Many of you have already turned in your first project. If you are taking advantage of the grace period, you should have your work in my 11:55 PM tonight, December 31. Today we move on to Project 2, which is due Friday night at 11:55 PM.

Readings for December 31

For today’s session, please read the following:

• The assignment for Project 2.
• Information on using Google’s spreadsheet tool.
• Details on document design and chapter 7 of Markel.
• Information on kinds of correspondence and chapter 9 of Markel.

Work for December 31

• Get started on your second project.
  • Think of your audience for this project as yourself, and your purpose is to learn about the characteristics of the kinds of writing you will typically do in the workplace. A year from now, if you were in the workplace, you should be able to come back to this analysis to remind yourself of the features to include in whatever you are writing.
  • Don’t panic if you find that you have an empty slot on your spreadsheet. If one of the columns is irrelevant for one of the documents you have listed, that is okay.
  • Likewise, if you cannot find an example of the document online to link to, that’s okay too.
  • Remember however that you need to account for those empty spaces in your reflection memo when you submit your project.

• Go to Tests & Quizzes in Scholar, and complete the reading quizzes on Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 of Markel by 11:55 PM on Friday, January 2. See the policies for quizzes on the course logistics page, and see the Announcements in Scholar for details in the change of due dates for this first week of classes.

Optional: Discussing the Example Memos

The example memos included on on the Project 2 assignment page were written by students who were analyzing a piece of technical writing in their field using the six characteristics of technical writing that are explained in Markel, Chapter 1. If you are aiming for an A, these memos are similar to what you need to write.

If you are aiming for an A on Project 2, this activity will help you with your writing:

1. Read through the Example Analysis Memos. You don’t have to read every word, but look at them well enough to get a sense of how they work, what they do well, and what they could improve on.

2. Go to the Discussion of Example Memos topic in the forums and weigh in on which of the examples seemed more effective. You can quote someone else’s post or just start in on your own ideas. You will find some guiding questions in the forum post.

I very strongly advise you to work in Google from the start on this project. Excel spreadsheets do not convert perfectly to Google, and you will ultimately end up frustrated.

Getting Help with Google Spreadsheets

If you need a tutorial, go to the Virginia Tech login for Lynda.com, and then watch the section on Working with spreadsheets. You are only entering text in your spreadsheets, so you don’t need to worry about making calculations or using functions and formulas. If you run into trouble, post a question in the Questions about Project 2 topic in the forums or email me directly.