ENGL 410-001: Technical and Report Writing  Spring 2007
George Mason University
Scott W. Berg, Instructor

Office: Performing Arts Building, 407G
Office Hours: Mondays, 12:15 - 1:15.  Better yet, make an appointment.
E-mail: sberg1@gmu.edu

Required Materials/Expenditures:

One book is required for this course:

Edward R. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, 2nd edition (NOTE: The second edition is substantially different from the first!)

PREREQUISITES FOR ENGLISH 410

Before you take ENGL410, you should have completed and/or transferred six credits of composition, including ENGL 302, and six credits in humanities.  I am not the person who dispenses information and advice about course eligibility; if you have questions, contact Laura Scott, English department advisor, at 703/993-1179 or lscott@gmu.edu, and tell her I sent you.

THE COURSE

Catalog description of the course:  "Intensive study and practice in various forms of technical writing, including formal and informal reports, proposals, and technical correspondence. Emphasis on writing for a variety of audiences, both lay and informed, and on writing within various professional and organizational contexts."

What this means in my version of the course:  ENGL 410 is designed to expose you to upper-division professional writing, the kinds of writing that happen when organizations, institutions, and corporations seek to communicate purposeful messages to specialized audiences both externally and internally.  This is not an introductory business writing course--that is, resumes and business letters will not form a major part of the work we do--but certainly some technical and professional writing happens within business contexts. It is not a remedial or 'writing practice' course. You won't write any 'papers' in this class. Instead, you'll write a cross-section of the kinds of external and internal documents most common to technical and professional writing: marketing materials, instructions, proposals, formal and informal reports, and PowerPoint presentations. The course will emphasize the craft of writing--with our limited time, you'll be doing a lot of writing in and out of class.

We do not do collaborative writing, strictly speaking, but we will emphasize collaborative review and critique of your work.  This means that your work will be shared regularly with individual classmates or even the entire class.

As far as your writing goes, it will be very important that your grammar and syntax be correct, but it will be more important that your writing be creative, clear, committed, cogent, complex, and complete.  I'll give each of you as much help as you'd like, tell you  what works and what doesn't.  If you're willing to take advantage of such help, you'll see the results in your writing.

A NOTE ON MY SCHEDULE: My overlapping lives as a teacher, writer, advisor, and member of a family keep me very busy. Please keep in mind that the best way to make an appointment with me or to discuss something with me is to catch me after class or during office hours. I try to take note of every e-mail I receive, but I'm not always able to send a response quickly, and I'm not offended by (gentle) reminders.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

This is a cooperative discussion and workshop class, which relies on the attendance and active contribution of its members to succeed.  I will require that you let me know in advance of any absences.  An excused absence will be any legitimate absence which I know of ahead of time. These excused absences (as long as they are not frequent) will be treated differently than unexcused absences: there will be more opportunity to make up graded assignments, in-class writing, etc.

NOTE ON ATTENDANCE:  Missing class with regularity will damage your ability to do well in the course.  And there are limits to the kind of absenteeism I'll allow:  Anyone missing three or more classes consecutively, or five or more overall, will not be able to pass the course because of the missed in-class work and participation.  Approaching these limits will affect your final grade as well, though to what degree will depend on your contributions when you are in class.

Punctuality is important.  Please be on time for class.

Beginning on the first day of class, you will begin putting together a portfolio of all your work for the course.  Get a two-pocket folder now and put everything you write for the class into that two-pocket folder.

Your major assignments in this class will consist of one press kit (consisting of a press release, corporate backgrounder, industry backgrounder, leadership bios, and short white paper), one formal recommendation report (at least 10 pages including all materials), one related PowerPoint presentation with supporting materials, and one 750-word analysis comparing the formal report and the PowerPoint presentation.

We will have at least one writing workshop during the course, when you will meet in groups of three or four classmates to discuss your work.  You will also be responsible for writing responses in reaction to the writing of your workshop members.  These days are very important to this class, and as such, workshop participation is a required assignment, which cannot be made up.

Each of you will submit a resume early in the semester -- I will offer comment and critique, and you'll be expected to revise this until I've called it "acceptable." The resume will not be graded, but its submission and revision will make up some part of my class participation evaluation.

NOTE ON FORMAT and MECHANICS: All in - and out-of-class writing must follow the specifications established in the class.  (These specifications will vary from assignment to assignment.)  Presentation is very important in a professional/technical writing class.  All writing should be free, or nearly free, of mechanical errors--the focus in this class is on style, form, and content, not grammar and punctuation. The ability to competently manipulate the fundamental units of English composition--the word, the sentence and the paragraph--is a prerequisite and not a goal for this course.

Remember, again, that your writing will make up the important "text" in this course -- your work will be shared with the class or portions of the class, perhaps frequently.

GRADING

You must do everything assigned to receive a passing grade in the class.

Your grade will be determined according the following mix:

Class participation + any shorter writings, including resume: 15%
Draft of press kit and finished version of press kit: 30%
Draft of formal report and finished version of formal report, including "problem" memo:  35%
PowerPoint presentation and supporting materials:  10% total
750-word analysis comparing formal report and PowerPoint presentation: 10% total

Your grade is not based solely on an editorial assessment of your writing, nor is based solely on whether you accomplish every item on my checklist.  Students who receive an A or A- in this class must show themselves to be very good writers and very good students.  Being a good student means being in class and entering into the spirit as well as the letter of the work.  Participation is important, as is evidence that you're engaged.  Being late with assignments, nodding off in class, failing to absorb discussions or lectures through disinterest or lack of concentration; these aren't the attributes of a good student, and sooner or later they will hurt your writing.

PLAGIARISM AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS

Here is the definition of plagiarism, according to the English Department:

Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving that person credit.  Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient.  Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in the academic setting.

Egregious plagiarism will result in an F for the paper and a report of an Honor Code violation.

Late papers and assignments will be penalized.  This penalty will depend on the nature of the offense;  for example, an assignment one day late will suffer less than an assignment five days late.  (The minimum penalty, though, is a half-grade reduction: B to B-, for example.)  No paper a week or more late will receive a passing grade.  I will consider, though not automatically grant, extension requests made at least a class period in advance--but only if the requests are infrequent and legitimate.

THE UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER

The University Writing Center is a free one-on-one tutorial service, available to all GMU students who want to work on writing skills.  Stop by Robinson Hall, room A114, or visit writingcenter.gmu.edu for information and appointments.