|
You know you have built an excellent digital nervous system when information flows through your organization as quickly and naturally as thought in a human being, and when you can use technology to marshal and coordinate teams of people as quickly as you can focus an individual on an issue. It's business at the speed of thought. |
COM270-007 Spring '03-04 Lawrence
Souder, Ph.D. Voice: 215-895-2730 Classroom:
Randell 120 Office Hours:
Creese Cafe, TR, 10 a - 11 a Office: Building #47, Room 323 E-mail:
lawrence.souder@drexel.edu
Description:
Putting a premium on data and information, as Bill Gates does, obscures the difference between information and knowledge. High speed technologies have accelerated the rate of information flow, but knowledge is still a strictly human product. Information becomes knowledge only when it is organized. To organize information is to impose on it the conventions of language and message formats such as those in the corporate world.
This course will guide you in exploring the conventions of the various genres of business writing. In particular it will provide the means for determining what features distinguish one genre from another, how each of these genres is composed, and why they are so designed. Once you have defined these conventions generically, you will explore them in your specific area of work. Ultimately you will use these conventions for developing your own rhetorical processes to write effectively and ethically in corporate settings. Among the genres of business writing to be considered are: correspondence, job development materials, promotional literature, instructions, proposals, and reports. This course will also show the articulations between business writing and other forms of communication such as group process and public speaking.
Objectives:
If you successfully complete this course, you will be able to:
Texts:
Successful Writing at Work, 7th edition, Philip C. Kolin,
New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
Supplemental Web
site for Successful Writing at Work.
Grading: The final grade in this course will be computed as follows:
20% = quizzes, peer commentaries, and class participation
20% = Project 1
20% = Project 2
20% = Project 3
20% = Project 4
The writing samples produced for this class become the primary basis for your grade and will constitute a portfolio that you can also use for career development in the field. By the end of the course your portfolio will include a sample of business correspondence, job development materials, promotional literature, instructions, proposals, and reports. The grading of written assignments will be based on content, form, style, and mechanics.
Attendance:
You are expected to attend all classes. Attendance is important to your progress and your classmates'. Much of what you learn will come from discussions and interactions with your fellow students. You may miss two class meetings without penalty. Each additional absence of any kind will reduce your final grade by one letter increment.
Deadlines:
Late written assignments will be penalized one letter grade for each class day late. No makeups for quizzes or exams are allowed.
Academic Honesty:
It is assumed that the work you submit for this course, whether
written or spoken, is your own. Any attempt to represent someone
else's work as your own will be considered plagiarism--a form of
academic misconduct. For more clarification on plagiarism, see
Drexel's Student Handbook.
Plagiarism includes copying another student's work on papers or
tests, copying without attribution the ideas or words from published
sources, and submitting papers written in previous semesters. Such
academic misconduct will result in a failing grade for the
assignment, a probable failing grade for the course, and a report to
the Dean for possible disciplinary action. Be advised that internet
services such as EVE
2.3 and Turnitin.com make the
detection of plagiarism easy.
Assignments
Each class meeting will require you to prepare a reading and a writing assignment. See the Schedule of Events for details. Click on the chapter designators for study guide questions to help you focus on the key concepts. Expect a short quiz on each chapter as a check of your understanding of the concepts. Click on the draft and project designators for specific details on the writing assignments.
This course presumes you have successfully completed English composition or its equivalent. All written assignments should be typed and should conform to standard American English. Your resources for writing the assignments should include an English composition handbook. Also, consider some of the resources for writers on the internet including Purdue's writing center and Strunk's Elements of Style.
Special Needs
If you require special services or resources, please refer to the following Drexel web sites: