspect of their writing if they intended on getting the leaders to even read their documents, receiving funding for the research, and/or earning a respectable place within the scientific community.

On the other hand, the engineers were both faced with other composition challenges. Dr. Bloch had an interesting research topic and a successful laboratory, but was unknown amongst his peers in the scientific community. This factor directly impacted the design and format of his proposal in one major way: he was a newcomer to the community and his writing had to reflect a humble, yet confident tone so that the community leaders would even entertain reading his proposal. Too much bold, assertive language would have made him appear arrogant and dispectful towards any work that had preceeded his research. Yet, he couldn't sound too humble or the leaders would have simply ignored his proposal altogether. One way he achieved this goal was by backing off some of his claims.

Crews' name was known throughout the scientific community, but his proposal was at risk for not receiving any funding. Unlike Bloch, Crews had the advantage of being better known by the leaders and had the liberty of using stronger, more assertive language at his discretion. As Myers points out, Crews had to make his research interesting enough to catch the reader's attention because he needed financial backing. Hence, it was much more acceptable for him to make stronger claims because of the ethos he had already established and the urgency of needing the money.

Part 2: Problems with Language

While incredibly long to read, this section on language was interesting and informative. Prior to this selection, I understood that people from different parts of the world communicate and interact in many ways. However, this reading emphasized the importance of the N.A.K. (needs, audience, knowledge) acronym.

On page 61, William Zinsser listed four articles of faith when writing a document: clarity, simplicity, brevity, and humanity. These articles can be applied to writing and communication with people from other cultures. Zinsser added that the best practice a person can employ is writing as oneself (67). Specifically, writers should be careful to balance relaying a message while also avoiding redundant, mechanical-sounding prose.

The Stuart Chase segment entitled "Gobbledygook" was another one of my favorites from this reading. Chase identified academic, bureaucratic, and legal talk as some that is riddled with goobledygook. Lofty academic talk, or "pedageese", is one of my biggest pet peeves of all time. Although it is acceptable to speak this way among a group of peers, I often question why it is needed at all. I have even questioned some pedageese offenders about this matter. They have often responded that they will rarely get the opportunity to speak in that manner once they have graduated from the Professional Communication program. Frankly, I consider this type of self-gratifying talk unnecessary. Goobledygook communication makes some people happy; however, mere mortals such as myself consider it no more clearer or distinguishable than either of the two examples on page 56.

Finally, Gwyneth Olofsson's article on international communication included a number of points of which I had never heard. Specifically, I never realized how differently silence is interpreted across cultures. Moreover, until reading this section, I could not think of a good reason as to why the MAPC program specifies a foreign language requirement. Thanks to Olofsson's detailed, persuasive explanation, I now have an answer to my question.

PAFEO description

Two of my better prospects for this project have not yielded any fruitful results. These were the opportunities with Nestle and with another company in Atlanta. Although I am still looking for another option, I do have one smaller project.

Purpose: To compose a set of directions for the Greater Brookville Church usher board ministry.

Audience: The usher board, any prospective members, and the church pastor.

Format: A manual stating the goals, objectives, mission, and other details associated with being a church usher. The document will be simple to understand because some of the members are in grade school.

Evidence: Current ushers will be asked to detail pertinent information regarding their experience. Other parishioners will be asked for their assessment of how well they perceive current ushering practices. Any outdated documentation will be reviewed to note what practices have remained and which are obsolete.

Organization: The information in the document will be organized according to the order of importance and will feature a problem-analysis solution section to provide quick access to specific questions.

Process as Well as Product 1-49

As I read this selection, I couldn't help but think about how some students associate intelligence and "good" writing with the use of long, convoluted words to make "deep" (ambiguous) points or compositions. However, technical writing is not about showcasing the writer's talent, brain capacity, or prowess using a thesaurus, but enabling the audience to accomplish a goal or simply react in some way. The more I read into the text, I even began to question my own work. How effective was my thesis proposal? If someone had to replicate my study, could he or she? Is the message of my document clear and significant?

I also realized that coming into the MAPC program, I was one of those people with "flowery" writing. Another name for this style is writer-based prose. I believe that I wrote this way as opposed to concentrating on the audience for two reasons: habit and too much worrying and not enough planning and revising. I also was never one to simply "put words on paper" because I'd always assumed that I would remember all my thoughts and would have to go back and erase all the bad ones.

On another note, I fully intend to utilize the PAFEO steps and the project worksheet in many of the projects I assume. I also noticed how effective headings and document format are in aiding clarity. Although these suggestions seem very obvious, these are the very mistakes that many people, including myself, carelessly make.

Project Brainstorming

I am considering working on a project for a travel agency in Greenville. Last year during the homecoming festivities, I met the owner of this company, and he suggested that I contact him about possibly writing a grant for him. Although I have neither seen nor spoken to him since last October, I would like to take him up on his offer. Moreover, he mentioned that he knew several people around Greenville who he could possibly introduce to me. I see this prospect as a great way to start on my project while also networking within the technical writing community.

Another idea I have considered is doing some volunteer writing/work for local non-profit organizations around Virginia. Since I plan to move back there after I graduate, it would be a great idea for me to start meeting people in that area and get experience to build my resume.

Lastly, I randomly met this older gentleman at my parents' church who said he may be interested in hiring me for some contract work. It would be wonderful if I could contact him about my project and get paid for working at the same time.

D.A. Winsor Response

Reading this selection enabled me to analyze the Challenger disaster from three different perspectives. Certainly, it emphasizes the need for and importance of professional communicators and clarity in writing. Yet, Winsor's text suggests that communication is more than merely word placement and crafting sentences; rather, it greatly entails arranging a message that carefully considers the speaker, audience, and text by employing ethos, logos, and pathos at the appropriate time. Specifically, when the engineers wrote the reports, they did not consider the fact that their superiors were not themselves engineers and did not understand the true meaning within the message. Hence, the upper management concluded that nothing in the reports was terribly out of the ordinary and made the unfortunate decision to proceed with the launch.

Secondly, the entire communication process, or lack thereof, exposes a major ethical problem within this scenario. Not only were the conversations and documents too technical, which obscured the message, but they were also misleading. In her article, "Communication Failures Contributing to the Challenger Accident: An Example for Technical Communicators", Winsor stresses that the messages that reached the upper management had an "optimistic view" of the problem (104). Compounded with fact that the reports did not make practical sense, the managers were deceived about the potential danger of the operation. Instead of being forthright and going against their better judgment, many people involved chose to simply ignore the problem or avoid confronting the managers and making themselves look badly.

Lastly, the only letter that portrayed any sense of urgency was Roger Boisjoly's. In comparison to Brian Russell's, Boisjoly's letter uses language indicative of the severity of the problem such as "mistakenly", "catastrophe", and "loss of human life"(104). One the other hand, Russell's letter is organized in a question and answer format. The immediate impressions from this format, and even the way that he numbered the letter, could have implied two false notions: 1) Any potential questions that had been raised must have had a logical answer that the engineers already resolved, and 2) there are only two questions pertaining to the problematic secondary seals, so the issue could not have been that dangerous. Obviously these possible responses to his message were not what Russell intended. Yet, without even reading the letter, the style of this letter alone could lead an unfamiliar audience to make these possible assumptions. Russell's letter uses terms such as "squeeze", "no reason...ever fail", and "guaranteed" (105). Although his letter tried to voice the same concerns as Boisjoly's, Russell used words that seemed to downplay the severity of the matter. Even the subject titles for these two letters signal two different meanings.

Although both letters were intended to articulate the same concern, Boisjoly's used rhetorical strategy to communicate a more effective message. The biggest mistake he made, however, was in labeling the correspondence as "COMPANY PRIVATE", which kept the letter from reaching the audience that needed it the most.