Proposal Memo: Assignment

Two white men in yellow vests and white hard hats, examining blueprints on a construction siteChoose a kind of writing from the table you created for the Analysis of Writing in Your Field project and write a memo that proposes examining that genre in your Recommendation Report.

I will review and approve your proposal (or suggest revision). To understand more about the connections among the Major Projects, read How the Major Projects Connect.

The audience for this project is me, Traci. Your goal is to convince me that the kind of writing you have chosen will help you prepare for writing in the workplace when you graduate (or during future internships or jobs). Your memo should persuade me that you have made a good choice and that you are ready to begin more in-depth research.

Project Requirements

Your Final, Finished Draft must meet these requirements in order to earn a B or better in this course:

Check the Textbook

Use this information from Technical Communication to shape your document:

  • Crafting a Persuasive Argument, on pages 177–186.
  • Guidelines: Revising Headings, on pages 196–197.
  • Guidelines: Creating Effective Lists (as relevant), on pages 200–201.
  • Guidelines: Designing Easy-To-Read Text, on pages 286–287.
  • Using Color Effectively, on pages 300–302.
  • Sample Memo, Figure 14.10, on page 377.
  • Guidelines: Organizing a Memo, on page 378.
  • Information on Research Proposals, on page 425.
  • Focuses on a kind of writing from your Analysis of Writing in Your Field project that you have not written before.
  • Is a document in memo format created in a word processor.
  • Provides a specific subject line for the document.
  • Includes the following sections, in this order:
    • A clear statement of purpose.
    • A brief summary of the information in the document.
    • Details on the areas to be studied in your recommendation report, including the ethical issues you will consider.
    • An explanation of the research strategy you will use, explaining your plan for finding information about the kind of writing.
    • A request for approval of your proposed topic.
  • Use professional design and formatting that does the following:
    • Makes information easy for readers to find and read.
    • Emphasizes important information.
    • Makes a good first impression as a polished, professional document.
  • Use accurate/appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, linking, and formatting.

Activities Making Up This Writing Project

The following activities will all contribute to your Proposal Memo. You may have had previous teachers refer to such work as scaffolding activities. They support the work you need to do to complete your project. Each one either asks you to complete a task that will contribute directly to your project, or asks you to practice a skill needed to complete your project.

You can complete all of these activities, or you can pick and choose. Remember that the Final, Finished Draft is required in order to earn a B or better in this course.*

Week of September 16

Week of September 23

 

 

Photo Credit: Plan Blueprints by KOMUnews on Flickr Links to an external site., used under a CC-BY 2.0 license.