Student Data and Contact Information Sheet
Please circle the appropriate response or PRINT answers in English, depending on the item.
Name___________________________________________ Date________________________
How to reach you: E-mail_______________________________________________
Circle course English Language A6 Business English A6 Business English A8
1. For how many years (including 2010) have you studied English?
2. What other countries have you lived in or visited for 5-29 days (less than a month)?
3. What other countries have you lived in or visited for 30 days or more (one month or longer)?
4. Have you formally studied English in an English-speaking country for 30 days or more? Yes No
5. Does any member of your household (including you) use English as a native speaker? Yes No
6 What computer and internet skills do you have? Circle all that apply.)
E-mail Web Browsing Blogging Social Networking Website Development
I have my own website (List URL below): None, but I know what a computer looks like
7. Do you have regular access to a computer for word processing? Yes No
8. Do you have regular access to a computer with broadband internet access? Yes No
9. List THREE things that you think I, as your teacher and as a visiting professor, should know about you.
Answer the following writing sample on a separate sheet of paper. BE SURE to put your name on the paper: (I won’t evaluate this for points, although I will note if you have done it in my class participation records.)
We talked at the first class session about what we might be able to accomplish by the end of this class, and I’ll consider your comments as a class when I plan my portion of this course for the rest of the semester. But I’d also like to know what you think as an individual. In a paragraph or so, tell me 1-3 things you would like to gain from this course by the end of the semester and explain your answer.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Course Credit in America
Course Credit in America: Practices of a U.S. College
Gerald Siegel, Ph.D.
Professor of English, York College of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Visiting Professor, Spring 2010, FON University, Skopje, Macedonia
The credit system at many American colleges and universities, including my home institution, York College of Pennsylvania, while it resembles in some ways the transferable credit models being developed in Europe under the Bologna Process, is longstanding and distinct from recent European developments. The system described here reflects York’s practices and represents the most common U.S. model, used by institutions with an academic year of two semesters (although many such schools also offer additional summer and special sessions). The credit system can vary for institutions using what is called a quarter system, in which students complete three terms annually with fewer courses per term. The description here applies to undergraduate courses.
The basis of the credit system is the semester hour, a measure of scheduled classroom hours. A class which meets for 3 academic hours each week of the semester (usually 13-15 weeks long) would receive 3 “semester hours” of credit—in other words, 3 credits. An academic hour at York College is 50 minutes long, and most daytime classes meet three times weekly for an hour or twice weekly for 1.5 hours.
Most classes receive 3 credits; some requiring more time, such as laboratory courses in the sciences, may receive 4 credits, while others, such as applied music lessons or physical education, get 0.5 or 1. Some specialized offerings (e.g., internships, practica, and student teaching) may be calculated on a different basis. Where a year or more of study may be needed for a particular subject, the student simply takes a series of one-semester courses which are in sequence because all but the first have prerequisites. For example, Spanish II can be taken only after one has either passed or demonstrated the abilities of Spanish I, and so on for Spanish III and IV. (In the case of foreign languages, completion of a certain number of courses in the language during secondary school is most often the reason for placement at a particular level.)
This credit system does not take into account course difficulty or the amount of time required from students outside of class. The difficulty level is usually shown by the course number, which begins with 100’s and goes up to 400’s. (Higher numbers than these usually designate graduate courses.) For example, SPN101 would designate a beginning Spanish courses, while LIT313 designates an advanced literature course (in the English Literary Studies program). In general, professors expect 2-3 hours preparation by students (usually in advance) for each hour of class; the higher the course number, the greater the amount of out-of-class work expected.
A typical student workload for a given course then might typically involve 9-12 hours per week. Actual class hours, however, tend to be lower than in a Macedonian institution, typically 5-6 courses (15-18 semester hours of credit) per week for each semester.
Graduation after completing the degree depends not upon the years spent at York, but upon the credits earned, and some of those credits may have been transferred to York from other institutions. As a minimum, York College requires 124 credits passed and a grade point average of 2.0 (on a 4-point scale) for graduation. The credits must be distributed in a certain manner, and individual departments and majors may impose their own course, distribution, and grade point average requirements, so not everyone qualifies by simply meeting those minimums.
Simply being scheduled for a course is only the start, naturally, since each student must pass the course successfully. That means different things to different professors, but in general involves both formative (in-course) and summative (course-end) assessment. While theoretically a professor could simply lecture and then give a course-end examination or require a single course-end research paper, I have never met an American professor who did this, and anyone who did would likely be advised strongly to change his or her procedures. Some will count a number activities, such as class attendance and participation, essays and/or research papers, talks, service projects, quizzes, and periodic tests; others (a decreasing minority) prefer to use simply a midterm examination and a final examination.
The assessment measures used and the weight of each item depend entirely upon the professor (although his or her chairperson may discuss those measures with the professor, especially if the evaluation method seems extreme and student evaluations of the course have raised questions). While assessment techniques would require a separate discussion, a few comments about examinations may be useful. First, there is no institutional requirement that a professor give any examination, and some don’t; there is a one-week examination period each semester, however, and professors are expected to use this time in a meaningful way. If there is an examination, it is an integral part of the course and typically determines 50% or less of the grade. Second, the assessment procedures for the course need to be made clear to the students on the syllabus at the start of the course. And finally, once the examination, if any, has been given, and the exam week has ended, there is no retaking of the examination at a later time in order to pass the course. (Students who do poorly may choose to re-take the entire course in an attempt to earn a higher grade, and the highest grade earned counts.)
Once a student has completed and received credit for a course, that course normally will be accepted by another institution. The most common reason for a student to do this is his or her having been accepted by and transferred to another institution. For example, a student from the York area may have begun his studies at a university in a different state and found that the costs of living away from home were too high to afford. If he transfers permanently to York College, most or all of his credits will transfer to York College (subject to certain conditions). A student may also decide to study at another school for a limited period of time, but to remain officially a student at her home institution. Examples include “semester abroad” programs or summer courses taken near home by a student whose family residence is away from York. In such cases, she would obtain advance permission (and perhaps even assistance) to take the course, and again the credits would transfer back to York.
In the highly decentralized American higher education system, the decision about whether to accept specific credits for transfer rests with the student’s home institution. For most credit transfers, both schools must be regionally accredited institutions: that is, approved by one of several groups that on a 10-year timetable visit schools and assess institutional quality. In addition, transfer credits are typically only accepted if the student has earned a grade of “C” (or “2” on a 4-point scale), and only the credits transfer, not the actual grade. At York, for example, the Admissions Office (sometimes in consultation with department chairs) makes the decisions about acceptance and about how those credits will be applied to the student’s academic program.
For many courses, schools have similar coverage and requirements. Thus, for example, a three-credit course in “American Literature I” usually transfers directly as our “LIT281 American Literature to 1885” and fits directly into a number of programs just as if the course were taken at York. However, we don’t teach Macedonian in our department, so a course in Macedonian language might be transferred simply as “Elective Foreign Language.” Some courses, while clearly appropriate for a school like York, might not fit any of our departments or programs; a course in “Antarctic Exploration Internship” might be transferred simply as “Free Elective.” Finally, some courses that are irrelevant to York’s goals and mission would not get transfer credit at all; a course from a 2-year technical institute in “Woodworking Shop” would be likely to fall into this category.
What about courses from Macedonia? The traditional courses of the past would probably be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and applicants might be asked to supply a course syllabus and possibly a catalog description (the same sort of requests that might be made of a U.S. student who submitted a course unfamiliar to the Admissions personnel). However, the use of transferable credits by European institutions in the coming years should help this process.
Transferred credits, whatever the source, don’t necessarily affect the specific requirements for a degree or major (academic program); those requirements must still be met, and I have served as an adviser for many transfer students who bring with them simply a number of elective credits of different sorts that are simply extras that don’t advance them in their programs. Nevertheless, in general, the use of the credit system and the transferability of those credits provide flexibility for students in the U.S.
Gerald Siegel, Ph.D.
Professor of English, York College of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Visiting Professor, Spring 2010, FON University, Skopje, Macedonia
The credit system at many American colleges and universities, including my home institution, York College of Pennsylvania, while it resembles in some ways the transferable credit models being developed in Europe under the Bologna Process, is longstanding and distinct from recent European developments. The system described here reflects York’s practices and represents the most common U.S. model, used by institutions with an academic year of two semesters (although many such schools also offer additional summer and special sessions). The credit system can vary for institutions using what is called a quarter system, in which students complete three terms annually with fewer courses per term. The description here applies to undergraduate courses.
The basis of the credit system is the semester hour, a measure of scheduled classroom hours. A class which meets for 3 academic hours each week of the semester (usually 13-15 weeks long) would receive 3 “semester hours” of credit—in other words, 3 credits. An academic hour at York College is 50 minutes long, and most daytime classes meet three times weekly for an hour or twice weekly for 1.5 hours.
Most classes receive 3 credits; some requiring more time, such as laboratory courses in the sciences, may receive 4 credits, while others, such as applied music lessons or physical education, get 0.5 or 1. Some specialized offerings (e.g., internships, practica, and student teaching) may be calculated on a different basis. Where a year or more of study may be needed for a particular subject, the student simply takes a series of one-semester courses which are in sequence because all but the first have prerequisites. For example, Spanish II can be taken only after one has either passed or demonstrated the abilities of Spanish I, and so on for Spanish III and IV. (In the case of foreign languages, completion of a certain number of courses in the language during secondary school is most often the reason for placement at a particular level.)
This credit system does not take into account course difficulty or the amount of time required from students outside of class. The difficulty level is usually shown by the course number, which begins with 100’s and goes up to 400’s. (Higher numbers than these usually designate graduate courses.) For example, SPN101 would designate a beginning Spanish courses, while LIT313 designates an advanced literature course (in the English Literary Studies program). In general, professors expect 2-3 hours preparation by students (usually in advance) for each hour of class; the higher the course number, the greater the amount of out-of-class work expected.
A typical student workload for a given course then might typically involve 9-12 hours per week. Actual class hours, however, tend to be lower than in a Macedonian institution, typically 5-6 courses (15-18 semester hours of credit) per week for each semester.
Graduation after completing the degree depends not upon the years spent at York, but upon the credits earned, and some of those credits may have been transferred to York from other institutions. As a minimum, York College requires 124 credits passed and a grade point average of 2.0 (on a 4-point scale) for graduation. The credits must be distributed in a certain manner, and individual departments and majors may impose their own course, distribution, and grade point average requirements, so not everyone qualifies by simply meeting those minimums.
Simply being scheduled for a course is only the start, naturally, since each student must pass the course successfully. That means different things to different professors, but in general involves both formative (in-course) and summative (course-end) assessment. While theoretically a professor could simply lecture and then give a course-end examination or require a single course-end research paper, I have never met an American professor who did this, and anyone who did would likely be advised strongly to change his or her procedures. Some will count a number activities, such as class attendance and participation, essays and/or research papers, talks, service projects, quizzes, and periodic tests; others (a decreasing minority) prefer to use simply a midterm examination and a final examination.
The assessment measures used and the weight of each item depend entirely upon the professor (although his or her chairperson may discuss those measures with the professor, especially if the evaluation method seems extreme and student evaluations of the course have raised questions). While assessment techniques would require a separate discussion, a few comments about examinations may be useful. First, there is no institutional requirement that a professor give any examination, and some don’t; there is a one-week examination period each semester, however, and professors are expected to use this time in a meaningful way. If there is an examination, it is an integral part of the course and typically determines 50% or less of the grade. Second, the assessment procedures for the course need to be made clear to the students on the syllabus at the start of the course. And finally, once the examination, if any, has been given, and the exam week has ended, there is no retaking of the examination at a later time in order to pass the course. (Students who do poorly may choose to re-take the entire course in an attempt to earn a higher grade, and the highest grade earned counts.)
Once a student has completed and received credit for a course, that course normally will be accepted by another institution. The most common reason for a student to do this is his or her having been accepted by and transferred to another institution. For example, a student from the York area may have begun his studies at a university in a different state and found that the costs of living away from home were too high to afford. If he transfers permanently to York College, most or all of his credits will transfer to York College (subject to certain conditions). A student may also decide to study at another school for a limited period of time, but to remain officially a student at her home institution. Examples include “semester abroad” programs or summer courses taken near home by a student whose family residence is away from York. In such cases, she would obtain advance permission (and perhaps even assistance) to take the course, and again the credits would transfer back to York.
In the highly decentralized American higher education system, the decision about whether to accept specific credits for transfer rests with the student’s home institution. For most credit transfers, both schools must be regionally accredited institutions: that is, approved by one of several groups that on a 10-year timetable visit schools and assess institutional quality. In addition, transfer credits are typically only accepted if the student has earned a grade of “C” (or “2” on a 4-point scale), and only the credits transfer, not the actual grade. At York, for example, the Admissions Office (sometimes in consultation with department chairs) makes the decisions about acceptance and about how those credits will be applied to the student’s academic program.
For many courses, schools have similar coverage and requirements. Thus, for example, a three-credit course in “American Literature I” usually transfers directly as our “LIT281 American Literature to 1885” and fits directly into a number of programs just as if the course were taken at York. However, we don’t teach Macedonian in our department, so a course in Macedonian language might be transferred simply as “Elective Foreign Language.” Some courses, while clearly appropriate for a school like York, might not fit any of our departments or programs; a course in “Antarctic Exploration Internship” might be transferred simply as “Free Elective.” Finally, some courses that are irrelevant to York’s goals and mission would not get transfer credit at all; a course from a 2-year technical institute in “Woodworking Shop” would be likely to fall into this category.
What about courses from Macedonia? The traditional courses of the past would probably be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and applicants might be asked to supply a course syllabus and possibly a catalog description (the same sort of requests that might be made of a U.S. student who submitted a course unfamiliar to the Admissions personnel). However, the use of transferable credits by European institutions in the coming years should help this process.
Transferred credits, whatever the source, don’t necessarily affect the specific requirements for a degree or major (academic program); those requirements must still be met, and I have served as an adviser for many transfer students who bring with them simply a number of elective credits of different sorts that are simply extras that don’t advance them in their programs. Nevertheless, in general, the use of the credit system and the transferability of those credits provide flexibility for students in the U.S.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
American Literature Guide Q--Chopin
KATE CHOPIN: THE AWAKENING (Guide Questions)
1. Comment on Chopin’s effectiveness in use of local color elements. Do you think the novel goes beyond mere local color?
2. Discuss the relative effectiveness of Chopin’s characterization. Consider (although you are not limited to discussion of) Edna, Mr. Pontellier, Robert, Alcee Arobin, Dr. Mandelet, Mlle. Reisz, Mme. Lebrun, , Mme. Ratignole. Are the characters individualized or stereotyped?
3. To what extent do you find Chopin aware of and sensitive to the role of women in 19th century society? In Creole society? In society in general? Is she accurate, or does she seem to overstate her case? (One critic has suggested she depicts French, rather than American, society.)
4. Consider Edna in relation to her society--especially as a study in conflicts and contrasts. Is she the creature of her society? Can she—or does she—rise above that society? Does she establish her personal freedom—albeit at the cost of her life? Is the suicide a victory for society? (Several other questions will also examine this topic.)
5. How effective do you find Chopin’s use of imagery and symbolism to reinforce her themes? (Consider, for example, the use of sea imagery at the beginning and end of the novel—or, for that matter, throughout the work.)
6. Discuss Edna’s isolation throughout the novel. (Margaret Culley, a critic, describes the novel thus: “The Awakening, an existential novel about solitude, is distinguished from most such fiction by its female protagonist. Because of her sex, Edna Pontellier experiences not only dread in the face of solitude, but also delight. As a woman, she has had so little sense of a self alone that her new-found solitude suggests entirely new arenas and modes of activity. Solitude also brings a confrontation with the ultimate solitude—death. What we feel most keenly about Edna is her remoteness from those about her. . . And her solitude is underscored by the dramatic action of the novel as the significant persons in her life repeatedly leave her alone.”)
7. Critic Larzer Ziff views the novel as a study in identity: “The Awakening was the most important piece of fiction about the sexual life of a woman written to date in America, and the first fully to face the fact that marriage, whether in point of fact it closed the range of a woman’s sexual experiences or not, was but an episode in her continuous growth. It did not attack the institution of the family as the automatic equivalent of feminine self-fulfillment, and . . . raised the question of what woman was to do with the freedom she struggled toward.” Comment.
8. If you are familiar with them, consider The Awakening in relation to other realist/naturalist works of the period, such as Daisy Miller, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, Sister Carrie, or Looking Backward (only for the treatment of women)/
9. Consider the idea of the wife as politically, socially, and legally dependent of the husband and the prevailing belief that the woman's first duty was not to herself but to her family and her home. Was there an equivalent idea that the man's first duty was to his family and his home?
10. Discuss the author's "editorializing" in Chapters VI and VII.
11. What is revealed in the author's references to Edna's "obedience" to "contradictory impulses" and her "habitual reserve"?
12. To what extent does The Awakening seem dated? To what extent does it seem contemporary?
13. Does the novel support the contention that Chopin revealed a greater interest in universal psychological truths than in the superficialities of local color?
14. With respect to the Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle as competing role models, to which is Edna initially more attracted? Is Edna’s divided loyalty to both Mademoiselle Reisz and to Adele Ratignolle a sign of some genuine division in her character? Does some such irreconcilable division cause Edna's flight from life at the end of the novel?
15. React to the following, as a characterization of Edna, from George Arms, "Kate Chopin's The Awakening in the Perspective of Her Literary Career," Essays on American Literature, ed. Clarence Ghodes (1967) 217-218: “Edna appears not so much as a woman who is aware of the opposition of two ideas [conformity and independence] but rather as one who drifts....” Is the novel about a woman adrift?
16. Discuss Edna's physical passion (Chapter XXVIII), her seduction (Chapter XXXII), and the compensatory attention she lavishes on her children (Chapter XXXII) when she violates conventional codes of married conduct.
17, How convincing is Chopin's portrait of Edna as a woman moved to overwhelming passion by the power of music?
18, In Chapter XXXVII, Edna leaves Robert, despite his pleas, and then she prolongs her absence unnecessarily. Upon her return home, Robert has gone. What could account for Edna's action?
19. How valid is the suggestion that Edna was in love with a romantic dream rather than the real thing? Compare her affair with Arobin. Do Edna's responses suggest that she separated her physical passion from her romantic ideals?
20. The ending of the novel has been described as sentimental, as evasive, as realistic, and as inconclusive. Discuss these contrasting judgments:
a. The conclusion of the novel is a failure because it is evasive.
b. Edna accurately assesses her life. She sees that she does not want her former life of wife and mother, and she knows she cannot have her "awakened" life. Therefore she purposely chooses no life.
9. Consider the idea of the wife as politically, socially, and legally dependent of the husband and the prevailing belief that the woman's first duty was not to herself but to her family and her home. Was there an equivalent idea that the man's first duty was to his family and his home?
10. Discuss the author's "editorializing" in Chapters VI and VII.
11. What is revealed in the author's references to Edna's "obedience" to "contradictory impulses" and her "habitual reserve"?
12. To what extent does The Awakening seem dated? To what extent does it seem contemporary?
13. Does the novel support the contention that Chopin revealed a greater interest in universal psychological truths than in the superficialities of local color?
14. With respect to the Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle as competing role models, to which is Edna initially more attracted? Is Edna’s divided loyalty to both Mademoiselle Reisz and to Adele Ratignolle a sign of some genuine division in her character? Does some such irreconcilable division cause Edna's flight from life at the end of the novel?
15. React to the following, as a characterization of Edna, from George Arms, "Kate Chopin's The Awakening in the Perspective of Her Literary Career," Essays on American Literature, ed. Clarence Ghodes (1967) 217-218: “Edna appears not so much as a woman who is aware of the opposition of two ideas [conformity and independence] but rather as one who drifts....” Is the novel about a woman adrift?
16. Discuss Edna's physical passion (Chapter XXVIII), her seduction (Chapter XXXII), and the compensatory attention she lavishes on her children (Chapter XXXII) when she violates conventional codes of married conduct.
17, How convincing is Chopin's portrait of Edna as a woman moved to overwhelming passion by the power of music?
18, In Chapter XXXVII, Edna leaves Robert, despite his pleas, and then she prolongs her absence unnecessarily. Upon her return home, Robert has gone. What could account for Edna's action?
19. How valid is the suggestion that Edna was in love with a romantic dream rather than the real thing? Compare her affair with Arobin. Do Edna's responses suggest that she separated her physical passion from her romantic ideals?
20. The ending of the novel has been described as sentimental, as evasive, as realistic, and as inconclusive. Discuss these contrasting judgments:
a. The conclusion of the novel is a failure because it is evasive.
b. Edna accurately assesses her life. She sees that she does not want her former life of wife and mother, and she knows she cannot have her "awakened" life. Therefore she purposely chooses no life.
1. Comment on Chopin’s effectiveness in use of local color elements. Do you think the novel goes beyond mere local color?
2. Discuss the relative effectiveness of Chopin’s characterization. Consider (although you are not limited to discussion of) Edna, Mr. Pontellier, Robert, Alcee Arobin, Dr. Mandelet, Mlle. Reisz, Mme. Lebrun, , Mme. Ratignole. Are the characters individualized or stereotyped?
3. To what extent do you find Chopin aware of and sensitive to the role of women in 19th century society? In Creole society? In society in general? Is she accurate, or does she seem to overstate her case? (One critic has suggested she depicts French, rather than American, society.)
4. Consider Edna in relation to her society--especially as a study in conflicts and contrasts. Is she the creature of her society? Can she—or does she—rise above that society? Does she establish her personal freedom—albeit at the cost of her life? Is the suicide a victory for society? (Several other questions will also examine this topic.)
5. How effective do you find Chopin’s use of imagery and symbolism to reinforce her themes? (Consider, for example, the use of sea imagery at the beginning and end of the novel—or, for that matter, throughout the work.)
6. Discuss Edna’s isolation throughout the novel. (Margaret Culley, a critic, describes the novel thus: “The Awakening, an existential novel about solitude, is distinguished from most such fiction by its female protagonist. Because of her sex, Edna Pontellier experiences not only dread in the face of solitude, but also delight. As a woman, she has had so little sense of a self alone that her new-found solitude suggests entirely new arenas and modes of activity. Solitude also brings a confrontation with the ultimate solitude—death. What we feel most keenly about Edna is her remoteness from those about her. . . And her solitude is underscored by the dramatic action of the novel as the significant persons in her life repeatedly leave her alone.”)
7. Critic Larzer Ziff views the novel as a study in identity: “The Awakening was the most important piece of fiction about the sexual life of a woman written to date in America, and the first fully to face the fact that marriage, whether in point of fact it closed the range of a woman’s sexual experiences or not, was but an episode in her continuous growth. It did not attack the institution of the family as the automatic equivalent of feminine self-fulfillment, and . . . raised the question of what woman was to do with the freedom she struggled toward.” Comment.
8. If you are familiar with them, consider The Awakening in relation to other realist/naturalist works of the period, such as Daisy Miller, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, Sister Carrie, or Looking Backward (only for the treatment of women)/
9. Consider the idea of the wife as politically, socially, and legally dependent of the husband and the prevailing belief that the woman's first duty was not to herself but to her family and her home. Was there an equivalent idea that the man's first duty was to his family and his home?
10. Discuss the author's "editorializing" in Chapters VI and VII.
11. What is revealed in the author's references to Edna's "obedience" to "contradictory impulses" and her "habitual reserve"?
12. To what extent does The Awakening seem dated? To what extent does it seem contemporary?
13. Does the novel support the contention that Chopin revealed a greater interest in universal psychological truths than in the superficialities of local color?
14. With respect to the Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle as competing role models, to which is Edna initially more attracted? Is Edna’s divided loyalty to both Mademoiselle Reisz and to Adele Ratignolle a sign of some genuine division in her character? Does some such irreconcilable division cause Edna's flight from life at the end of the novel?
15. React to the following, as a characterization of Edna, from George Arms, "Kate Chopin's The Awakening in the Perspective of Her Literary Career," Essays on American Literature, ed. Clarence Ghodes (1967) 217-218: “Edna appears not so much as a woman who is aware of the opposition of two ideas [conformity and independence] but rather as one who drifts....” Is the novel about a woman adrift?
16. Discuss Edna's physical passion (Chapter XXVIII), her seduction (Chapter XXXII), and the compensatory attention she lavishes on her children (Chapter XXXII) when she violates conventional codes of married conduct.
17, How convincing is Chopin's portrait of Edna as a woman moved to overwhelming passion by the power of music?
18, In Chapter XXXVII, Edna leaves Robert, despite his pleas, and then she prolongs her absence unnecessarily. Upon her return home, Robert has gone. What could account for Edna's action?
19. How valid is the suggestion that Edna was in love with a romantic dream rather than the real thing? Compare her affair with Arobin. Do Edna's responses suggest that she separated her physical passion from her romantic ideals?
20. The ending of the novel has been described as sentimental, as evasive, as realistic, and as inconclusive. Discuss these contrasting judgments:
a. The conclusion of the novel is a failure because it is evasive.
b. Edna accurately assesses her life. She sees that she does not want her former life of wife and mother, and she knows she cannot have her "awakened" life. Therefore she purposely chooses no life.
9. Consider the idea of the wife as politically, socially, and legally dependent of the husband and the prevailing belief that the woman's first duty was not to herself but to her family and her home. Was there an equivalent idea that the man's first duty was to his family and his home?
10. Discuss the author's "editorializing" in Chapters VI and VII.
11. What is revealed in the author's references to Edna's "obedience" to "contradictory impulses" and her "habitual reserve"?
12. To what extent does The Awakening seem dated? To what extent does it seem contemporary?
13. Does the novel support the contention that Chopin revealed a greater interest in universal psychological truths than in the superficialities of local color?
14. With respect to the Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle as competing role models, to which is Edna initially more attracted? Is Edna’s divided loyalty to both Mademoiselle Reisz and to Adele Ratignolle a sign of some genuine division in her character? Does some such irreconcilable division cause Edna's flight from life at the end of the novel?
15. React to the following, as a characterization of Edna, from George Arms, "Kate Chopin's The Awakening in the Perspective of Her Literary Career," Essays on American Literature, ed. Clarence Ghodes (1967) 217-218: “Edna appears not so much as a woman who is aware of the opposition of two ideas [conformity and independence] but rather as one who drifts....” Is the novel about a woman adrift?
16. Discuss Edna's physical passion (Chapter XXVIII), her seduction (Chapter XXXII), and the compensatory attention she lavishes on her children (Chapter XXXII) when she violates conventional codes of married conduct.
17, How convincing is Chopin's portrait of Edna as a woman moved to overwhelming passion by the power of music?
18, In Chapter XXXVII, Edna leaves Robert, despite his pleas, and then she prolongs her absence unnecessarily. Upon her return home, Robert has gone. What could account for Edna's action?
19. How valid is the suggestion that Edna was in love with a romantic dream rather than the real thing? Compare her affair with Arobin. Do Edna's responses suggest that she separated her physical passion from her romantic ideals?
20. The ending of the novel has been described as sentimental, as evasive, as realistic, and as inconclusive. Discuss these contrasting judgments:
a. The conclusion of the novel is a failure because it is evasive.
b. Edna accurately assesses her life. She sees that she does not want her former life of wife and mother, and she knows she cannot have her "awakened" life. Therefore she purposely chooses no life.
American Literature Guide Q--Regionalism
FON AJ484 Regional Short Fiction: Guide Questions
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: “A New England Nun”
1. The atmosphere, the basic emotional quality of the story, is established in the first paragraphs of A New England Nun. Discuss the effect of the outdoor descriptions in the first paragraph of the story. Comment on the qualities of peace and of quiet restraint that pervade the story.
2. Consider this story as an example of New England regionalism. Which regional elements (e.g., physical setting, character, values, dialect) are most emphasized? Which are most significant for the story?
3. Comment on the importance for the story of the New England “sense of honor” and its effects upon the characters. What effects, for example, does it have upon usual human impulses?
4. To what extent does Louisa fit or differ from the traditional satiric portrait of the New England spinster?
5. Is Louisa wholly an ascetic person? Note that she, unlike her neighbors, “used china every day.” What does the use of china and the delight she took in her meal suggest about her capacity to enjoy sensuous pleasures?
6. Contrast Lily and Louisa. Lily is described as “tall and full-figured.” How is the physical appearance of Louisa presented in the story? Is there a detailed physical description of Louisa? Which events and details create the picture of Joe as congenial, hearty, honorable, and oafish.
7. What is the significance of the title of A New England Nun? How is it a suitable description for Louisa in Protestant, Puritan New England? How? Comment on the religious allusions in the final paragraph of the story.
9. The device of the overheard conversation is a familiar convention in fiction and in the drama. Does such an improbable event in A New England Nun detract from the sense of realism conveyed by the story?
Charles W. Chessnut: “The Goophered Grapevine”
1. To what extent does Chesnutt’s Uncle Julius fit 19th-century stereotypes of African
Americans? Is he servile? Subservient? In what ways is he superior to the narrator?
2. Explain the “distance” established by the frame and its likely effect on the reader.
How does the white narrator compare with Uncle Julius? What would have been the effect if Chesnutt had used a different kind of narrator?
3. How likely is it that the shrewd Uncle Julius intentionally shapes himself to fit common stereotypes in order to manipulate the attitudes and responses of his “superior” white listeners?
4. In the battle of wits between the narrator and Uncle Julius, who wins in the end? How can the tale be viewed as, in part, a criticism of the myth of white superiority.
5. Is Uncle Julius’ dialect excessive? Compare his speech and the speech of the narrator.
6. Differing economic attitudes are exhibited in The Goophered Grapevine. How can it be read as a parable of Northern and Southern conflicts? In what ways is the narrator’s attitude toward African Americans like that of the antebellum slave owners of the South?
Charles W. Chessnut: “The Wife of His Youth”
1. What does The Wife of His Youth suggest about the life of African Americans in the United States a few decades after Emancipation?
2. What is Mr. Ryder’s attitude toward race?
3. How does Ryder’s character play against racial stereotypes of the sort represented by Uncle Julius?
4. Are Mr. Ryder’s moral struggle and its outcome convincing?
5. What is the "Blue Vein Society" to which Ryder belongs in "The Wife of His Youth"? How do the Blue Veins participate in the construction of the social "color line" which Chesnutt found so fascinating? To what extent is this handling of color different from the phenomenon of “passing”?
6. What does the very existence of such a group reveal about the complexity of African-American society? What values do the Blue Veins seem to promote among African Americans?
7. What is the relationship between the nature of slavery and Mr. Ryder’s ethical dilemma?
8. Is the timing of Liza Jane’s arrival effectively managed? Or did you find it overly coincidental?
9. To what extent does the difference in dialect between Mr. Ryder and Liza Jane help establish characterization?
10. To what extent did you find this story an effective tale of values? To what extent, if any, do you find it overly sentimental?
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: “A New England Nun”
1. The atmosphere, the basic emotional quality of the story, is established in the first paragraphs of A New England Nun. Discuss the effect of the outdoor descriptions in the first paragraph of the story. Comment on the qualities of peace and of quiet restraint that pervade the story.
2. Consider this story as an example of New England regionalism. Which regional elements (e.g., physical setting, character, values, dialect) are most emphasized? Which are most significant for the story?
3. Comment on the importance for the story of the New England “sense of honor” and its effects upon the characters. What effects, for example, does it have upon usual human impulses?
4. To what extent does Louisa fit or differ from the traditional satiric portrait of the New England spinster?
5. Is Louisa wholly an ascetic person? Note that she, unlike her neighbors, “used china every day.” What does the use of china and the delight she took in her meal suggest about her capacity to enjoy sensuous pleasures?
6. Contrast Lily and Louisa. Lily is described as “tall and full-figured.” How is the physical appearance of Louisa presented in the story? Is there a detailed physical description of Louisa? Which events and details create the picture of Joe as congenial, hearty, honorable, and oafish.
7. What is the significance of the title of A New England Nun? How is it a suitable description for Louisa in Protestant, Puritan New England? How? Comment on the religious allusions in the final paragraph of the story.
9. The device of the overheard conversation is a familiar convention in fiction and in the drama. Does such an improbable event in A New England Nun detract from the sense of realism conveyed by the story?
Charles W. Chessnut: “The Goophered Grapevine”
1. To what extent does Chesnutt’s Uncle Julius fit 19th-century stereotypes of African
Americans? Is he servile? Subservient? In what ways is he superior to the narrator?
2. Explain the “distance” established by the frame and its likely effect on the reader.
How does the white narrator compare with Uncle Julius? What would have been the effect if Chesnutt had used a different kind of narrator?
3. How likely is it that the shrewd Uncle Julius intentionally shapes himself to fit common stereotypes in order to manipulate the attitudes and responses of his “superior” white listeners?
4. In the battle of wits between the narrator and Uncle Julius, who wins in the end? How can the tale be viewed as, in part, a criticism of the myth of white superiority.
5. Is Uncle Julius’ dialect excessive? Compare his speech and the speech of the narrator.
6. Differing economic attitudes are exhibited in The Goophered Grapevine. How can it be read as a parable of Northern and Southern conflicts? In what ways is the narrator’s attitude toward African Americans like that of the antebellum slave owners of the South?
Charles W. Chessnut: “The Wife of His Youth”
1. What does The Wife of His Youth suggest about the life of African Americans in the United States a few decades after Emancipation?
2. What is Mr. Ryder’s attitude toward race?
3. How does Ryder’s character play against racial stereotypes of the sort represented by Uncle Julius?
4. Are Mr. Ryder’s moral struggle and its outcome convincing?
5. What is the "Blue Vein Society" to which Ryder belongs in "The Wife of His Youth"? How do the Blue Veins participate in the construction of the social "color line" which Chesnutt found so fascinating? To what extent is this handling of color different from the phenomenon of “passing”?
6. What does the very existence of such a group reveal about the complexity of African-American society? What values do the Blue Veins seem to promote among African Americans?
7. What is the relationship between the nature of slavery and Mr. Ryder’s ethical dilemma?
8. Is the timing of Liza Jane’s arrival effectively managed? Or did you find it overly coincidental?
9. To what extent does the difference in dialect between Mr. Ryder and Liza Jane help establish characterization?
10. To what extent did you find this story an effective tale of values? To what extent, if any, do you find it overly sentimental?
American Literature Syllabus Struga
Spring 2010 Syllabus: AJ484 American Literature (Struga--Preliminary version)
Dr. Gerald Siegel and Ms. Elida Bahtijaroska
Email: gsiegel@ycp.edu or drgeraldsiegel@yahoo.com ; elida.bahtijaroska@gmail.com
Web site: http://www.jerrysiegel.net/
OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE:
1. Students will become familiar with major figures, movements, and works in American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries and with the historical and cultural contexts of these literary phenomena.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to read course texts in English accurately and critically and to formulate relevant questions leading to informed interpretations.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the terminology of literary studies in classroom discussion and writing assignments that reveal their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
SCOPE OF THE COURSE: An examination of selected writings by American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries and of the literary and cultural backgrounds of these writings.
METHODS:
Methods of instruction will include assigned readings, class discussion, background lectures, critical examination (both individually and in groups) of course readings, and may include brief written responses to these readings, appropriate media presentations, guest and/or out-of-class speakers, and student presentations/papers.
ASSESSMENT:
1. Midterm and final colloquia will each be 100 points (based on a percentage) of a written test and will each be worth 35% of the final grade. These allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of all assigned readings, all lectures, all media presentations, and any insights developed from class discussion and consideration of texts and backgrounds.
2. Attendance at every class session is important because much of the experience of literature involves sharing views among readers. Indeed, attendance (worth 10%) involves not just being physically in the classroom, but taking part in any class activities at a given session in a way that demonstrates regular preparation of class readings in advance and exhibiting professionalism during class sessions. However, to allow for special situations such as illness, death in the immediate family, assisting family or friends with emergencies, religious obligations, or university and civic responsibilities, students may miss up to three “personal days” without penalty. However, students are still responsible for any in-class essays, quizzes, or activities done on those days. In addition, one quiz or in-class essay may be missed (or the lowest such score will be dropped). Students missing more than three class sessions should expect to have their attendance and participation scores sharply reduced.
3. Participation and completion of class projects will be worth 20%. This includes active, informed participation in class discussion in a manner demonstrating regular preparation and command of English skills appropriate to this course and on-time completion and submission of in-class and out-of-class written and oral projects.
4. For those who do not successfully complete items 1-3 above, the normal FON examination policies and practices will apply.
COURSE MATERIALS: McMichael, George, and others, eds. Anthology of American Literature, 9th ed.vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007; McMichael, George and others, eds, . Concise Anthology of American Literature, 2nd ed.; Various materials from online sources.
COURSE SCHEDULE. The page numbers here refer to McMichael, 9/ed., vol 2. +Many of the readings can also be found in the 1985 concise edition. Page numbers are shown. #These works can also be accessed online through Project Gutenberg, Wikisources, or the e-collections of the University of Adelaide and the Online Library. *Some will be provided as copies. You’ll also find useful resources and web links at the Prentice Hall web site that accompanies the McMichael textbook.
Week/sessions. Readings to be prepared and topics to be considered session for each meeting. List is tentative and subject to change.
1. 18-19 Feb.
Introduction to course. The evolving canon of American literature.
Local Color, Regionalism, and Realism. Introduction to Freeman, 444: A New England Nun, 445 +1058.
Chessnut, 496: The Goophered Grapevine, 497; #The Wife of His Youth; Kate Chopin: The Awakening.
2 25-26 Feb.
Discuss regionalist stories above. Begin Chopin, The Awakening, 661.
3. 4-5 March
Conclude Chopin: The Awakening, as necessary.
Literary Naturalism in America. Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409. Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire. The Literature of the Early Twentieth Century and Modernism (1900-1945) [backgrounds]. Currents in Modernist Poetry. Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
4. 11-12 March
Discuss Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409; Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire. Discuss Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
5. 18-19 March
Continue Frost: The Road Not Taken, 1110; Birches, 1111; Design, 1114. Stopping By Woods, 1114; Acquainted with the Night, 1115; West-Running Brook, 1115. Introduction to Eliot.
Submit critical essay #1.
6. 25-26 March
Eliot, 1307: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1308; Journey of the Magi, 1332; The Waste Land, 1316.
Week of 6-10 April: COLLOQUIUM #1.
Any changes in the above assignments and the reading schedule for the rest of the semester will be announced in a later edition of this syllabus. Selections will include some or all of the following topics and possibly critical essay #2.
American Drama. O'Neill, 1229: The Hairy Ape, 1230 +154
Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes: *Selections from The Negro Speaks of Rivers; The Weary Blues; I, Too; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Dinner Guest Me; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl; Ballad of the Landlord.
Cullen, 1445: +For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; +From the Dark Tower, 1447; +A Brown Girl Dead, 1448; +Heritage, 1289.
Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467.
New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: +In just-, 1335; +Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; +r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; +anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; +l(a), 1341.
Stevens, 1381: Peter Quince at the Clavier, 1382; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391.
W. C. Williams, 1395: Tract, 1398; Danse Russe, 1400; Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406.
New Directions in Fiction. Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #Winter Dreams; #Babylon Revisited: #The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *A Rose For Emily +1771.
Hemingway, 1515: Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. *Soldier’s Home; Wright, 1642: from Native Son, 1643.
The Literature of America Since World War II (1945 to Present), 1593.
The Confessional Poets. R. Lowell, 1754: +Memories of West Street and Lepke, 1761; +Skunk Hour, 1763; +For the Union Dead, 1764.
Sexton, 1832: +The Farmer's Wife, +Ringing the Bells,; +And One for My Dame, 1835; +The Addict, 1836.
Plath, 1839: +Lady Lazarus, 1742; +Ariel, 1844; +Daddy, 1845.
Beat Poetry. Ginsberg, 1801: Howl, 1803; +A Supermarket in California, 1810; +America, 1811.
Week of 31 May-4 June: COLLOQUIUM #2.
21 June-2 July: EXAMINATION PERIOD.
Notes:
1. Online sources exist, too, for some works:
Through Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
•Chesnutt: The Goophered Grapevine: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttconjure/conjure.html. (This is the first story in The Conjure Woman.)
•Chesnutt: The Wife of His Youth: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttwife/cheswife.html. (This is the first story in the book of the same name.)
•Freeman: A New England Nun: http://wilkinsfreeman.info/Short/NewEnglandNunNEN.htm. (This story is in the collection A New England Nun.)
Through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
Chopin: The Awakening (read this tale only: http://www.gutenber g.org/etext/160.
Other useful places to find free texts and public domain materials:
University of Adelaide Library “E-book” collection: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/. Many of the course’s Fitzgerald items can be found here.
Wikisource (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page) includes links to Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” for this class.
University of Virginia Library e-text center (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/etext/index.html); Most free access materials will be at http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/finding_digital.html, the library’s “Digital Collections” page.
2. Professionalism also involves courtesy toward fellow students, presenters, guests, and the professor. For example (this list is only partial), you are expected to avoid such distractions as tardy arrival, early departure, audible side conversations while the class is going on, leaving behind food or debris, or having cell phones or pagers go off during class. Mobile phones, pagers, iPods, and similar devices must be completely off during class. For emergencies or other special situations, please see me before the start of the class.
3. Assignments. If you submit any assignments, drafts, or other items electronically, send them as MSWord attachments. Announced due dates still apply. If you use another program, you should “save as” MSWord before attaching the document. See the instructor if you are not able to use MSWord. Be sure to retain personal copies of whatever files you send. Of course, you may always submit items as hard copy from a printer.
This syllabus was last updated on 20 February 2010
Dr. Gerald Siegel and Ms. Elida Bahtijaroska
Email: gsiegel@ycp.edu or drgeraldsiegel@yahoo.com ; elida.bahtijaroska@gmail.com
Web site: http://www.jerrysiegel.net/
OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE:
1. Students will become familiar with major figures, movements, and works in American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries and with the historical and cultural contexts of these literary phenomena.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to read course texts in English accurately and critically and to formulate relevant questions leading to informed interpretations.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the terminology of literary studies in classroom discussion and writing assignments that reveal their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
SCOPE OF THE COURSE: An examination of selected writings by American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries and of the literary and cultural backgrounds of these writings.
METHODS:
Methods of instruction will include assigned readings, class discussion, background lectures, critical examination (both individually and in groups) of course readings, and may include brief written responses to these readings, appropriate media presentations, guest and/or out-of-class speakers, and student presentations/papers.
ASSESSMENT:
1. Midterm and final colloquia will each be 100 points (based on a percentage) of a written test and will each be worth 35% of the final grade. These allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of all assigned readings, all lectures, all media presentations, and any insights developed from class discussion and consideration of texts and backgrounds.
2. Attendance at every class session is important because much of the experience of literature involves sharing views among readers. Indeed, attendance (worth 10%) involves not just being physically in the classroom, but taking part in any class activities at a given session in a way that demonstrates regular preparation of class readings in advance and exhibiting professionalism during class sessions. However, to allow for special situations such as illness, death in the immediate family, assisting family or friends with emergencies, religious obligations, or university and civic responsibilities, students may miss up to three “personal days” without penalty. However, students are still responsible for any in-class essays, quizzes, or activities done on those days. In addition, one quiz or in-class essay may be missed (or the lowest such score will be dropped). Students missing more than three class sessions should expect to have their attendance and participation scores sharply reduced.
3. Participation and completion of class projects will be worth 20%. This includes active, informed participation in class discussion in a manner demonstrating regular preparation and command of English skills appropriate to this course and on-time completion and submission of in-class and out-of-class written and oral projects.
4. For those who do not successfully complete items 1-3 above, the normal FON examination policies and practices will apply.
COURSE MATERIALS: McMichael, George, and others, eds. Anthology of American Literature, 9th ed.vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007; McMichael, George and others, eds, . Concise Anthology of American Literature, 2nd ed.; Various materials from online sources.
COURSE SCHEDULE. The page numbers here refer to McMichael, 9/ed., vol 2. +Many of the readings can also be found in the 1985 concise edition. Page numbers are shown. #These works can also be accessed online through Project Gutenberg, Wikisources, or the e-collections of the University of Adelaide and the Online Library. *Some will be provided as copies. You’ll also find useful resources and web links at the Prentice Hall web site
Week/sessions. Readings to be prepared and topics to be considered session for each meeting. List is tentative and subject to change.
1. 18-19 Feb.
Introduction to course. The evolving canon of American literature.
Local Color, Regionalism, and Realism. Introduction to Freeman, 444: A New England Nun, 445 +1058.
Chessnut, 496: The Goophered Grapevine, 497; #The Wife of His Youth; Kate Chopin: The Awakening.
2 25-26 Feb.
Discuss regionalist stories above. Begin Chopin, The Awakening, 661.
3. 4-5 March
Conclude Chopin: The Awakening, as necessary.
Literary Naturalism in America. Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409. Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire. The Literature of the Early Twentieth Century and Modernism (1900-1945) [backgrounds]. Currents in Modernist Poetry. Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
4. 11-12 March
Discuss Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409; Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire. Discuss Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
5. 18-19 March
Continue Frost: The Road Not Taken, 1110; Birches, 1111; Design, 1114. Stopping By Woods, 1114; Acquainted with the Night, 1115; West-Running Brook, 1115. Introduction to Eliot.
Submit critical essay #1.
6. 25-26 March
Eliot, 1307: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1308; Journey of the Magi, 1332; The Waste Land, 1316.
Week of 6-10 April: COLLOQUIUM #1.
Any changes in the above assignments and the reading schedule for the rest of the semester will be announced in a later edition of this syllabus. Selections will include some or all of the following topics and possibly critical essay #2.
American Drama. O'Neill, 1229: The Hairy Ape, 1230 +154
Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes: *Selections from The Negro Speaks of Rivers; The Weary Blues; I, Too; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Dinner Guest Me; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl; Ballad of the Landlord.
Cullen, 1445: +For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; +From the Dark Tower, 1447; +A Brown Girl Dead, 1448; +Heritage, 1289.
Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467.
New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: +In just-, 1335; +Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; +r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; +anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; +l(a), 1341.
Stevens, 1381: Peter Quince at the Clavier, 1382; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391.
W. C. Williams, 1395: Tract, 1398; Danse Russe, 1400; Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406.
New Directions in Fiction. Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #Winter Dreams; #Babylon Revisited: #The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *A Rose For Emily +1771.
Hemingway, 1515: Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. *Soldier’s Home; Wright, 1642: from Native Son, 1643.
The Literature of America Since World War II (1945 to Present), 1593.
The Confessional Poets. R. Lowell, 1754: +Memories of West Street and Lepke, 1761; +Skunk Hour, 1763; +For the Union Dead, 1764.
Sexton, 1832: +The Farmer's Wife, +Ringing the Bells,; +And One for My Dame, 1835; +The Addict, 1836.
Plath, 1839: +Lady Lazarus, 1742; +Ariel, 1844; +Daddy, 1845.
Beat Poetry. Ginsberg, 1801: Howl, 1803; +A Supermarket in California, 1810; +America, 1811.
Week of 31 May-4 June: COLLOQUIUM #2.
21 June-2 July: EXAMINATION PERIOD.
Notes:
1. Online sources exist, too, for some works:
Through Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
•Chesnutt: The Goophered Grapevine: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttconjure/conjure.html. (This is the first story in The Conjure Woman.)
•Chesnutt: The Wife of His Youth: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttwife/cheswife.html. (This is the first story in the book of the same name.)
•Freeman: A New England Nun: http://wilkinsfreeman.info/Short/NewEnglandNunNEN.htm. (This story is in the collection A New England Nun.)
Through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
Chopin: The Awakening (read this tale only: http://www.gutenber g.org/etext/160.
Other useful places to find free texts and public domain materials:
University of Adelaide Library “E-book” collection: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/. Many of the course’s Fitzgerald items can be found here.
Wikisource (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page) includes links to Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” for this class.
University of Virginia Library e-text center (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/etext/index.html); Most free access materials will be at http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/finding_digital.html, the library’s “Digital Collections” page.
2. Professionalism also involves courtesy toward fellow students, presenters, guests, and the professor. For example (this list is only partial), you are expected to avoid such distractions as tardy arrival, early departure, audible side conversations while the class is going on, leaving behind food or debris, or having cell phones or pagers go off during class. Mobile phones, pagers, iPods, and similar devices must be completely off during class. For emergencies or other special situations, please see me before the start of the class.
3. Assignments. If you submit any assignments, drafts, or other items electronically, send them as MSWord attachments. Announced due dates still apply. If you use another program, you should “save as” MSWord before attaching the document. See the instructor if you are not able to use MSWord. Be sure to retain personal copies of whatever files you send. Of course, you may always submit items as hard copy from a printer.
This syllabus was last updated on 20 February 2010
American Literature Syllabus Skopje
Spring 2010 Syllabus: AJ484 American Literature (Preliminary version)
Dr. Gerald Siegel and Ms. Elida Bahtijaroska
Email: gsiegel@ycp.edu or drgeraldsiegel@yahoo.com ; elida.bahtijaroska@gmail.com
Web site: http://www.jerrysiegel.net/
OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE:
1. Students will become familiar with major figures, movements, and works in American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries and with the historical and cultural contexts of these literary phenomena.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to read course texts in English accurately and critically and to formulate relevant questions leading to informed interpretations.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the terminology of literary studies in classroom discussion and writing assignments that reveal their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
SCOPE OF THE COURSE: An examination of selected writings by American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries and of the literary and cultural backgrounds of these writings.
METHODS:
Methods of instruction will include assigned readings, class discussion, background lectures, critical examination (both individually and in groups) of course readings, and may include brief written responses to these readings, appropriate media presentations, guest and/or out-of-class speakers, and student presentations/papers.
ASSESSMENT:
1. Midterm and final colloquia will each be 100 points (based on a percentage) of a written test and will each be worth 35% of the final grade. These allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of all assigned readings, all lectures, all media presentations, and any insights developed from class discussion and consideration of texts and backgrounds.
2. Attendance at every class session is important because much of the experience of literature involves sharing views among readers. Indeed, attendance (worth 10%) involves not just being physically in the classroom, but taking part in any class activities at a given session in a way that demonstrates regular preparation of class readings in advance and exhibiting professionalism during class sessions. However, to allow for special situations such as illness, death in the immediate family, assisting family or friends with emergencies, religious obligations, or university and civic responsibilities, students may miss up to three “personal days” without penalty. However, students are still responsible for any in-class essays, quizzes, or activities done on those days. In addition, one quiz or in-class essay may be missed (or the lowest such score will be dropped). Students missing more than three class sessions should expect to have their attendance and participation scores sharply reduced.
3. Participation and completion of class projects will be worth 20%. This includes active, informed participation in class discussion in a manner demonstrating regular preparation and command of English skills appropriate to this course and on-time completion and submission of in-class and out-of-class written and oral projects.
4. For those who do not successfully complete items 1-3 above, the normal FON examination policies and practices will apply.
COURSE MATERIALS: McMichael, George, and others, eds. Anthology of American Literature, 9th ed.vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007; McMichael, George and others, eds, . Concise Anthology of American Literature, 2nd ed.; Various materials from online sources.
COURSE SCHEDULE. The page numbers here refer to McMichael, 9/ed., vol 2. +Many of the readings can also be found in the 1985 concise edition. Page numbers are shown. #These works can also be accessed online through Project Gutenberg, Wikisources, or the e-collections of the University of Adelaide and the Online Library. *Some will be provided as copies. You’ll also find useful resources and web links at the Prentice Hall web site that accompanies the McMichael textbook.
Week/sessions. Readings to be prepared and topics to be considered session for each meeting. List is tentative and subject to change.
1. 15-19 Feb.
Introduction to course. The evolving canon of American literature.
Local Color, Regionalism, and Realism.
Freeman, 444: A New England Nun, 445 +1058.
Chessnut, 496: The Goophered Grapevine, 497; #The Wife of His Youth.
2 22-26 Feb.
Continue regionalist backgrounds
Complete stories as necessary. Begin #Chopin, 660 and The Awakening.
3. 1-5 Mar
Chopin: The Awakening, 661.
Literary Naturalism in America. Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409.
4. 8-12 March
Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire.
The Literature of the Early Twentieth Century and Modernism (1900-1945) [backgrounds].
Currents in Modernist Poetry. Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
5. 15-19 Mar.
Continue Frost and Introduction to Eliot. The Road Not Taken, 1110; Birches, 1111; Design, 1114.
Frost: Stopping By Woods, 1114; Acquainted with the Night, 1115; West-Running Brook, 1115.
Submit critical essay #1.
6. 22-26 Mar.
Eliot, 1307: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1308; Journey of the Magi, 1332;
Eliot : The Waste Land, 1316.
Week of 6-10 April: COLLOQUIUM #1.
Any changes in the above assignments and the reading schedule for the rest of the semester will be announced in a later edition of this syllabus. Selections will include some or all of the following topics and possibly critical essay #2.
American Drama. O'Neill, 1229: The Hairy Ape, 1230 +154
Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes: *Selections from The Negro Speaks of Rivers; The Weary Blues; I, Too; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Dinner Guest Me; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl; Ballad of the Landlord.
Cullen, 1445: +For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; +From the Dark Tower, 1447; +A Brown Girl Dead, 1448; +Heritage, 1289.
Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467.
New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: +In just-, 1335; +Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; +r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; +anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; +l(a), 1341.
Stevens, 1381: Peter Quince at the Clavier, 1382; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391.
W. C. Williams, 1395: Tract, 1398; Danse Russe, 1400; Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406.
New Directions in Fiction. Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #Winter Dreams; #Babylon Revisited: #The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *A Rose For Emily +1771.
Hemingway, 1515: Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. *Soldier’s Home; Wright, 1642: from Native Son, 1643.
The Literature of America Since World War II (1945 to Present), 1593.
The Confessional Poets. R. Lowell, 1754: +Memories of West Street and Lepke, 1761; +Skunk Hour, 1763; +For the Union Dead, 1764.
Sexton, 1832: +The Farmer's Wife, +Ringing the Bells,; +And One for My Dame, 1835; +The Addict, 1836.
Plath, 1839: +Lady Lazarus, 1742; +Ariel, 1844; +Daddy, 1845.
Beat Poetry. Ginsberg, 1801: Howl, 1803; +A Supermarket in California, 1810; +America, 1811.
Week of 31 May-4 June: COLLOQUIUM #2.
21 June-2 July: EXAMINATION PERIOD.
Notes:
1. Online sources exist, too, for some works:
Through Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
•Chesnutt: The Goophered Grapevine: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttconjure/conjure.html. (This is the first story in The Conjure Woman.)
•Chesnutt: The Wife of His Youth: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttwife/cheswife.html. (This is the first story in the book of the same name.)
•Freeman: A New England Nun: http://wilkinsfreeman.info/Short/NewEnglandNunNEN.htm. (This story is in the collection A New England Nun.)
Through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
Chopin: The Awakening (read this tale only: http://www.gutenber g.org/etext/160.
Other useful places to find free texts and public domain materials:
University of Adelaide Library “E-book” collection: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/. Many of the course’s Fitzgerald items can be found here.
Wikisource (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page) includes links to Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” for this class.
University of Virginia Library e-text center (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/etext/index.html); Most free access materials will be at http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/finding_digital.html, the library’s “Digital Collections” page.
2. Professionalism also involves courtesy toward fellow students, presenters, guests, and the professor. For example (this list is only partial), you are expected to avoid such distractions as tardy arrival, early departure, audible side conversations while the class is going on, leaving behind food or debris, or having cell phones or pagers go off during class. Mobile phones, pagers, iPods, and similar devices must be completely off during class. For emergencies or other special situations, please see me before the start of the class.
3. Assignments. If you submit any assignments, drafts, or other items electronically, send them as MSWord attachments. Announced due dates still apply. If you use another program, you should “save as” MSWord before attaching the document. See the instructor if you are not able to use MSWord. Be sure to retain personal copies of whatever files you send. Of course, you may always submit items as hard copy from a printer.
This syllabus was last updated on 14 February 2010
Dr. Gerald Siegel and Ms. Elida Bahtijaroska
Email: gsiegel@ycp.edu or drgeraldsiegel@yahoo.com ; elida.bahtijaroska@gmail.com
Web site: http://www.jerrysiegel.net/
OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE:
1. Students will become familiar with major figures, movements, and works in American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries and with the historical and cultural contexts of these literary phenomena.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to read course texts in English accurately and critically and to formulate relevant questions leading to informed interpretations.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the terminology of literary studies in classroom discussion and writing assignments that reveal their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
SCOPE OF THE COURSE: An examination of selected writings by American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries and of the literary and cultural backgrounds of these writings.
METHODS:
Methods of instruction will include assigned readings, class discussion, background lectures, critical examination (both individually and in groups) of course readings, and may include brief written responses to these readings, appropriate media presentations, guest and/or out-of-class speakers, and student presentations/papers.
ASSESSMENT:
1. Midterm and final colloquia will each be 100 points (based on a percentage) of a written test and will each be worth 35% of the final grade. These allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of all assigned readings, all lectures, all media presentations, and any insights developed from class discussion and consideration of texts and backgrounds.
2. Attendance at every class session is important because much of the experience of literature involves sharing views among readers. Indeed, attendance (worth 10%) involves not just being physically in the classroom, but taking part in any class activities at a given session in a way that demonstrates regular preparation of class readings in advance and exhibiting professionalism during class sessions. However, to allow for special situations such as illness, death in the immediate family, assisting family or friends with emergencies, religious obligations, or university and civic responsibilities, students may miss up to three “personal days” without penalty. However, students are still responsible for any in-class essays, quizzes, or activities done on those days. In addition, one quiz or in-class essay may be missed (or the lowest such score will be dropped). Students missing more than three class sessions should expect to have their attendance and participation scores sharply reduced.
3. Participation and completion of class projects will be worth 20%. This includes active, informed participation in class discussion in a manner demonstrating regular preparation and command of English skills appropriate to this course and on-time completion and submission of in-class and out-of-class written and oral projects.
4. For those who do not successfully complete items 1-3 above, the normal FON examination policies and practices will apply.
COURSE MATERIALS: McMichael, George, and others, eds. Anthology of American Literature, 9th ed.vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007; McMichael, George and others, eds, . Concise Anthology of American Literature, 2nd ed.; Various materials from online sources.
COURSE SCHEDULE. The page numbers here refer to McMichael, 9/ed., vol 2. +Many of the readings can also be found in the 1985 concise edition. Page numbers are shown. #These works can also be accessed online through Project Gutenberg, Wikisources, or the e-collections of the University of Adelaide and the Online Library. *Some will be provided as copies. You’ll also find useful resources and web links at the Prentice Hall web site
Week/sessions. Readings to be prepared and topics to be considered session for each meeting. List is tentative and subject to change.
1. 15-19 Feb.
Introduction to course. The evolving canon of American literature.
Local Color, Regionalism, and Realism.
Freeman, 444: A New England Nun, 445 +1058.
Chessnut, 496: The Goophered Grapevine, 497; #The Wife of His Youth.
2 22-26 Feb.
Continue regionalist backgrounds
Complete stories as necessary. Begin #Chopin, 660 and The Awakening.
3. 1-5 Mar
Chopin: The Awakening, 661.
Literary Naturalism in America. Crane, 754: The Open Boat, 778 +1409.
4. 8-12 March
Norris, 794: A Deal in Wheat, 795. London, +The Law of Life, 804; #To Build a Fire.
The Literature of the Early Twentieth Century and Modernism (1900-1945) [backgrounds].
Currents in Modernist Poetry. Frost, 1104 +1515-1531: Mending Wall, 1105; Home Burial, 1106;
5. 15-19 Mar.
Continue Frost and Introduction to Eliot. The Road Not Taken, 1110; Birches, 1111; Design, 1114.
Frost: Stopping By Woods, 1114; Acquainted with the Night, 1115; West-Running Brook, 1115.
Submit critical essay #1.
6. 22-26 Mar.
Eliot, 1307: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1308; Journey of the Magi, 1332;
Eliot : The Waste Land, 1316.
Week of 6-10 April: COLLOQUIUM #1.
Any changes in the above assignments and the reading schedule for the rest of the semester will be announced in a later edition of this syllabus. Selections will include some or all of the following topics and possibly critical essay #2.
American Drama. O'Neill, 1229: The Hairy Ape, 1230 +154
Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes: *Selections from The Negro Speaks of Rivers; The Weary Blues; I, Too; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Dinner Guest Me; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl; Ballad of the Landlord.
Cullen, 1445: +For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; +From the Dark Tower, 1447; +A Brown Girl Dead, 1448; +Heritage, 1289.
Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467.
New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: +In just-, 1335; +Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; +r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; +anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; +l(a), 1341.
Stevens, 1381: Peter Quince at the Clavier, 1382; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391.
W. C. Williams, 1395: Tract, 1398; Danse Russe, 1400; Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406.
New Directions in Fiction. Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #Winter Dreams; #Babylon Revisited: #The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *A Rose For Emily +1771.
Hemingway, 1515: Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. *Soldier’s Home; Wright, 1642: from Native Son, 1643.
The Literature of America Since World War II (1945 to Present), 1593.
The Confessional Poets. R. Lowell, 1754: +Memories of West Street and Lepke, 1761; +Skunk Hour, 1763; +For the Union Dead, 1764.
Sexton, 1832: +The Farmer's Wife, +Ringing the Bells,; +And One for My Dame, 1835; +The Addict, 1836.
Plath, 1839: +Lady Lazarus, 1742; +Ariel, 1844; +Daddy, 1845.
Beat Poetry. Ginsberg, 1801: Howl, 1803; +A Supermarket in California, 1810; +America, 1811.
Week of 31 May-4 June: COLLOQUIUM #2.
21 June-2 July: EXAMINATION PERIOD.
Notes:
1. Online sources exist, too, for some works:
Through Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
•Chesnutt: The Goophered Grapevine: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttconjure/conjure.html. (This is the first story in The Conjure Woman.)
•Chesnutt: The Wife of His Youth: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnuttwife/cheswife.html. (This is the first story in the book of the same name.)
•Freeman: A New England Nun: http://wilkinsfreeman.info/Short/NewEnglandNunNEN.htm. (This story is in the collection A New England Nun.)
Through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
Chopin: The Awakening (read this tale only: http://www.gutenber g.org/etext/160.
Other useful places to find free texts and public domain materials:
University of Adelaide Library “E-book” collection: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/. Many of the course’s Fitzgerald items can be found here.
Wikisource (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page) includes links to Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” for this class.
University of Virginia Library e-text center (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/etext/index.html); Most free access materials will be at http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/finding_digital.html, the library’s “Digital Collections” page.
2. Professionalism also involves courtesy toward fellow students, presenters, guests, and the professor. For example (this list is only partial), you are expected to avoid such distractions as tardy arrival, early departure, audible side conversations while the class is going on, leaving behind food or debris, or having cell phones or pagers go off during class. Mobile phones, pagers, iPods, and similar devices must be completely off during class. For emergencies or other special situations, please see me before the start of the class.
3. Assignments. If you submit any assignments, drafts, or other items electronically, send them as MSWord attachments. Announced due dates still apply. If you use another program, you should “save as” MSWord before attaching the document. See the instructor if you are not able to use MSWord. Be sure to retain personal copies of whatever files you send. Of course, you may always submit items as hard copy from a printer.
This syllabus was last updated on 14 February 2010
Business Writing Chapter
CHAPTER 6: APPLYING THE PROCESS: MEMOS, LETTERS, REPORTS, PROPOSALS*
The PASS approach to writing (preparing, arranging, saying, shaping) can help you make more efficient use of your time in a wide range of business and professional communication situations. Among the most common messages you will be writing using this system will be the memorandum, the letter, the report, and the proposal. While all these kinds of documents should be marked by effective writing, each type also has certain characteristics of its own. This chapter looks briefly at these structural and stylistic attributes.
Memorandums and Letters
Preparing memorandums (or memoranda) will probably be one of the most frequent on-the-job tasks you will face. Memos are usually brief documents dealing with routine matters, and they normally remain within an organization. Most often informal documents, memorandums can be as simple as a completed form or as extensive as a policy statement on how to appeal personnel actions. Frequently a memorandum will get read by several audiences, a point to consider in deciding what to say and how to say it. A brief memorandum like that shown in figure 6.1 may begin as a message (sent either in writing or as e-mail) from one individual to another, but soon become widely disseminated. This particular memo, for example, may be copied by its immediate audience (here, Willa Clarke), attached to a cover memo (here, possibly one saying that this week's caseworker meeting date is changed), and either sent to every person in an entire division or posted on the division's bulletin board. Other types of memorandums may be placed in a file and used weeks or months later by individuals unknown to either the original sender or addressee. (This memo uses an American format for the date; other examples in the chapter will use the international format of date/month/year, Sometimes memos will use a briefer format, but that can confuse: the date in the example could be shown as 6/16/10 in an American document, but 16.6.10 in an international format. Common sense can clarify this entry, but a date such as April 6 or 6 April is obviously clearer when written out.)
Figure 6.1. Routine Memorandum.
Date: June 16, 20xx
To: Willa Clarke, Social Services Supervisor
From: Mike Corelli
Subject: Change in Caseworker Meeting Date
This week's caseworker meeting has been changed from Tuesday to Thursday afternoon at 2:00 in room 381. Ms. Imperiale, the district director, will describe the state's new records retention policy.
Yet memorandums can also be used for a variety of other reasons, such as reports or messages of transmittal. Although usually internal communications, they sometimes do get sent to customers and clients outside of the organization when the matter being discussed is a commonplace one. Memorandums for external audiences and those dealing with other than everyday concerns can pose special problems in structure.
Business letters, of course, differ from memos in format. Because they are generally perceived as more formal than memorandums, letters are sometimes used within organizations for significant situations, such as commendations, promotions, reprimands, hirings, and firings. But, more importantly, they most often are external communication. You are less likely to know the reader as well as you would someone within your own organization, so concern about persona and audience becomes more conscious. Letters also serve more frequently than memos to handle situations that are not routine. Like memos, they can also confirm in writing arrangements and relationships originally established by personal meetings, telephone or e-mail.
Contexts themselves may vary widely; you'll need to consider both your own objectives and, when you can determine it, your reader's likely reaction. Ideally, these will be the same. If, for example, your message complains about a product or service, conveying your dissatisfaction to your reader could result in several outcomes. Simply stating your case may lead your reader to note the information, but do nothing further; his/her response may be neutral. Possibly, if several complaints like yours arrive, she/he may then act to remedy the problem you and the others mentioned.
You could, of course, choose other approaches. If instead your message conveys your anger or attacks the reader, sarcastically or otherwise, the result may be either defensiveness or anger on the part of the reader. "Telling them off" may make you feel better, but is unlikely to remedy the situation and may even cut off communication entirely. On the other hand, you could seek a specific remedy, such as a refund, repair, or a replacement--remedies which, if the product or service were defective, your reader might interpret as routine matters to be dealt with in the normal course of business. Thus, your choice of persona and sense of context can help you to determine reader behavior and to obtain the feedback you want.
For these reasons, different structures have developed to handle many of the common letter and memorandum writing situations. These structures use familiar arranging strategies (deductive, inductive, and persuasive sequences) to deal with varying message contexts.
Routine and Positive Situations
A deductive (or direct) pattern, which begins with the message's main idea, is effective for situations in which you expect a positive reader response, either because you are conducting routine business or telling the reader something he or she wishes to hear. The deductive pattern works well, for example, when you are ordering something, asking for information, providing information, congratulating someone, or giving someone a positive response to a request or suggestion.
Since the business side of the message is your main concern in such writing, get to the point early--in the first paragraph. After you've stated your main idea, add any explanation or support needed to clarify that main idea. Then go on to further details, questions, or secondary concerns. Figure 6.2 illustrates an opening paragraph of a request organized in the direct pattern. [Some examples will use the American date format of month/date/year.]
Figure 6.2. Routine Request.
Please cancel my subscription to Human Services Quarterly as of July 1. I would appreciate your sending the refund check to my home address, 2430 Center Street, Pine Hill, TX 75118.
Positive replies, like inquiries, should generally be organized by direct structure. Incidentally, although the opening of a reply may allude indirectly to the message being answered, starting out with comments such as "we have received your letter of June 7" tends to waste the impact of the potentially emphatic opening position. Such openings make sense only if you are unable to actually answer the request for some time and wish to at least assure your reader that he/she is not simply being ignored. Letters of this type should, if possible, go on to indicate approximately when the reader can expect an answer. Figure 6.3 illustrates a typical opening for a positive reply.
Figure 6.3. Positive Reply.
As you requested, your subscription to Human Services Quarterly has been canceled as of July 1. Your refund check for $36.00 will be sent to you by our subscription center within two weeks. [The letter might go on with promotional or good-will material.]
A variety of other situations can also be handled as routine or positive. An apology for an error, for example, because it is intended to make the reader feel better about whatever has happened, may be perceived in this way. A letter of resignation, if it is expected and follows earlier discussions of your intentions, may also be viewed as routine, but if unexpected, may generate a negative context. Thus, your awareness of context can affect the way you choose to structure your messages.
Negative Situations
When you expect resistance from your reader or have bad news to tell him or her, use an inductive (also called indirect or delayed) structure to prepare your reader for the negative information. The overall pacing of disappointing or negative messages tends to be more gradual than that of messages in direct structure; in this way, they can better manage emotional as well as business or intellectual responses. You might, for example, have to announce something the reader will dislike, such as a rent increase or a coming layoff. You may have to refuse a request or an adjustment. Or you may be able to offer only part of what the reader wants. Figure 6.4 illustrates typical opening material for a negative reply.
Figure 6.4. Negative Reply.
As you requested, the balance of your subscription has been canceled as of July 1. Refunds for unused portions of subscriptions are pro-rated based upon the number of issues remaining. Because you have already received four issues, you will be receiving a check within the next two weeks from our subscription service center for $24.00, the unused balance. [The letter would then go on to a good will closing, possibly including promotional or resale material.]
In this structure, you do not get to the main business point immediately. Instead, you first attempt to create an open communication climate and prepare your reader for the message's emotional impact by building a brief "buffer" of neutral or positive elements that will eventually lead to the main idea. The buffer, because it prepares your reader for that business point, should have some relation to the eventual topic, or the device will simply waste your reader's time, but the buffer should not signal either a "yes" or a "no."
Follow the buffer with an explanation in language that again does not signal an immediate "no." Avoid tell-tale signs of bad news such as beginning the second paragraph with "however" or "but." Be sure that this explanation precedes the refusal or the bad news; you owe the courtesy of such an explanation to your reader, who might ignore it if the negative material came first. Sometimes, in fact, an appropriate explanation can suggest or pave the way for discussion of alternatives that might accomplish much of what the reader originally wanted.
If you do a good job of explaining, in some situations you may not actually need to come right out and say "no." So long as you are clear about it and avoid misleading your reader, an implicit refusal may be all that you need include. For example, telling readers what they may do sometimes makes quite apparent what they may not do. Under most circumstances, a statement that all accountants will be needed for special audits 7-12 June, but that all other days in June remain available for vacations removes the need explicitly to deny a request for vacation days on 8-10 . Then you can go on with the task of reestablishing a cooperative spirit of "business as usual" and concern for your reader by message's end.
Effective negative messages, in short, downplay the negative. They provide a clear explanation for the bad news and avoid hiding behind "company policy." They use positive, not negative, language where possible. Instead of saying "I can't speak at your meeting on March 3," for example, a letter might explain, "I will be in Buffalo on March 3." Finally, effective negative messages de-emphasize the negative by putting the main idea in the middle of the message, by placing the negative information in a subordinate clause, and by ending on a positive note.
Of course, negative or disappointing news can be presented in a direct pattern; certain readers in certain circumstances will perceive this apparently negative information routine. Thus, not having an order arrive because the original order request contained insufficient information can easily become a routine request for that information; a second notice for a monthly payment may be simply a duplicate bill with "second notice" or "reminder" stamped at the top of the page. Be careful, however, that your reader, not simply you yourself, will react routinely. You may prefer getting bad news before you get an explanation, but letting this preference guide message construction can result in your sending a message that is writer, not reader, oriented.
Persuasive Situations
Messages that attempt to convince someone are another kind of communication often best served by inductive organizational patterns. Sales letters, memos trying to convince someone to adopt a policy or point of view, reports calling for action by the reader, and letters of application for employment are a few examples of such messages. Figure 6.5 illustrates the opening of a persuasive sales message.
Figure 6.5. Persuasive Message.
As a concerned professional, you realize the importance of staying current with the latest developments in the rapidly changing human services field. And you probably know that reading Human Services Quarterly enables over 10,000 of your colleagues to maintain that "up-to-date" edge as leaders in their profession.
Now you can join this well-informed group and enjoy a 20% saving over Human Services Quarterly's usual rates. [The rest of the message might show benefits of subscribing and then ask the reader to act be signing and returning a subscription card. Although the letter could ask for a check, it might simply call for a commitment thus: "No need to pay now. Just sign and return the card. We'll bill you later."]
Persuasive messages pose a special problem because very often your reader won't expect them and may therefore have no particular interest in what you have to say. In other cases, you will need to overcome different kinds of resistance to get the reader to act as you want or to change his or her mind. A special kind of delayed approach can sometimes succeed in such situations.
To remember this approach, think of the words "AIDA" (for "attention-interest-desire-action") or "AICA" (for "attention- interest-conviction-action). Begin by getting the reader's attention; very often, all you need to do is picture a reader benefit. Then, build your reader's interest in reading what you have to say by using details. Next, create a desire in the reader to buy what you're selling, do what you're requesting, or accept the idea you're suggesting. Last, ask for the action you want on the part of the reader. As with negative situations, moving readers through persuasive messages may require more deliberate pacing than that of the usual direct structure message. Take your reader through these stages gradually, and you improve your chances of getting the response you want.
Obviously, these patterns represent only general strategies, and exceptions will always exist. For instance, the writer of a fifth notice for an unpaid bill will probably spend little time on maintaining customer good will through a buffer, and promotional material sent to someone who has requested the information in the first place will not need to use an extended "attention" opening. Further, some messages will involve more than a single type of situation. For such messages, you will need to decide on your primary purpose (perhaps, for example, a persuasive approach to a combined persuasive-negative message) and emphasize that goal.
Reports
Reports vary widely in content, formality, function, length, and methods of preparation, but all have a common goal: the transmission of information, often information which specifically has been requested. Sometimes, but not always, that information may be accompanied by commentary or informed opinion.
Characteristics of Reports
Some reports, called "periodic reports," appear at regular intervals. The weekly progress report on a research project and the monthly admissions report for a college are typical examples. Other reports are generated in response to a situation; each time the particular situation occurs (for example, an accident or an arrest), a report follows. A third kind of report, the "special report," is usually a one-time job. A report to a manager comparing three possible microcomputers the company might consider purchasing would be one type of special report.
Reports also differ according to what they do with the information they contain. An "informational" report simply presents data or facts without further comment. The college admissions report that lists numbers of representatives' visits to different states and the number of applications from those states would be an informational report. "Interpretive" reports add explanatory remarks, but not opinion. An interpretive admissions report might point out that "15% of the representatives' visits are to schools in the Middle Atlantic region, but 40% of our applicants come from this area." An analytic report (or recommendation) adds opinion to interpretation: "I suggest that we cut representatives' time in the Midwest and Southeast so that they can spend more time in the Middle Atlantic area."
The tone of reports tends to be objective. Some reports, indeed, are simply entered into standard forms. Reports are sometimes done as memos and letters, but frequently, unlike letters and memos, reports do follow certain specified patterns often required by employers. Many reports, for reasons of readability and clarity, are divided into sections and use different levels of headings for the different portions. When reports are presented in a letter or memorandum format, headings are sometimes not used, but the topic sentences of different sections can provide a function similar to that of the headings.
Some long formal reports appear in formats that resemble those of books, complete with covers, title pages,and tables of contents. But, regardless of their complexity or simplicity, reports seek to present information in a clear, efficient manner; the various characteristics of reports are simply means to this end.
Graphics and Other Aids to Report Clarity
Lists and enumerations are common organizing devices used to present parts of reports. Charts, graphs, tables, and other graphic aids can clarify abstract and numerical concepts in reports; they can be prepared by hand, using compasses, protractors, rulers, and other simple tools, or they can be constructed through various photocopying and computer applications.
Most graphic aids share certain characteristics. Graphics used within a report typically have titles which clearly announce their topics, are identified by figure numbers, and frequently indicate the sources of their information. Tables simply put lists of figures into readable formats. Pie charts work well to show how an entire quantity is divided into its various parts (e.g., a breakdown of where a tax dollar goes). Bar graphs are effective for comparing quantities (for example, the number of clients served last year by five different groups of caseworkers), and line graphs are most effective for displaying numbers (such as interest rates) that change over a period time. Flow charts, maps, photographs, and cutaway diagrams are just a few other types of graphic aids that can help clarify reports and proposals.
Presentation programs, such as PowerPoint, can provide an effective means of showing graphics and key ideas for oral reports, and programs of this sort also allow you to incorporate video and sound into your report. However, some presenters tend to simply put an entire presentation into the program and then read aloud, word-for-word, what’s already printed on the slide—a sure way to weaken the presentation and bore the audience.
One simple and relatively low-tech tool in giving oral presentations, the overhead projector, allows you to put graphics (or, for that matter, some key ideas from your notes) onto transparencies and then to project the images from those transparencies onto a screen. It’s also possible to make transparencies of PowerPoint slides as a back-up in case computer problems arise. The transparencies guide you in your presentation, distract less than note cards, and help your audience. The overhead projector is easy to use. Simply place each transparency on a glass plate located over a light source, position the transparency so that you can read it just as if you were reading from a sheet of paper, focus the image (being careful not to block your readers' view of the screen), and speak (resisting the urge to read the transparencies word by word to your audience). You can also, with special equipment, use the overhead projector to project video and computer screen images if computer projection equipment is unavailable.
Proposals and Special Message Types
Proposals are a special kind of persuasive writing. They suggest changes and actions and attempt to convince their readers to follow these suggestions. The characteristics of effect tive persuasive writing are thus important considerations for the writer of a proposal. They often appear in a report format, but can also be presented as letters or memorandums. Typically, proposals suggest ways to solve a problem which exists, to improve a policy or procedure, to answer a question, or to present a benefit from a particular product or service.
They may have been requested, as in the case of a supervisor asking an expert on his staff to propose a new method of accounting for petty cash or a company replying to a "request for proposal" (RFP) from a government agency in hopes of obtaining a contract. Proposals of this sort are termed "solicited proposals." Other proposals (called "unsolicited proposals") are developed at the writer's own initiative in hopes of persuading the reader to act or to accept the proposal's ideas. A sales proposal or a proposal to a university dean advocating changes in campus parking regulations are examples of unsolicited proposals.
While the specific content of proposals will vary, they almost all discuss something happening over a period of time. In other words, most proposals include narration as well as persuasion. For this reason, much of the content of a proposal can be developed in a preparing stage based on the journalistic "5 W's and H" approach. Typical concerns might include the following:
Why should changes be made?
Why is the change an improvement over what exists now?
What problem needs solving?
What needs to be done to solve it?
What specific changes are involved?
What equipment and personnel will be needed?
Who will be in charge of making these changes?
When will work begin and end?
Where will the changes happen?
How, exactly, do you plan to make these changes?
How much will the changes cost?
How will the changes be financed?
Organization of proposals varies with the specific circumstances and with the arranging strategy you wish to use. But most effective proposals move quickly at the beginning, giving an overview of the problem and the solution without providing specific technical details. This opening is then followed by a more detailed discussion in which you may consider the nature of the problem more precisely, explain what you plan to do to solve the problem, and specify exactly how you plan to accomplish the work you propose to do. A concluding section might establish your qualifications to do the work (if this information seems appropriate), point out the reader benefits that will follow, and encourage action, which may simply mean approval of the proposed project. Headings, subheadings, enumerations, and graphics can help guide readers through proposals as they do for reports, and, like reports, proposals can appear in a variety of formats.
Many other types of professional messages share some of these characteristics with reports and proposals; adaptability and effective use of aids to readability make such documents accessible to multiple audiences with widely diverse backgrounds. Policies and procedures, for example, spell out what to do and how to do it in a variety of workplace situations; sick leave policies, chains of command, equal opportunity statements, safety bulletins, and grievance procedures are just a few examples of such documents. Bulletins and announcements are internal documents that, like many reports, are primarily informational; even more than reports, however, these messages reach audiences with disparate backgrounds within the organization. In contrast, press releases and news bulletins convey information to the general public; not only must they be clear to a wide range of readers, but they need to convey the most important information (the "5 W's and H" again) early. While these community and public information documents frequently disseminate information that is routine or persuasive (in sales situations), they can also be the primary means of defusing corporate crises. Clear reporting can make the difference.
Regardless of how letters, memos, reports, and proposals are developed and organized, take time to go through the steps of the PASS method in writing such messages. While formats and structures matter, the quality of your writing makes the biggest difference in the impact that writing will have upon its readers. The cases in Appendix 1 will provide opportunities to apply these writing skills in a variety of simulated contexts. The writing you do on the job can accomplish its goals more effectively as a result of your concern about and work with those skills.
*This chapter is adapted from Gerald Siegel, Business and Professional Writing: A Guide to the Process, 2nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, 1994.
[Note to FON students: the appendix 1 mentioned in the above chapter is part of the original book from which this chapter was taken, but is not included in this posting.]
The PASS approach to writing (preparing, arranging, saying, shaping) can help you make more efficient use of your time in a wide range of business and professional communication situations. Among the most common messages you will be writing using this system will be the memorandum, the letter, the report, and the proposal. While all these kinds of documents should be marked by effective writing, each type also has certain characteristics of its own. This chapter looks briefly at these structural and stylistic attributes.
Memorandums and Letters
Preparing memorandums (or memoranda) will probably be one of the most frequent on-the-job tasks you will face. Memos are usually brief documents dealing with routine matters, and they normally remain within an organization. Most often informal documents, memorandums can be as simple as a completed form or as extensive as a policy statement on how to appeal personnel actions. Frequently a memorandum will get read by several audiences, a point to consider in deciding what to say and how to say it. A brief memorandum like that shown in figure 6.1 may begin as a message (sent either in writing or as e-mail) from one individual to another, but soon become widely disseminated. This particular memo, for example, may be copied by its immediate audience (here, Willa Clarke), attached to a cover memo (here, possibly one saying that this week's caseworker meeting date is changed), and either sent to every person in an entire division or posted on the division's bulletin board. Other types of memorandums may be placed in a file and used weeks or months later by individuals unknown to either the original sender or addressee. (This memo uses an American format for the date; other examples in the chapter will use the international format of date/month/year, Sometimes memos will use a briefer format, but that can confuse: the date in the example could be shown as 6/16/10 in an American document, but 16.6.10 in an international format. Common sense can clarify this entry, but a date such as April 6 or 6 April is obviously clearer when written out.)
Figure 6.1. Routine Memorandum.
Date: June 16, 20xx
To: Willa Clarke, Social Services Supervisor
From: Mike Corelli
Subject: Change in Caseworker Meeting Date
This week's caseworker meeting has been changed from Tuesday to Thursday afternoon at 2:00 in room 381. Ms. Imperiale, the district director, will describe the state's new records retention policy.
Yet memorandums can also be used for a variety of other reasons, such as reports or messages of transmittal. Although usually internal communications, they sometimes do get sent to customers and clients outside of the organization when the matter being discussed is a commonplace one. Memorandums for external audiences and those dealing with other than everyday concerns can pose special problems in structure.
Business letters, of course, differ from memos in format. Because they are generally perceived as more formal than memorandums, letters are sometimes used within organizations for significant situations, such as commendations, promotions, reprimands, hirings, and firings. But, more importantly, they most often are external communication. You are less likely to know the reader as well as you would someone within your own organization, so concern about persona and audience becomes more conscious. Letters also serve more frequently than memos to handle situations that are not routine. Like memos, they can also confirm in writing arrangements and relationships originally established by personal meetings, telephone or e-mail.
Contexts themselves may vary widely; you'll need to consider both your own objectives and, when you can determine it, your reader's likely reaction. Ideally, these will be the same. If, for example, your message complains about a product or service, conveying your dissatisfaction to your reader could result in several outcomes. Simply stating your case may lead your reader to note the information, but do nothing further; his/her response may be neutral. Possibly, if several complaints like yours arrive, she/he may then act to remedy the problem you and the others mentioned.
You could, of course, choose other approaches. If instead your message conveys your anger or attacks the reader, sarcastically or otherwise, the result may be either defensiveness or anger on the part of the reader. "Telling them off" may make you feel better, but is unlikely to remedy the situation and may even cut off communication entirely. On the other hand, you could seek a specific remedy, such as a refund, repair, or a replacement--remedies which, if the product or service were defective, your reader might interpret as routine matters to be dealt with in the normal course of business. Thus, your choice of persona and sense of context can help you to determine reader behavior and to obtain the feedback you want.
For these reasons, different structures have developed to handle many of the common letter and memorandum writing situations. These structures use familiar arranging strategies (deductive, inductive, and persuasive sequences) to deal with varying message contexts.
Routine and Positive Situations
A deductive (or direct) pattern, which begins with the message's main idea, is effective for situations in which you expect a positive reader response, either because you are conducting routine business or telling the reader something he or she wishes to hear. The deductive pattern works well, for example, when you are ordering something, asking for information, providing information, congratulating someone, or giving someone a positive response to a request or suggestion.
Since the business side of the message is your main concern in such writing, get to the point early--in the first paragraph. After you've stated your main idea, add any explanation or support needed to clarify that main idea. Then go on to further details, questions, or secondary concerns. Figure 6.2 illustrates an opening paragraph of a request organized in the direct pattern. [Some examples will use the American date format of month/date/year.]
Figure 6.2. Routine Request.
Please cancel my subscription to Human Services Quarterly as of July 1. I would appreciate your sending the refund check to my home address, 2430 Center Street, Pine Hill, TX 75118.
Positive replies, like inquiries, should generally be organized by direct structure. Incidentally, although the opening of a reply may allude indirectly to the message being answered, starting out with comments such as "we have received your letter of June 7" tends to waste the impact of the potentially emphatic opening position. Such openings make sense only if you are unable to actually answer the request for some time and wish to at least assure your reader that he/she is not simply being ignored. Letters of this type should, if possible, go on to indicate approximately when the reader can expect an answer. Figure 6.3 illustrates a typical opening for a positive reply.
Figure 6.3. Positive Reply.
As you requested, your subscription to Human Services Quarterly has been canceled as of July 1. Your refund check for $36.00 will be sent to you by our subscription center within two weeks. [The letter might go on with promotional or good-will material.]
A variety of other situations can also be handled as routine or positive. An apology for an error, for example, because it is intended to make the reader feel better about whatever has happened, may be perceived in this way. A letter of resignation, if it is expected and follows earlier discussions of your intentions, may also be viewed as routine, but if unexpected, may generate a negative context. Thus, your awareness of context can affect the way you choose to structure your messages.
Negative Situations
When you expect resistance from your reader or have bad news to tell him or her, use an inductive (also called indirect or delayed) structure to prepare your reader for the negative information. The overall pacing of disappointing or negative messages tends to be more gradual than that of messages in direct structure; in this way, they can better manage emotional as well as business or intellectual responses. You might, for example, have to announce something the reader will dislike, such as a rent increase or a coming layoff. You may have to refuse a request or an adjustment. Or you may be able to offer only part of what the reader wants. Figure 6.4 illustrates typical opening material for a negative reply.
Figure 6.4. Negative Reply.
As you requested, the balance of your subscription has been canceled as of July 1. Refunds for unused portions of subscriptions are pro-rated based upon the number of issues remaining. Because you have already received four issues, you will be receiving a check within the next two weeks from our subscription service center for $24.00, the unused balance. [The letter would then go on to a good will closing, possibly including promotional or resale material.]
In this structure, you do not get to the main business point immediately. Instead, you first attempt to create an open communication climate and prepare your reader for the message's emotional impact by building a brief "buffer" of neutral or positive elements that will eventually lead to the main idea. The buffer, because it prepares your reader for that business point, should have some relation to the eventual topic, or the device will simply waste your reader's time, but the buffer should not signal either a "yes" or a "no."
Follow the buffer with an explanation in language that again does not signal an immediate "no." Avoid tell-tale signs of bad news such as beginning the second paragraph with "however" or "but." Be sure that this explanation precedes the refusal or the bad news; you owe the courtesy of such an explanation to your reader, who might ignore it if the negative material came first. Sometimes, in fact, an appropriate explanation can suggest or pave the way for discussion of alternatives that might accomplish much of what the reader originally wanted.
If you do a good job of explaining, in some situations you may not actually need to come right out and say "no." So long as you are clear about it and avoid misleading your reader, an implicit refusal may be all that you need include. For example, telling readers what they may do sometimes makes quite apparent what they may not do. Under most circumstances, a statement that all accountants will be needed for special audits 7-12 June, but that all other days in June remain available for vacations removes the need explicitly to deny a request for vacation days on 8-10 . Then you can go on with the task of reestablishing a cooperative spirit of "business as usual" and concern for your reader by message's end.
Effective negative messages, in short, downplay the negative. They provide a clear explanation for the bad news and avoid hiding behind "company policy." They use positive, not negative, language where possible. Instead of saying "I can't speak at your meeting on March 3," for example, a letter might explain, "I will be in Buffalo on March 3." Finally, effective negative messages de-emphasize the negative by putting the main idea in the middle of the message, by placing the negative information in a subordinate clause, and by ending on a positive note.
Of course, negative or disappointing news can be presented in a direct pattern; certain readers in certain circumstances will perceive this apparently negative information routine. Thus, not having an order arrive because the original order request contained insufficient information can easily become a routine request for that information; a second notice for a monthly payment may be simply a duplicate bill with "second notice" or "reminder" stamped at the top of the page. Be careful, however, that your reader, not simply you yourself, will react routinely. You may prefer getting bad news before you get an explanation, but letting this preference guide message construction can result in your sending a message that is writer, not reader, oriented.
Persuasive Situations
Messages that attempt to convince someone are another kind of communication often best served by inductive organizational patterns. Sales letters, memos trying to convince someone to adopt a policy or point of view, reports calling for action by the reader, and letters of application for employment are a few examples of such messages. Figure 6.5 illustrates the opening of a persuasive sales message.
Figure 6.5. Persuasive Message.
As a concerned professional, you realize the importance of staying current with the latest developments in the rapidly changing human services field. And you probably know that reading Human Services Quarterly enables over 10,000 of your colleagues to maintain that "up-to-date" edge as leaders in their profession.
Now you can join this well-informed group and enjoy a 20% saving over Human Services Quarterly's usual rates. [The rest of the message might show benefits of subscribing and then ask the reader to act be signing and returning a subscription card. Although the letter could ask for a check, it might simply call for a commitment thus: "No need to pay now. Just sign and return the card. We'll bill you later."]
Persuasive messages pose a special problem because very often your reader won't expect them and may therefore have no particular interest in what you have to say. In other cases, you will need to overcome different kinds of resistance to get the reader to act as you want or to change his or her mind. A special kind of delayed approach can sometimes succeed in such situations.
To remember this approach, think of the words "AIDA" (for "attention-interest-desire-action") or "AICA" (for "attention- interest-conviction-action). Begin by getting the reader's attention; very often, all you need to do is picture a reader benefit. Then, build your reader's interest in reading what you have to say by using details. Next, create a desire in the reader to buy what you're selling, do what you're requesting, or accept the idea you're suggesting. Last, ask for the action you want on the part of the reader. As with negative situations, moving readers through persuasive messages may require more deliberate pacing than that of the usual direct structure message. Take your reader through these stages gradually, and you improve your chances of getting the response you want.
Obviously, these patterns represent only general strategies, and exceptions will always exist. For instance, the writer of a fifth notice for an unpaid bill will probably spend little time on maintaining customer good will through a buffer, and promotional material sent to someone who has requested the information in the first place will not need to use an extended "attention" opening. Further, some messages will involve more than a single type of situation. For such messages, you will need to decide on your primary purpose (perhaps, for example, a persuasive approach to a combined persuasive-negative message) and emphasize that goal.
Reports
Reports vary widely in content, formality, function, length, and methods of preparation, but all have a common goal: the transmission of information, often information which specifically has been requested. Sometimes, but not always, that information may be accompanied by commentary or informed opinion.
Characteristics of Reports
Some reports, called "periodic reports," appear at regular intervals. The weekly progress report on a research project and the monthly admissions report for a college are typical examples. Other reports are generated in response to a situation; each time the particular situation occurs (for example, an accident or an arrest), a report follows. A third kind of report, the "special report," is usually a one-time job. A report to a manager comparing three possible microcomputers the company might consider purchasing would be one type of special report.
Reports also differ according to what they do with the information they contain. An "informational" report simply presents data or facts without further comment. The college admissions report that lists numbers of representatives' visits to different states and the number of applications from those states would be an informational report. "Interpretive" reports add explanatory remarks, but not opinion. An interpretive admissions report might point out that "15% of the representatives' visits are to schools in the Middle Atlantic region, but 40% of our applicants come from this area." An analytic report (or recommendation) adds opinion to interpretation: "I suggest that we cut representatives' time in the Midwest and Southeast so that they can spend more time in the Middle Atlantic area."
The tone of reports tends to be objective. Some reports, indeed, are simply entered into standard forms. Reports are sometimes done as memos and letters, but frequently, unlike letters and memos, reports do follow certain specified patterns often required by employers. Many reports, for reasons of readability and clarity, are divided into sections and use different levels of headings for the different portions. When reports are presented in a letter or memorandum format, headings are sometimes not used, but the topic sentences of different sections can provide a function similar to that of the headings.
Some long formal reports appear in formats that resemble those of books, complete with covers, title pages,and tables of contents. But, regardless of their complexity or simplicity, reports seek to present information in a clear, efficient manner; the various characteristics of reports are simply means to this end.
Graphics and Other Aids to Report Clarity
Lists and enumerations are common organizing devices used to present parts of reports. Charts, graphs, tables, and other graphic aids can clarify abstract and numerical concepts in reports; they can be prepared by hand, using compasses, protractors, rulers, and other simple tools, or they can be constructed through various photocopying and computer applications.
Most graphic aids share certain characteristics. Graphics used within a report typically have titles which clearly announce their topics, are identified by figure numbers, and frequently indicate the sources of their information. Tables simply put lists of figures into readable formats. Pie charts work well to show how an entire quantity is divided into its various parts (e.g., a breakdown of where a tax dollar goes). Bar graphs are effective for comparing quantities (for example, the number of clients served last year by five different groups of caseworkers), and line graphs are most effective for displaying numbers (such as interest rates) that change over a period time. Flow charts, maps, photographs, and cutaway diagrams are just a few other types of graphic aids that can help clarify reports and proposals.
Presentation programs, such as PowerPoint, can provide an effective means of showing graphics and key ideas for oral reports, and programs of this sort also allow you to incorporate video and sound into your report. However, some presenters tend to simply put an entire presentation into the program and then read aloud, word-for-word, what’s already printed on the slide—a sure way to weaken the presentation and bore the audience.
One simple and relatively low-tech tool in giving oral presentations, the overhead projector, allows you to put graphics (or, for that matter, some key ideas from your notes) onto transparencies and then to project the images from those transparencies onto a screen. It’s also possible to make transparencies of PowerPoint slides as a back-up in case computer problems arise. The transparencies guide you in your presentation, distract less than note cards, and help your audience. The overhead projector is easy to use. Simply place each transparency on a glass plate located over a light source, position the transparency so that you can read it just as if you were reading from a sheet of paper, focus the image (being careful not to block your readers' view of the screen), and speak (resisting the urge to read the transparencies word by word to your audience). You can also, with special equipment, use the overhead projector to project video and computer screen images if computer projection equipment is unavailable.
Proposals and Special Message Types
Proposals are a special kind of persuasive writing. They suggest changes and actions and attempt to convince their readers to follow these suggestions. The characteristics of effect tive persuasive writing are thus important considerations for the writer of a proposal. They often appear in a report format, but can also be presented as letters or memorandums. Typically, proposals suggest ways to solve a problem which exists, to improve a policy or procedure, to answer a question, or to present a benefit from a particular product or service.
They may have been requested, as in the case of a supervisor asking an expert on his staff to propose a new method of accounting for petty cash or a company replying to a "request for proposal" (RFP) from a government agency in hopes of obtaining a contract. Proposals of this sort are termed "solicited proposals." Other proposals (called "unsolicited proposals") are developed at the writer's own initiative in hopes of persuading the reader to act or to accept the proposal's ideas. A sales proposal or a proposal to a university dean advocating changes in campus parking regulations are examples of unsolicited proposals.
While the specific content of proposals will vary, they almost all discuss something happening over a period of time. In other words, most proposals include narration as well as persuasion. For this reason, much of the content of a proposal can be developed in a preparing stage based on the journalistic "5 W's and H" approach. Typical concerns might include the following:
Why should changes be made?
Why is the change an improvement over what exists now?
What problem needs solving?
What needs to be done to solve it?
What specific changes are involved?
What equipment and personnel will be needed?
Who will be in charge of making these changes?
When will work begin and end?
Where will the changes happen?
How, exactly, do you plan to make these changes?
How much will the changes cost?
How will the changes be financed?
Organization of proposals varies with the specific circumstances and with the arranging strategy you wish to use. But most effective proposals move quickly at the beginning, giving an overview of the problem and the solution without providing specific technical details. This opening is then followed by a more detailed discussion in which you may consider the nature of the problem more precisely, explain what you plan to do to solve the problem, and specify exactly how you plan to accomplish the work you propose to do. A concluding section might establish your qualifications to do the work (if this information seems appropriate), point out the reader benefits that will follow, and encourage action, which may simply mean approval of the proposed project. Headings, subheadings, enumerations, and graphics can help guide readers through proposals as they do for reports, and, like reports, proposals can appear in a variety of formats.
Many other types of professional messages share some of these characteristics with reports and proposals; adaptability and effective use of aids to readability make such documents accessible to multiple audiences with widely diverse backgrounds. Policies and procedures, for example, spell out what to do and how to do it in a variety of workplace situations; sick leave policies, chains of command, equal opportunity statements, safety bulletins, and grievance procedures are just a few examples of such documents. Bulletins and announcements are internal documents that, like many reports, are primarily informational; even more than reports, however, these messages reach audiences with disparate backgrounds within the organization. In contrast, press releases and news bulletins convey information to the general public; not only must they be clear to a wide range of readers, but they need to convey the most important information (the "5 W's and H" again) early. While these community and public information documents frequently disseminate information that is routine or persuasive (in sales situations), they can also be the primary means of defusing corporate crises. Clear reporting can make the difference.
Regardless of how letters, memos, reports, and proposals are developed and organized, take time to go through the steps of the PASS method in writing such messages. While formats and structures matter, the quality of your writing makes the biggest difference in the impact that writing will have upon its readers. The cases in Appendix 1 will provide opportunities to apply these writing skills in a variety of simulated contexts. The writing you do on the job can accomplish its goals more effectively as a result of your concern about and work with those skills.
*This chapter is adapted from Gerald Siegel, Business and Professional Writing: A Guide to the Process, 2nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, 1994.
[Note to FON students: the appendix 1 mentioned in the above chapter is part of the original book from which this chapter was taken, but is not included in this posting.]
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