Notes pages 167-207 (Reports and Other Longer Documents)
Reports and Other Longer Documents
-Two types of reports: formal (multi-part and used to present results of a detailed project) and informal (shorter and less components).
-Audience should be analyzed. They include the layperson, the executive, the expert, the technician, and the operator.
Audience Analysis: The Problem and a Solution (Mathes and Stevenson)
-Three fundamental components of communication: writer, message, and audience.
-Look over assumptions on page 171.
-Make the report for dynamic situations (long term).
-College students only write for individual professor. Student learns to write for an audience of one.
-The who of the audience involves their specific operational functions as well as their educational/business backgrounds.
-There are three types of audiences: horizontal, vertical, and external. Horizontal audiences exist on each level. Vertical audiences exist between levels. External audiences exist when any unit interacts with a separate organization.
-Report writer must realize the separation between him or her and any of the three types of audiences.
-Even a horizontal audience could have little in common beyond the fact of working for the same organization, of having the same rank and perhaps of having the same educational level.
-Different divisions in the own company can be external audiences.
-An egocentric organization chart identifies particular individuals and it categorizes people in terms of their proximity to the writer rather than in terms of a hierarchical relationship. It can be formatted to show the people you interact with daily, then the people who are in the same office or project group, etc.
-In this chart, the writer is center and he communicates to the tiers of rings.
-Characterize your audience in terms of operational, objective, and personal characteristics.
-Operational includes how time is spent, professional values, knowledge of your role, daily concerns,
-Objective includes specific, background data about the person. (education, past experience)
-Personal includes name, age.
-Think of consequences of your report and it will guide your writing.
-Classify your audience in terms of how they will use the report. There are three categories primary, secondary, and immediate.
-Primary make decisions or act on the information the report contains.
-Secondary are affected by the decisions and actions.
-Immediate route the report or transmit the information it contains. (can be part of both primary and secondary audiences, just depends on the situation)
-Matrix for Audience Analysis (185) includes audience type and characteristics of the audience.
What to Report (Dodge)
-Managers report criteria are outlined on pages 188-9.
-The summary should contain what the report is about, the significance and implications of the work, and the action called for.
-Managers most frequently read the summary.
-Manager interested in five broad technological areas: technical problems, new projects, experiments, materials/processes, and field troubles.
-Market factors and organization problems are additional areas of interest.
-Manager may not be in same field as writer in terms of educational and experience background.
-Manager has responsibilities too: define the project; provide perspective for project; make sure effective reports are submitted on time; and see that reports are properly distributed.
-The manager can schedule four conferences to make sure that the reports are what he or she wants. (beginning of project conference, completion of the investigation conference, after the report is outlined conference, and after the report is written conference)
The Writing of Abstracts (Arnold)
-Everyone will read the abstract.
-2 purposes are to provide a specialist in the field with enough information about the report to allow him or her to decide whether or not he could profit from it and to provide the administrator or executive with enough knowledge about project and enough results to satisfy most of administrative needs.
-Most difficult part to write.
Ten Report Writing Pitfalls: How to Avoid Them (Vinci)
Ignoring your Audience –who, why, and how (how are you going to present the information based on your audience)
Writing to Impress (don’t do it)- readers don’t like big words
Having More than one Aim-know specific audience and information; write analysis first then introduction
Being inconsistent
Over qualifying- avoid modifiers
Not Defining – know what to define and how to define it (substitution or detailed explanation)
Misintroducing- intro is not table of contents
Dazzling with data-don’t dazzle with a ton of data (what can remove without losing meaning)
Not Highlighting –highlight key points and key elements for understanding
Not Rewriting- multiple drafts
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Project Proposal- Final Draft
Executive Summary: Clemson students, residents, and visitors are unaware of the unique, local restaurants in the area. In order to inform them, we will create a restaurant database website. The website will include our standardized reviews of each restaurant. As a group of three college students from different backgrounds, our reviews will be diverse and offer different perspectives on the types and quality of food available at each restaurant. Our website will help the Clemson community become knowledgeable about their dining options and enhance the quality of their overall dining experience.
Although Clemson students, local residents, and visitors frequent restaurants in downtown Clemson, they are unaware of the remotely located, less commercial restaurants in the Clemson area. They need to know about these restaurants in order to make well informed, appropriate decisions when dining out. We will help them become ideal, knowledgeable consumers by creating a restaurant database website detailing locations, prices, and menu items of local restaurants. Students tend to pick the most convenient, closest restaurant without any regard to the cuisine. Due to the fast paced culture of the college-based community, we seem to settle when it comes to meals. However, help is on the way. As three Clemson college students ourselves, we plan to provide a solution to this dining dilemma. In our project, we plan to visit a variety of restaurants all in different price ranges with various atmospheres. On our visits, the three of us will formulate separate ratings for each restaurant based on a standardized system. In order to make our views on each restaurant open to the public, we will create a website with menus of all of the restaurants as well as a write up of our reviews and ratings. The website will be a restaurant database. To add to the creative nature of our idea, we will include a multimedia presentation in the form of a video on the website. We feel as though we are qualified to present our ratings to our audience, because we are three different people with three different perspectives and backgrounds. We all have different tastes and will be sampling a variety of the cuisines offered in all of the restaurants. Most important of all we are all three Clemson college students ourselves; therefore, we understand the atmosphere of Clemson and the mindsets of our viewers when it comes to price, time, and distance. As typical college students, time is always an issue when it comes to projects. Therefore, in order to ensure that our project is organized, we developed a timeline to help guide us in our steps. The goal of our project is to help Clemson college students, residents, and visitors become aware of the many different options open to us when it comes to dining out and to help us become knowledgeable about the different types and quality of food available at these restaurants.
Due to this lack of awareness in the Clemson community, there is a definite need for a restaurant database accessible to Clemson students, residents, and visitors. There are many restaurants in Clemson, Seneca, Anderson, and Central that are completely unknown to campus dwellers and alumni. In the small town atmosphere of Clemson, SC, restaurants are found in several remote locations. It could take years for a student to become aware of some of the most delectable restaurants in Clemson and the surrounding area. Since Clemson is a college-based town, nearly all students live on campus or close to campus. Therefore, most students tend to eat at nearby downtown restaurants very frequently because they are not aware of others. Some hidden treasures of ultimate cuisine are unknown to the majority of Clemson residents.
Also, when people visit Clemson to tour the school, spend time with their children, or attend a sporting event, they are unsure of where to eat. Most people only eat in the most obvious restaurants downtown. Alumni also return to visit Clemson and are unaware of new restaurants that have recently opened or been renovated. Alumni and visitors are also interested in dining in restaurants that are unique to Clemson, not necessarily chains that they can find in their home towns. A website would be an ideal way to lead the consumer to the most appropriate restaurant for their dining occasion. Students are looking for economical, quick choices for their daily meals. An upscale restaurant may also be desired when students are going on dates or dining out with their relatives. This website would meet these needs by allowing students to navigate through our price range categories to find a restaurant that is delicious and appropriate for their occasion. Our rating system and reviews of the restaurants would also help students choose a restaurant that they know will be tasty, have great service, an enjoyable atmosphere, and appropriate formality for the occasion at hand.
In order to achieve our goal of helping the Clemson community become knowledgeable and aware of different restaurants, we have laid out a developed plan. First, we will begin by visiting each of the sixteen restaurants that we have selected to review in this project. These include: Goober's, Calhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Paw's, Mac's, Monterrey's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, Copper River Grill. At the restaurants we will all order a different meal in order to get a good representation of the restaurant’s food. We will review each restaurant on the quality of food, wait time, service, etc. according to a pre-established rating system. We will choose a widely-used and accredited rating system before visiting the restaurants after much research. At the restaurant we will get a menu in order to scan and post on our website so that the audience has easy access to prices, location, and the type of food offered at each restaurant.
In addition to our own opinions, we will get reviews from others who have eaten at each restaurant. In order to have a variety of reviews, we will collect information from on-campus and off-campus students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors. We will ask those that we encounter at the restaurant. We will combine our reviews as well as the reviews of others in order to give each restaurant an overall review.
During this time of restaurant visiting, we will also be setting up the website to feature all of our gathered information. We will attend a website workshop at Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) in order to learn how to set one up and how to add different components to it so that it will be professional. We will have a home page that describes exactly what our purpose is, who we are, who our target audience is, and how we went about obtaining our findings. There will also be a table of contents. The restaurants will be organized into price ranges because we figure that this is the best way to technically organize the types of restaurants and the most useful way for the audience to navigate the page. We will divide the restaurants into low, medium, and upper price ranges. Each restaurant will have its own link and page. Each page will have a written review by the three of us as well as the combined calculated rating of our scores and the scores of others. The pages will also feature quotes from customers, a copy of the menu, and pictures in order to make the page visually attractive and interesting.
As we finish with the restaurant visits and continue to revise the website, we will also make a video highlighting the top five best-rated restaurants in order to incorporate a multimedia component. We will upload the videos onto the website for the audience to view. We will continue to revise the home page and each restaurant’s individual page until we are satisfied with the end product.
As Clemson University students, Brittany Jones, Brennan Palazola, and I are qualified to prepare this end product of a restaurant database website, which will help others choose a great restaurant. Brittany is a South Carolina resident and her parents regularly visit Clemson. Brennan is from Tennessee and has two siblings that attended Clemson. I am from Tennessee and both of my parents and grandparents are Clemson alumni. As three students with different backgrounds and experiences, we can rate the restaurants objectively as they best suit our experiences and needs. Also, as third-year students, we are familiar with restaurants that may be well-kept secrets and student favorites. We also know which restaurants are great for game days, special occasions, and everyday dining on a student’s budget. Also, we have lived on-campus and off-campus and know which restaurants are convenient for both living styles.
We are planning to visit and rate sixteen restaurants before the completion of this project. We have already visited one restaurant, and we are beginning to acquire menus and price lists. Our first step toward completion of our project will be to learn how to create a website by meeting with technicians at CCIT on Wednesday, October 1. We will have the website completely designed by October 16. Although we may not have dined in every restaurant at this point, we would like to have them all loaded on the website, with or without ratings. We will have all of our ratings completed by the end of October. We will spend the first week of November working on the multimedia aspect of our project. We will film, edit, and post videos from our top five restaurant picks. We would like to interview managers, customers, or employees if possible. We will spend the rest of November revising and tweaking our website to make it most convenient for users. Our project will be complete and refined by the final due date in early December.
In early December, the Clemson community will have a great resource to help with all of our dining out decisions. Due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, Clemson students, residents, and visitors often have difficulty in making the best decision when it comes to a restaurant choice. However, our website will guide them to the best option reducing stress and opening eyes to unknown eateries. As three Clemson residents, we understand our community and hope to broaden its culinary outlook. Once our website is complete, Clemson students, residents, and visitors will never have to fret over where to eat again because the ultimate guide to quality and choice of restaurants in the immediate area will just be a click away.
Although Clemson students, local residents, and visitors frequent restaurants in downtown Clemson, they are unaware of the remotely located, less commercial restaurants in the Clemson area. They need to know about these restaurants in order to make well informed, appropriate decisions when dining out. We will help them become ideal, knowledgeable consumers by creating a restaurant database website detailing locations, prices, and menu items of local restaurants. Students tend to pick the most convenient, closest restaurant without any regard to the cuisine. Due to the fast paced culture of the college-based community, we seem to settle when it comes to meals. However, help is on the way. As three Clemson college students ourselves, we plan to provide a solution to this dining dilemma. In our project, we plan to visit a variety of restaurants all in different price ranges with various atmospheres. On our visits, the three of us will formulate separate ratings for each restaurant based on a standardized system. In order to make our views on each restaurant open to the public, we will create a website with menus of all of the restaurants as well as a write up of our reviews and ratings. The website will be a restaurant database. To add to the creative nature of our idea, we will include a multimedia presentation in the form of a video on the website. We feel as though we are qualified to present our ratings to our audience, because we are three different people with three different perspectives and backgrounds. We all have different tastes and will be sampling a variety of the cuisines offered in all of the restaurants. Most important of all we are all three Clemson college students ourselves; therefore, we understand the atmosphere of Clemson and the mindsets of our viewers when it comes to price, time, and distance. As typical college students, time is always an issue when it comes to projects. Therefore, in order to ensure that our project is organized, we developed a timeline to help guide us in our steps. The goal of our project is to help Clemson college students, residents, and visitors become aware of the many different options open to us when it comes to dining out and to help us become knowledgeable about the different types and quality of food available at these restaurants.
Due to this lack of awareness in the Clemson community, there is a definite need for a restaurant database accessible to Clemson students, residents, and visitors. There are many restaurants in Clemson, Seneca, Anderson, and Central that are completely unknown to campus dwellers and alumni. In the small town atmosphere of Clemson, SC, restaurants are found in several remote locations. It could take years for a student to become aware of some of the most delectable restaurants in Clemson and the surrounding area. Since Clemson is a college-based town, nearly all students live on campus or close to campus. Therefore, most students tend to eat at nearby downtown restaurants very frequently because they are not aware of others. Some hidden treasures of ultimate cuisine are unknown to the majority of Clemson residents.
Also, when people visit Clemson to tour the school, spend time with their children, or attend a sporting event, they are unsure of where to eat. Most people only eat in the most obvious restaurants downtown. Alumni also return to visit Clemson and are unaware of new restaurants that have recently opened or been renovated. Alumni and visitors are also interested in dining in restaurants that are unique to Clemson, not necessarily chains that they can find in their home towns. A website would be an ideal way to lead the consumer to the most appropriate restaurant for their dining occasion. Students are looking for economical, quick choices for their daily meals. An upscale restaurant may also be desired when students are going on dates or dining out with their relatives. This website would meet these needs by allowing students to navigate through our price range categories to find a restaurant that is delicious and appropriate for their occasion. Our rating system and reviews of the restaurants would also help students choose a restaurant that they know will be tasty, have great service, an enjoyable atmosphere, and appropriate formality for the occasion at hand.
In order to achieve our goal of helping the Clemson community become knowledgeable and aware of different restaurants, we have laid out a developed plan. First, we will begin by visiting each of the sixteen restaurants that we have selected to review in this project. These include: Goober's, Calhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Paw's, Mac's, Monterrey's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, Copper River Grill. At the restaurants we will all order a different meal in order to get a good representation of the restaurant’s food. We will review each restaurant on the quality of food, wait time, service, etc. according to a pre-established rating system. We will choose a widely-used and accredited rating system before visiting the restaurants after much research. At the restaurant we will get a menu in order to scan and post on our website so that the audience has easy access to prices, location, and the type of food offered at each restaurant.
In addition to our own opinions, we will get reviews from others who have eaten at each restaurant. In order to have a variety of reviews, we will collect information from on-campus and off-campus students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors. We will ask those that we encounter at the restaurant. We will combine our reviews as well as the reviews of others in order to give each restaurant an overall review.
During this time of restaurant visiting, we will also be setting up the website to feature all of our gathered information. We will attend a website workshop at Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) in order to learn how to set one up and how to add different components to it so that it will be professional. We will have a home page that describes exactly what our purpose is, who we are, who our target audience is, and how we went about obtaining our findings. There will also be a table of contents. The restaurants will be organized into price ranges because we figure that this is the best way to technically organize the types of restaurants and the most useful way for the audience to navigate the page. We will divide the restaurants into low, medium, and upper price ranges. Each restaurant will have its own link and page. Each page will have a written review by the three of us as well as the combined calculated rating of our scores and the scores of others. The pages will also feature quotes from customers, a copy of the menu, and pictures in order to make the page visually attractive and interesting.
As we finish with the restaurant visits and continue to revise the website, we will also make a video highlighting the top five best-rated restaurants in order to incorporate a multimedia component. We will upload the videos onto the website for the audience to view. We will continue to revise the home page and each restaurant’s individual page until we are satisfied with the end product.
As Clemson University students, Brittany Jones, Brennan Palazola, and I are qualified to prepare this end product of a restaurant database website, which will help others choose a great restaurant. Brittany is a South Carolina resident and her parents regularly visit Clemson. Brennan is from Tennessee and has two siblings that attended Clemson. I am from Tennessee and both of my parents and grandparents are Clemson alumni. As three students with different backgrounds and experiences, we can rate the restaurants objectively as they best suit our experiences and needs. Also, as third-year students, we are familiar with restaurants that may be well-kept secrets and student favorites. We also know which restaurants are great for game days, special occasions, and everyday dining on a student’s budget. Also, we have lived on-campus and off-campus and know which restaurants are convenient for both living styles.
We are planning to visit and rate sixteen restaurants before the completion of this project. We have already visited one restaurant, and we are beginning to acquire menus and price lists. Our first step toward completion of our project will be to learn how to create a website by meeting with technicians at CCIT on Wednesday, October 1. We will have the website completely designed by October 16. Although we may not have dined in every restaurant at this point, we would like to have them all loaded on the website, with or without ratings. We will have all of our ratings completed by the end of October. We will spend the first week of November working on the multimedia aspect of our project. We will film, edit, and post videos from our top five restaurant picks. We would like to interview managers, customers, or employees if possible. We will spend the rest of November revising and tweaking our website to make it most convenient for users. Our project will be complete and refined by the final due date in early December.
In early December, the Clemson community will have a great resource to help with all of our dining out decisions. Due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, Clemson students, residents, and visitors often have difficulty in making the best decision when it comes to a restaurant choice. However, our website will guide them to the best option reducing stress and opening eyes to unknown eateries. As three Clemson residents, we understand our community and hope to broaden its culinary outlook. Once our website is complete, Clemson students, residents, and visitors will never have to fret over where to eat again because the ultimate guide to quality and choice of restaurants in the immediate area will just be a click away.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Business and Technical Correspondence (115-167)
Business and Technical Correspondence (115-167)
Introduction:
-The introduction of the email into correspondence has caused some to because too casual and sloppy.
-No established etiquette for electronic correspondence.
-Saying “no” always presents issues.
Making Your Correspondence Get Results:
-Write for not to; point out benefits to consumer.
-Show readers it will be worthwhile.
-Personalize letter; pronouns are powerful. Make letters like good conversation.
-Use you and yours, and only use I or me sparingly.
-Tone varies from one situation to another (sales promotion letter to service type of organization to law firm).
-Try to be positive and personal (examples 124).
-Write more like you talk, which is direct and to the point. Not exactly the way you speak but bridge the gap (examples 125).
-Can use contractions.
“I Have Some Bad News for You”
-Letters/memos with bad news are the worst to write.
-Empathize with others; view the standpoint of the asker. There are no foolish requests.
-Bad news is best delivered face to face.
-Indirect Bad News message- Thanks, because, sorry, thanks.
-Direct Bad News message- thanks sorry because thanks. No nonsense, does not try to bury bad news.
How to Write Better Memos:
-Purpose is to inform of problem/situation, nailing down responsibility for action and deadline, and establishing a file record of decisions, agreements, and policies.
-Organization facts, meaning, what do we do now.
-Summary at the beginning because it gets the readers undivided attention.
-Good is clear, brief, relevant.
-Add personal touch and diplomacy.
-Format of Memo- To and From lines, Subject, Distribution, Text, Paragraphs, Line Spacing, Underlines and Capitals, Numbers of Pages, Figures and Table.
How to Use Bottom-Line Writing in Corporate Communication
-“Be Brief” is not solution. The problem is the lack of efficiency in the organizational pattern (often put purpose last).
-Length measured not by words but by length of time it takes a reader to comprehend it.
-Managers spend 60 percent of their time reading and writing. Professionals spend 50.
-Messages cost money.
-Organizational patterns can become inefficient due to: social upbringing (learn to beat around the bush), educational programming (one paragraph answer is bad), and indoctrination into anxiety (not look lazy, have to write to superiors).
-Solution is to deprogram self from upbringing, organize messages in a way that is fast and easy to understand, develop self confidence (attitude).
Email: Presenting a Professional Image
-Use active language, clear language, and avoid inflated language.
-Be cautious with abbreviations and avoid colloquialisms (head honcho, Wild West).
-Cut out the clutter, and avoid unnecessary repetition.
-Use specific, non-vague language.
-Follow grammar and punctuation rules (pgs 153-165).
Introduction:
-The introduction of the email into correspondence has caused some to because too casual and sloppy.
-No established etiquette for electronic correspondence.
-Saying “no” always presents issues.
Making Your Correspondence Get Results:
-Write for not to; point out benefits to consumer.
-Show readers it will be worthwhile.
-Personalize letter; pronouns are powerful. Make letters like good conversation.
-Use you and yours, and only use I or me sparingly.
-Tone varies from one situation to another (sales promotion letter to service type of organization to law firm).
-Try to be positive and personal (examples 124).
-Write more like you talk, which is direct and to the point. Not exactly the way you speak but bridge the gap (examples 125).
-Can use contractions.
“I Have Some Bad News for You”
-Letters/memos with bad news are the worst to write.
-Empathize with others; view the standpoint of the asker. There are no foolish requests.
-Bad news is best delivered face to face.
-Indirect Bad News message- Thanks, because, sorry, thanks.
-Direct Bad News message- thanks sorry because thanks. No nonsense, does not try to bury bad news.
How to Write Better Memos:
-Purpose is to inform of problem/situation, nailing down responsibility for action and deadline, and establishing a file record of decisions, agreements, and policies.
-Organization facts, meaning, what do we do now.
-Summary at the beginning because it gets the readers undivided attention.
-Good is clear, brief, relevant.
-Add personal touch and diplomacy.
-Format of Memo- To and From lines, Subject, Distribution, Text, Paragraphs, Line Spacing, Underlines and Capitals, Numbers of Pages, Figures and Table.
How to Use Bottom-Line Writing in Corporate Communication
-“Be Brief” is not solution. The problem is the lack of efficiency in the organizational pattern (often put purpose last).
-Length measured not by words but by length of time it takes a reader to comprehend it.
-Managers spend 60 percent of their time reading and writing. Professionals spend 50.
-Messages cost money.
-Organizational patterns can become inefficient due to: social upbringing (learn to beat around the bush), educational programming (one paragraph answer is bad), and indoctrination into anxiety (not look lazy, have to write to superiors).
-Solution is to deprogram self from upbringing, organize messages in a way that is fast and easy to understand, develop self confidence (attitude).
Email: Presenting a Professional Image
-Use active language, clear language, and avoid inflated language.
-Be cautious with abbreviations and avoid colloquialisms (head honcho, Wild West).
-Cut out the clutter, and avoid unnecessary repetition.
-Use specific, non-vague language.
-Follow grammar and punctuation rules (pgs 153-165).
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
3 Problem Statements
3 Problem Statements:
1. Clemson students, local residents, and visitors know about a select few restaurants that are located in downtown Clemson. But, these consumers do not know about other restaurants in the surrounding areas as well as those less known local restaurants. They need to know about these restaurants in order to make well informed, appropriate decisions when dining out. We will inform them about these restaurants by creating a restaurant database website that will highlight each restaurant in its appropriate category.
2. Clemon students, local residents, and visitors would like to be well informed consumers who know all their restaurant options including price, location, and menu items. Actually, these consumers are unaware of the remotely located, less commercial restaurants in the Clemson area. We will help them become the ideal, well informed consumers by creating a restaurant database website detailing locations, prices, and menu items of local restaurants.
3. The situation that Clemson students, residents, and visitors are facing can be described as consumers who are not informed about their dining options. The situation has negative consequences including poor dining experience, unimpressive service, and uneconimcal prices. We will alleviate the consequences by creating a website that will generate informed consumers.
1. Clemson students, local residents, and visitors know about a select few restaurants that are located in downtown Clemson. But, these consumers do not know about other restaurants in the surrounding areas as well as those less known local restaurants. They need to know about these restaurants in order to make well informed, appropriate decisions when dining out. We will inform them about these restaurants by creating a restaurant database website that will highlight each restaurant in its appropriate category.
2. Clemon students, local residents, and visitors would like to be well informed consumers who know all their restaurant options including price, location, and menu items. Actually, these consumers are unaware of the remotely located, less commercial restaurants in the Clemson area. We will help them become the ideal, well informed consumers by creating a restaurant database website detailing locations, prices, and menu items of local restaurants.
3. The situation that Clemson students, residents, and visitors are facing can be described as consumers who are not informed about their dining options. The situation has negative consequences including poor dining experience, unimpressive service, and uneconimcal prices. We will alleviate the consequences by creating a website that will generate informed consumers.
Rough Draft- Project Proposal
Most college students, residents, and visitors to Clemson are unaware of the multitude of options that are open to them when it comes to dining. We tend to pick the most convenient, closet restaurant without any regard to the cuisine. Due to the fast pace culture of the college-based community, we seem to settle when it comes to meals. However, help is on the way. As three Clemson college students ourselves, we plan to provide a solution to this dining dilemma. In our project, we plan to visit a variety of restaurants all in different price ranges with various atmospheres. On our visits, the three of us will formulate separate ratings for each restaurant based on a standardized system. In order to make our views on each restaurant open to the public, we will create a website with menus of all of the restaurants as well as a write up of our reviews and ratings. The website will be a restaurant database. To add to the creative nature of our idea, we will include a multimedia presentation in the form of a video on the website. We feel as though we are qualified to present our ratings to our peers, because we are three different people with three different perspectives and backgrounds. We all have different tastes and will be sampling a variety of the cuisines offered in all of the restaurants. Most importantly of all we are all three Clemson college students ourselves; therefore, we understand the atmosphere of Clemson and the mindsets of our viewers when it comes to price, time, and distance. As typical college students, time is always an issue when it comes to projects. Therefore, in order to ensure that our project is organized, we developed a timeline to help guide us in our steps. The goal of our project is to help Clemson college students, residents, and visitors become aware of the many different options open to us when it comes to dining out and to help us become
knowledgeable about the different types and quality of food available at these restaurants.
Due to this lack of awareness in the Clemson community, there is a definite need for a restaurant database accessible to Clemson students, residents, and visitors. There are many restaurants in Clemson, Seneca, Anderson, and Central that are completely unknown to campus dwellers and alumni. In the small town atmosphere of Clemson, SC, restaurants are found in several remote locations. It could take years for a student to become aware of some of the most delectable restaurants in Clemson and the surrounding area. Since Clemson is a college-based town, most students tend to live on campus or close to campus. Therefore, most students tend to eat at nearby downtown restaurants very frequently because they are not aware of others. Some hidden treasures of ultimate cuisine are unknown to the majority of Clemson residents.
Also, when people visit Clemson to tour the school, spend time with their children, or attend a sporting event, they are unsure of where to eat. Most people only eat in the most obvious restaurants downtown. Alumni also return to visit Clemson and are unaware of new restaurants that have recently opened or been renovated. Alumni and visitors are also interested in dining in restaurants that are unique to Clemson, not necessarily chains that they can find in their home towns. A website would be an ideal way to lead the consumer to the most appropriate restaurant for their dining occasion. Students are looking for economical, quick choices for their daily meals. An upscale restaurant may also be desired when students are going on dates or dining out with their relatives. This website would meet these needs by allowing students to navigate through our price range categories to find a restaurant that is delicious and appropriate for their occasion. Our rating system and reviews of the restaurants would also help students choose a restaurant that they know will be tasty, have great service, an enjoyable atmosphere, and appropriate formality for the occasion at hand.
In order to achieve our goal of helping the Clemson community become knowledgeable and aware of different restaurants, we have laid out a developed plan. First, we will begin by visiting each of the 16 restaurants that we have selected to review in this project. These include: Goober's, Calhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Paw's, Mac's, Monterrey's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, Copper River Grill. At the restaurants we will all order a different meal in order to get a good representation of the restaurant’s food. We will review each restaurant on the quality of food, wait time, service, etc. according to a pre-established rating system. We will choose a widely-used and accredited rating system before visiting the restaurants after much research. At the restaurant we will get a menu in order to scan and post on our website so that the audience has easy access to prices, location, and the type of food offered at each restaurant.
In addition to our own opinions, we will get reviews from others who have eaten at each restaurant. In order to have a variety of reviews, we will collect information from on-campus and off-campus students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors. We will ask those that we encounter at the restaurant. We will combine our reviews as well as the reviews of others in order to give each restaurant an overall review.
During this time of restaurant visiting, we will also be setting up the website to feature all of our gathered information. We will attend a website workshop on Wednesday, September 25 in order to learn how to set one up and how to add different components to it so that it will be professional. We will have a home page that describes exactly what our purpose is, who we are, who our target audience is, and how we went about obtaining our findings. There will also be a table of contents. The restaurants will be organized into price ranges because we figure that this is the best way to technically organize the types of restaurants and the most useful way for the audience to navigate the page. We will divide the restaurants into low, medium, and upper price ranges. Each restaurant will have its own link and page. Each page will have a written review by the three of us as well as the combined calculated rating of our scores and the scores of others. The pages will also feature quotes from customers, a copy of the menu, and pictures in order to make the page visually attractive and interesting.
As we finish with the restaurant visits and continue to revise the website, we will also make a video highlighting the top five best-rated restaurants in order to incorporate a multimedia component. We will upload the videos onto the website for the audience to view. We will continue to revise the home page and each restaurant’s individual page until we are satisfied with the end product.
As Clemson University students, Brittany Jones, Brennan Palazola, and I are qualified to prepare this end product of a restaurant database website, which will help others choose a great restaurant. Brittany is a South Carolina resident and her parents regularly visit Clemson. Brennan is from Tennessee and has two siblings that attended Clemson. I am from Tennessee and both of my parents are grandparents are Clemson alumni. As three students with different backgrounds and experiences, we can rate the restaurants objectively as they best suit our experiences and needs. Also, as third-year students, we are familiar with restaurants that may be well-kept secrets and student favorites. We also know which restaurants are great for game days, special occasions, and everyday dining on a student’s budget. Also, we have lived on-campus and off-campus and know which restaurants are convenient for both living styles.
We are planning to visit and rate sixteen restaurants throughout before completion of this project. We have already visited one restaurant and our beginning to acquire menus and price lists. Our first step toward completion of our project will be to learn how to create a website by meeting with technicians at the campus technology center, CCIT. We will meet at 10:15 AM on Wednesday, September 24. We will have the website completely designed by October 16. Although we may not have dined in every restaurant at this point, we would like to have them all loaded on the website, with or without ratings. We will have all of our ratings completed by the end of October. We will spend the first week of November working on the multimedia aspect of our project. We will film, edit, and post videos from our top five restaurant picks. We would like to interview managers, customers, or employees if possible. We will spend the rest of November revising and tweaking our website to make it most convenient for users. Our project will be complete and refined by the final due date in early December.
In early December, the Clemson community will have a great resource to help with all of our dining out decisions. Due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, Clemson students, residents, and visitors often have difficulty in making the best decision when it comes to a restaurant choice. However, our website will guide them to the best option reducing stress and opening eyes to hidden eateries before unknown. As three Clemson residents, we understand our community and hope to broaden its culinary outlook. Once our website is complete, Clemson students, residents, and visitors will never have to fret over where to eat again because the ultimate guide to quality and choice of restaurants in the immediate area will just be a click away.
knowledgeable about the different types and quality of food available at these restaurants.
Due to this lack of awareness in the Clemson community, there is a definite need for a restaurant database accessible to Clemson students, residents, and visitors. There are many restaurants in Clemson, Seneca, Anderson, and Central that are completely unknown to campus dwellers and alumni. In the small town atmosphere of Clemson, SC, restaurants are found in several remote locations. It could take years for a student to become aware of some of the most delectable restaurants in Clemson and the surrounding area. Since Clemson is a college-based town, most students tend to live on campus or close to campus. Therefore, most students tend to eat at nearby downtown restaurants very frequently because they are not aware of others. Some hidden treasures of ultimate cuisine are unknown to the majority of Clemson residents.
Also, when people visit Clemson to tour the school, spend time with their children, or attend a sporting event, they are unsure of where to eat. Most people only eat in the most obvious restaurants downtown. Alumni also return to visit Clemson and are unaware of new restaurants that have recently opened or been renovated. Alumni and visitors are also interested in dining in restaurants that are unique to Clemson, not necessarily chains that they can find in their home towns. A website would be an ideal way to lead the consumer to the most appropriate restaurant for their dining occasion. Students are looking for economical, quick choices for their daily meals. An upscale restaurant may also be desired when students are going on dates or dining out with their relatives. This website would meet these needs by allowing students to navigate through our price range categories to find a restaurant that is delicious and appropriate for their occasion. Our rating system and reviews of the restaurants would also help students choose a restaurant that they know will be tasty, have great service, an enjoyable atmosphere, and appropriate formality for the occasion at hand.
In order to achieve our goal of helping the Clemson community become knowledgeable and aware of different restaurants, we have laid out a developed plan. First, we will begin by visiting each of the 16 restaurants that we have selected to review in this project. These include: Goober's, Calhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Paw's, Mac's, Monterrey's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, Copper River Grill. At the restaurants we will all order a different meal in order to get a good representation of the restaurant’s food. We will review each restaurant on the quality of food, wait time, service, etc. according to a pre-established rating system. We will choose a widely-used and accredited rating system before visiting the restaurants after much research. At the restaurant we will get a menu in order to scan and post on our website so that the audience has easy access to prices, location, and the type of food offered at each restaurant.
In addition to our own opinions, we will get reviews from others who have eaten at each restaurant. In order to have a variety of reviews, we will collect information from on-campus and off-campus students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors. We will ask those that we encounter at the restaurant. We will combine our reviews as well as the reviews of others in order to give each restaurant an overall review.
During this time of restaurant visiting, we will also be setting up the website to feature all of our gathered information. We will attend a website workshop on Wednesday, September 25 in order to learn how to set one up and how to add different components to it so that it will be professional. We will have a home page that describes exactly what our purpose is, who we are, who our target audience is, and how we went about obtaining our findings. There will also be a table of contents. The restaurants will be organized into price ranges because we figure that this is the best way to technically organize the types of restaurants and the most useful way for the audience to navigate the page. We will divide the restaurants into low, medium, and upper price ranges. Each restaurant will have its own link and page. Each page will have a written review by the three of us as well as the combined calculated rating of our scores and the scores of others. The pages will also feature quotes from customers, a copy of the menu, and pictures in order to make the page visually attractive and interesting.
As we finish with the restaurant visits and continue to revise the website, we will also make a video highlighting the top five best-rated restaurants in order to incorporate a multimedia component. We will upload the videos onto the website for the audience to view. We will continue to revise the home page and each restaurant’s individual page until we are satisfied with the end product.
As Clemson University students, Brittany Jones, Brennan Palazola, and I are qualified to prepare this end product of a restaurant database website, which will help others choose a great restaurant. Brittany is a South Carolina resident and her parents regularly visit Clemson. Brennan is from Tennessee and has two siblings that attended Clemson. I am from Tennessee and both of my parents are grandparents are Clemson alumni. As three students with different backgrounds and experiences, we can rate the restaurants objectively as they best suit our experiences and needs. Also, as third-year students, we are familiar with restaurants that may be well-kept secrets and student favorites. We also know which restaurants are great for game days, special occasions, and everyday dining on a student’s budget. Also, we have lived on-campus and off-campus and know which restaurants are convenient for both living styles.
We are planning to visit and rate sixteen restaurants throughout before completion of this project. We have already visited one restaurant and our beginning to acquire menus and price lists. Our first step toward completion of our project will be to learn how to create a website by meeting with technicians at the campus technology center, CCIT. We will meet at 10:15 AM on Wednesday, September 24. We will have the website completely designed by October 16. Although we may not have dined in every restaurant at this point, we would like to have them all loaded on the website, with or without ratings. We will have all of our ratings completed by the end of October. We will spend the first week of November working on the multimedia aspect of our project. We will film, edit, and post videos from our top five restaurant picks. We would like to interview managers, customers, or employees if possible. We will spend the rest of November revising and tweaking our website to make it most convenient for users. Our project will be complete and refined by the final due date in early December.
In early December, the Clemson community will have a great resource to help with all of our dining out decisions. Due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, Clemson students, residents, and visitors often have difficulty in making the best decision when it comes to a restaurant choice. However, our website will guide them to the best option reducing stress and opening eyes to hidden eateries before unknown. As three Clemson residents, we understand our community and hope to broaden its culinary outlook. Once our website is complete, Clemson students, residents, and visitors will never have to fret over where to eat again because the ultimate guide to quality and choice of restaurants in the immediate area will just be a click away.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Notes (1-38) -Ethics in Technical Communication
Ethics in Technical Communication:
Chapter 1 Nature of Ethics:
Introduction
-Some ethical concerns with information technology include privacy, ownership of information, copyright, access, freedom of speech, and personal security.
-Historically technical communication has been viewed solely as a means of relaying information to the recipient. However, technical communication is much more complex and it gives shape to the information that is being relayed.
-Purpose of the book is to help us understand our responsibilities regarding the use of technology for our communication.
Why Study Ethics?
-Ethical decisions are a part of everyday life, and you should be well versed in ethics to make sound ethical decisions.
-Spontaneous, unconsidered impulse is not ethically adequate.
-Help us to understand what we value and why.
What is Ethics?
-How do we know what is right?
-Really no concrete, absolute conclusions.
-We are own ethical expert and authority. However, paradoxically we must weigh our options based on a principle of responsibility that connect us all as human beings.
Our Expectations
-Ethics is problematic.
-Along with personal responsibility we must add the social circumstances as an essential component of ethical deliberations.
-No clear, distinct system for coming up with ethical decisions (not like Newtonian Mechanics).
Assumptions
-Ethics refers to general field of study as well as theories of historical figures. It also refers to value systems of an individual.
-Values underlie all communication.
-Ethics is about problems whose solutions are unclear at first; no easy answers.
-Ethics is both individual and social. Sometimes it means the assertion of individual responsibility over social pressure.
-Ethics is not absolute or relative. (Some choices are better in some cases and more right than other choices, but not absolute.)
-Learn from others ethical theories in order to formulate your own.
-No single theory will always be best for all situations; it depends on the circumstances.
Perspectives
-Can examine all perspectives but some include Aristotle, Kant, etc. Show how we apply ancient theories to modern times.
-Perspectives center on European-American traditions.
Scope
-Focus on how ethics relates to technical communication in ways that are unapparent but no less powerful.
Organization
-Outline ethics and then go into history of ethics followed by applying ethical theories to real cases of major ethical dilemmas in recent times.
Terminology
-Values are the intentions that guide an action.
-Ethics deals with values but involves a sense of careful responsibility.
-Ethics usually involves values, but values don’t always include ethics.
-Absolute is definite and unchanging.
-Relative is changing in relation to circumstances (don’t carry relative to extreme).
Chapter 2 Survey of Ethics in Communication and Rhetoric
Introduction
-Rhetoric is the use of reasoned arguments based on socially accepted values and presented to inform and persuade in order to accomplish some socially desirable action.
-Persuasion is the willing, informed collective agreement of a critically thinking audience.
Limitations of History
-Historical views are relevant only in broad terms.
-No universal solutions; cannot adopt past decisions to present cases.
-Shows us how others have dealt with issue, and we can learn from history and apply knowledge to modern day.
Ethics and Rhetoric Linked
-Ethics is related to technical communication, and communication entails rhetoric.
-Technical communication is rhetorical and always has to do with ethics and values.
-Rhetoric is all manners of persuasion, argumentations, and negotiation in communication regardless of the format.
Classical Greece
-Plato puts ethics before any communication.
-Aristotle communication between competing sides in a controversy reveals the proper values and right course of action.
-Sophists viewed communication as altering non absolute ethical values.
Plato and Socrates
-Plato viewed ethics as means of determining right conduct; it was theologically based.
-Plato thought humans should follow soul, and please god which will please themselves.
-According to Plate ethics is unchangeable and absolute.
-Socrates was Plato’s teacher, and he believed that everyone should critically examine one’s life.
-Socrates viewed ethics as never-ending, and we are socially responsible to others and to god.
-Socrates insisted on doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, following his conscience (absolute because driven by god), and requiring that ethical behavior be connected with social involvement.
-Socrates thought that ethical involvement required Communication because we relate to god through others.
-Plato differed from Socrates in that he viewed communication as a one way process from enlightened to those in need of enlightenment.
-Plato insisted on ethical goodness of communicator, meaning the communicator fully understands and is knowledgeable.
-Socrates, Plato, and Kant believed in the loving relationship between communicator and audience.
-Plato and Socrates emphasized communication as situation specific.
Aristotle
-Right course of action cannot be known clearly.
-He described rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion” (19).
-Determine ethical course through debate.
-Ethics is virtue according to him.
The Sophists
-Loose category of freethinkers and teachers.
-Plato was a critic.
-Believed there are no absolutes, and that communication is powerful because it shapes minds, hearts, values, and decisions.
-Language does not refer to anything that exists before and separate from our language use. (Language is everything, shapes the way we think and act.)
-Values are relative because depend on culture/circumstance.
-Social Constructionism is the point of view that all knowledge is only a construct derived from its social context (21).
-Protagoras and Gorgias rejected Plato.
-Sophists brought debate to society.
-Gorgias persuaded through communication (Helen of Troy).
-Sophists had the ability to make the greater point seem the lesser, and made repeated claims appear as accepted truths.
-For Plato ethics comes first, but for sophists rhetoric comes first (because allows persuasion that defines values).
Recent Times
-In past ethics was Plato and Aristotle, and it was a religious matter.
-Ability to reason came to forefront and undermined authority figures (rational inquiry also came to forefront).
Hegel
-Values are arrived at socially.
-Communication is key; supporter of sophists.
Perelamn
-Nothing absolute lies behind or beyond rhetorical language.
-Our language is our values.
Burke
-Modern social constructionist.
-Language is a symbol system.
-Words refer to words.
Weaver
-Values come before discourse.
-All language expresses some values.
Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Values
-Rhetoric deals with values (structure of DNA).
-Gates used rhetoric to explain discourse among African-Americans (highly dependent on social circumstance). Therefore, rhetoric depends on cultural context.
-Michael Foucault claims that language speaks through us, and the same time we use language to justify actions and get things accomplished.
-Foucault claims that power, language use, and knowledge are interconnected (law).
-Keller claims that science has pervaded thoughts (gender vs. sex).
-Habermas concern with rise of science and technology because it sheds away from discussion/discourse.
-Ethics is inseparably connected with communication and rhetoric.
Chapter 1 Nature of Ethics:
Introduction
-Some ethical concerns with information technology include privacy, ownership of information, copyright, access, freedom of speech, and personal security.
-Historically technical communication has been viewed solely as a means of relaying information to the recipient. However, technical communication is much more complex and it gives shape to the information that is being relayed.
-Purpose of the book is to help us understand our responsibilities regarding the use of technology for our communication.
Why Study Ethics?
-Ethical decisions are a part of everyday life, and you should be well versed in ethics to make sound ethical decisions.
-Spontaneous, unconsidered impulse is not ethically adequate.
-Help us to understand what we value and why.
What is Ethics?
-How do we know what is right?
-Really no concrete, absolute conclusions.
-We are own ethical expert and authority. However, paradoxically we must weigh our options based on a principle of responsibility that connect us all as human beings.
Our Expectations
-Ethics is problematic.
-Along with personal responsibility we must add the social circumstances as an essential component of ethical deliberations.
-No clear, distinct system for coming up with ethical decisions (not like Newtonian Mechanics).
Assumptions
-Ethics refers to general field of study as well as theories of historical figures. It also refers to value systems of an individual.
-Values underlie all communication.
-Ethics is about problems whose solutions are unclear at first; no easy answers.
-Ethics is both individual and social. Sometimes it means the assertion of individual responsibility over social pressure.
-Ethics is not absolute or relative. (Some choices are better in some cases and more right than other choices, but not absolute.)
-Learn from others ethical theories in order to formulate your own.
-No single theory will always be best for all situations; it depends on the circumstances.
Perspectives
-Can examine all perspectives but some include Aristotle, Kant, etc. Show how we apply ancient theories to modern times.
-Perspectives center on European-American traditions.
Scope
-Focus on how ethics relates to technical communication in ways that are unapparent but no less powerful.
Organization
-Outline ethics and then go into history of ethics followed by applying ethical theories to real cases of major ethical dilemmas in recent times.
Terminology
-Values are the intentions that guide an action.
-Ethics deals with values but involves a sense of careful responsibility.
-Ethics usually involves values, but values don’t always include ethics.
-Absolute is definite and unchanging.
-Relative is changing in relation to circumstances (don’t carry relative to extreme).
Chapter 2 Survey of Ethics in Communication and Rhetoric
Introduction
-Rhetoric is the use of reasoned arguments based on socially accepted values and presented to inform and persuade in order to accomplish some socially desirable action.
-Persuasion is the willing, informed collective agreement of a critically thinking audience.
Limitations of History
-Historical views are relevant only in broad terms.
-No universal solutions; cannot adopt past decisions to present cases.
-Shows us how others have dealt with issue, and we can learn from history and apply knowledge to modern day.
Ethics and Rhetoric Linked
-Ethics is related to technical communication, and communication entails rhetoric.
-Technical communication is rhetorical and always has to do with ethics and values.
-Rhetoric is all manners of persuasion, argumentations, and negotiation in communication regardless of the format.
Classical Greece
-Plato puts ethics before any communication.
-Aristotle communication between competing sides in a controversy reveals the proper values and right course of action.
-Sophists viewed communication as altering non absolute ethical values.
Plato and Socrates
-Plato viewed ethics as means of determining right conduct; it was theologically based.
-Plato thought humans should follow soul, and please god which will please themselves.
-According to Plate ethics is unchangeable and absolute.
-Socrates was Plato’s teacher, and he believed that everyone should critically examine one’s life.
-Socrates viewed ethics as never-ending, and we are socially responsible to others and to god.
-Socrates insisted on doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, following his conscience (absolute because driven by god), and requiring that ethical behavior be connected with social involvement.
-Socrates thought that ethical involvement required Communication because we relate to god through others.
-Plato differed from Socrates in that he viewed communication as a one way process from enlightened to those in need of enlightenment.
-Plato insisted on ethical goodness of communicator, meaning the communicator fully understands and is knowledgeable.
-Socrates, Plato, and Kant believed in the loving relationship between communicator and audience.
-Plato and Socrates emphasized communication as situation specific.
Aristotle
-Right course of action cannot be known clearly.
-He described rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion” (19).
-Determine ethical course through debate.
-Ethics is virtue according to him.
The Sophists
-Loose category of freethinkers and teachers.
-Plato was a critic.
-Believed there are no absolutes, and that communication is powerful because it shapes minds, hearts, values, and decisions.
-Language does not refer to anything that exists before and separate from our language use. (Language is everything, shapes the way we think and act.)
-Values are relative because depend on culture/circumstance.
-Social Constructionism is the point of view that all knowledge is only a construct derived from its social context (21).
-Protagoras and Gorgias rejected Plato.
-Sophists brought debate to society.
-Gorgias persuaded through communication (Helen of Troy).
-Sophists had the ability to make the greater point seem the lesser, and made repeated claims appear as accepted truths.
-For Plato ethics comes first, but for sophists rhetoric comes first (because allows persuasion that defines values).
Recent Times
-In past ethics was Plato and Aristotle, and it was a religious matter.
-Ability to reason came to forefront and undermined authority figures (rational inquiry also came to forefront).
Hegel
-Values are arrived at socially.
-Communication is key; supporter of sophists.
Perelamn
-Nothing absolute lies behind or beyond rhetorical language.
-Our language is our values.
Burke
-Modern social constructionist.
-Language is a symbol system.
-Words refer to words.
Weaver
-Values come before discourse.
-All language expresses some values.
Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Values
-Rhetoric deals with values (structure of DNA).
-Gates used rhetoric to explain discourse among African-Americans (highly dependent on social circumstance). Therefore, rhetoric depends on cultural context.
-Michael Foucault claims that language speaks through us, and the same time we use language to justify actions and get things accomplished.
-Foucault claims that power, language use, and knowledge are interconnected (law).
-Keller claims that science has pervaded thoughts (gender vs. sex).
-Habermas concern with rise of science and technology because it sheds away from discussion/discourse.
-Ethics is inseparably connected with communication and rhetoric.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Proposal Planning
Proposal Outline:
1. Executive Statement: 100 word summary statement
2. Introduction: Thesis/problem statement; solution
3. Body: Current situation, Project Plan/Methodology, Qualification, Budget (timeline)
4. Conclusion: Benefits
Current Situtation: Lack of knowledge about local restaurants, restaurants aren't centralized, Price ranges aren't publicized, lack of transportation (students without cars don't know about off campus locations)
List of Restaurants: (20-25) Gober's, Callhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Dyer's, Paw's, Osaka, Beef O Brady's, Mac's, Fiesta, Monterrey's, El Charo, Griffin's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Farmer's Shed, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, 356, Spill the Beans, Ben & Jerry's, Jittery Joe's, 55 Exchange, Ruby Tuesday's, Cooper River Grill,
Project Plan: Visit each restaurant, follow standardized rating system, investigate prices and menus, develop webpage with results, and video for multimedia component
Qualification: 3 different people so 3 different perspectives, college students
Timeline: Start as soon possible, develop deadline for attending all restaurants
1. Executive Statement: 100 word summary statement
2. Introduction: Thesis/problem statement; solution
3. Body: Current situation, Project Plan/Methodology, Qualification, Budget (timeline)
4. Conclusion: Benefits
Current Situtation: Lack of knowledge about local restaurants, restaurants aren't centralized, Price ranges aren't publicized, lack of transportation (students without cars don't know about off campus locations)
List of Restaurants: (20-25) Gober's, Callhoun Corners, Sardi's, Pixie and Bill's, Dyer's, Paw's, Osaka, Beef O Brady's, Mac's, Fiesta, Monterrey's, El Charo, Griffin's, Mellow Mushroom, Atami, Blue Heron, Friend's Cafe, Mainstreet Cafe, Farmer's Shed, Seneca Family Restaurant, Ancheaux's, Tigertown Tavern, 356, Spill the Beans, Ben & Jerry's, Jittery Joe's, 55 Exchange, Ruby Tuesday's, Cooper River Grill,
Project Plan: Visit each restaurant, follow standardized rating system, investigate prices and menus, develop webpage with results, and video for multimedia component
Qualification: 3 different people so 3 different perspectives, college students
Timeline: Start as soon possible, develop deadline for attending all restaurants
Monday, September 8, 2008
Notes / 3 Talking Points on pgs. 49-115
Problems with Language:
Definitions:
Jargon-technical language specific to a profession
Gobbledygook –mindless gibberish; using ten words in the place of one
Legalese-overreliance on legal terminology
Talking Points:
1. Gobbledygook
Legal Talk
- Gobbledygook is present in the government, law, universities, and sometimes even among the literati (intellectuals or authors).
- Words such as hereinafters and whereases are useless and unclear.
Academic Talk
- Professors at time forget their audience and complicate easy ideas.
- Sciences sometimes cannot avoid difficult terminology. However, the audience always needs to be thought of when speaking. Doctors talk to doctors differently then they address patients’ families.
Reduce Gobble
- Clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity are appreciated.
- The Federal Security Agency is cutting out the gobble.
- Don’t use a ten word phrase when a three word phase will suffice. For example, use the word consider instead of “give consideration to.”
-Write to people not to aliens. Show consideration for your audience (woman with two small children whose husband lost his memory).
-Funny anecdote about the plumber with HCl.
My thoughts: Don’t try to sound important, just get your point across. The best documents are those that can be understood, without understanding the entire purpose is lost.
2. Writing in Your Job
- Memos, business letters, emails, post-its should all be clear and precise. Simple statements do not imply simplemindedness. They do not make you look less intelligent. Often the most intelligent people are the ones who can convert technical language into simple statements for the common public.
- School Principals and their letters to the parents
- Vanity is on the line in corporate America. But if you write ornate and fuzzy that is how you will be perceived.
- Authors tell us to remember that “I” is the most interesting element in the story.
- In order to explain something you have to go to the source.
- Executives should do their own writing because that is what makes them unique and their words are their most powerful tools.
My thoughts: Try to be straight to the point. Not everyone thinks alike. Even if it seems clear to you, it may not seem clear to the reader.
3. The Plain English Revolution
- Key is for understanding by ordinary citizens.
- The goal is to make functional documents function. It is to make sure that consumers can understand lease, tax form, etc. It is not to stop jargon between lawyers or accountants, etc.
- Use personal language.
- When certain terms cannot be taken out, add explanations and examples to help the reader understand your point.
-Don’t get carried away with plain language rules. If rules become too obtrusive, then once again understanding will be lost. This occurrence would defeat the purpose of the Plain English Revolution.
My thoughts: Cut out unnecessary words. However, make sure that your goal is to help the reader understand and not to make your document as short as possible.
Other notes from the chapter:
A Critic of Plain Language:
- Plain Language does not mean that you have to write like novelists and entertain. Hemingway was only used as an example because his writing was simple and to the point.
- The public should not understand every legal document. Not all legal ideas are abstract, because that would defeat the purpose of laws.
A Guide to Non-Sexist Language:
-Remember to ask yourself if you could say the same thing about the opposite sex or about yourself.
-Avoid gender specific terms (ex. Postman).
International Communication and Language:
- English is becoming a global language. However, the people who speak English as a first language should still make an effort to learn at least one foreign language.
- Remember to consider different countries’ cultures when doing business internationally.
- Be respectful to their traditions and try to not get offended by their cultural characteristics.
Definitions:
Jargon-technical language specific to a profession
Gobbledygook –mindless gibberish; using ten words in the place of one
Legalese-overreliance on legal terminology
Talking Points:
1. Gobbledygook
Legal Talk
- Gobbledygook is present in the government, law, universities, and sometimes even among the literati (intellectuals or authors).
- Words such as hereinafters and whereases are useless and unclear.
Academic Talk
- Professors at time forget their audience and complicate easy ideas.
- Sciences sometimes cannot avoid difficult terminology. However, the audience always needs to be thought of when speaking. Doctors talk to doctors differently then they address patients’ families.
Reduce Gobble
- Clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity are appreciated.
- The Federal Security Agency is cutting out the gobble.
- Don’t use a ten word phrase when a three word phase will suffice. For example, use the word consider instead of “give consideration to.”
-Write to people not to aliens. Show consideration for your audience (woman with two small children whose husband lost his memory).
-Funny anecdote about the plumber with HCl.
My thoughts: Don’t try to sound important, just get your point across. The best documents are those that can be understood, without understanding the entire purpose is lost.
2. Writing in Your Job
- Memos, business letters, emails, post-its should all be clear and precise. Simple statements do not imply simplemindedness. They do not make you look less intelligent. Often the most intelligent people are the ones who can convert technical language into simple statements for the common public.
- School Principals and their letters to the parents
- Vanity is on the line in corporate America. But if you write ornate and fuzzy that is how you will be perceived.
- Authors tell us to remember that “I” is the most interesting element in the story.
- In order to explain something you have to go to the source.
- Executives should do their own writing because that is what makes them unique and their words are their most powerful tools.
My thoughts: Try to be straight to the point. Not everyone thinks alike. Even if it seems clear to you, it may not seem clear to the reader.
3. The Plain English Revolution
- Key is for understanding by ordinary citizens.
- The goal is to make functional documents function. It is to make sure that consumers can understand lease, tax form, etc. It is not to stop jargon between lawyers or accountants, etc.
- Use personal language.
- When certain terms cannot be taken out, add explanations and examples to help the reader understand your point.
-Don’t get carried away with plain language rules. If rules become too obtrusive, then once again understanding will be lost. This occurrence would defeat the purpose of the Plain English Revolution.
My thoughts: Cut out unnecessary words. However, make sure that your goal is to help the reader understand and not to make your document as short as possible.
Other notes from the chapter:
A Critic of Plain Language:
- Plain Language does not mean that you have to write like novelists and entertain. Hemingway was only used as an example because his writing was simple and to the point.
- The public should not understand every legal document. Not all legal ideas are abstract, because that would defeat the purpose of laws.
A Guide to Non-Sexist Language:
-Remember to ask yourself if you could say the same thing about the opposite sex or about yourself.
-Avoid gender specific terms (ex. Postman).
International Communication and Language:
- English is becoming a global language. However, the people who speak English as a first language should still make an effort to learn at least one foreign language.
- Remember to consider different countries’ cultures when doing business internationally.
- Be respectful to their traditions and try to not get offended by their cultural characteristics.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
PAFEO for Tech Writing Project
The purpose of our technical writing document is to help Clemson residents and tourists, especially football game weekend visitors, pick the perfect restaurant for each occasion and budget. The audience will be Clemson residents and visitors. To appeal to the audience, there will be several formatted subheadings. The subheadings will divide the restaurants based on cost, reviews, and occasions for dining out. To make sure that our document is a credible resource for our readers, we will do thorough research of previous reviews of each restaurant. We will also go directly to each establishment to ensure that we get costs and menu items correct. The best way that we can provide credibility to our audience is to check with actual restaurant goers. We can get their quotes and ideas which will provide quality opinions to our audience from people in similar situations. In accordance with our subheadings and evidence, we will organize the document with a table of contents which will have each restaurant listed under its appropriate subheading. We will also provide locations and illustrations to accompany each restaurant which will be included in a table of illustrations at the beginning as well. If needed at the end we will provide an index. In the end, we hope to provide the ultimate guide to Clemson dining that will direct visitors and residents toward the best choice for them.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Everyone's Blogs
http://clemsontechwriting.blogspot.com
http://sharkey314.blogspot.com
http://myenglish314.blogspot.com
http://brennan314.blogspot.com
http://techwriting314ryan.blogspot.com
http://english314annadimitri.blogspot.com
http://technicalwriting314.blogspot.com
http://minermementoes.blogspot.com
http://myENGLH314.blogspot.com
http://brittaj.blogspot.com
http://sharkey314.blogspot.com
http://myenglish314.blogspot.com
http://brennan314.blogspot.com
http://techwriting314ryan.blogspot.com
http://english314annadimitri.blogspot.com
http://technicalwriting314.blogspot.com
http://minermementoes.blogspot.com
http://myENGLH314.blogspot.com
http://brittaj.blogspot.com
Monday, September 1, 2008
Brainstorming Session Paste 9/1/08
Brainstorming Session 8/28/08
1) College Late Night Cookbook- limited ingredients; technical aspects--> table of contents, intro, technical book format
2) Gameday Traditions in Clemson- insiders guide to being a fan, website directed to visitors and fans, pictures, ritualistic lists, from sunrise til sundown
3) Business Plan- annual report, contact small company volunteer some of their reports
4) Medical Procedures- type of writing they do in their everyday work, interview a physician, differences in fellowships and residency programs within the Medical profession, coswt analysis
5) Profession Guide- from an undergraduate perspective, how to jump through the correct "hoops" to get into graduate school or obtain a particular job out of college, road map of sorts, make a film or website
6) Technical Research Documents- medical journals, analysis, taxes, will, investment documents
7) Non-Profit Organization- what needs they may have, link up, some sort of survey report whether their information is being correctly communicated to their audience
8) "How to" document- any genre, sports, outdoor activities, depending on your interests, rules of Golf, how to read music, how to learn guitar, how to computer software, how to fly fish, incorporate a video, how to apply to Medical school and undergraduate programs, how to create a gaming comp., how to backpack through Europe, how to build an investment portfolio, good places to hike in and around Clemson, start off your finances after college, where and why to invest
9) Evaluations of Different Schools Admission Materials- from a student's perspectives
10) Legal Documentation- how to, process behind, talk to Lawyers
11) Resume Building- video resume, more than just a word document, taking advantage of media technology, broaden your appeal
12) Off Campus Housing Advertising- pros and cons, market analysis
13) Rate My Professor- more in depth, what professors to take in order to improve the students' learning
14) Medical Research- genetics
15) Evaluation of Medical Product Reviews-
16) Guide to Studying Abroad- different steps, etc. to making it work financially, academically and socially, create a website
1) College Late Night Cookbook- limited ingredients; technical aspects--> table of contents, intro, technical book format
2) Gameday Traditions in Clemson- insiders guide to being a fan, website directed to visitors and fans, pictures, ritualistic lists, from sunrise til sundown
3) Business Plan- annual report, contact small company volunteer some of their reports
4) Medical Procedures- type of writing they do in their everyday work, interview a physician, differences in fellowships and residency programs within the Medical profession, coswt analysis
5) Profession Guide- from an undergraduate perspective, how to jump through the correct "hoops" to get into graduate school or obtain a particular job out of college, road map of sorts, make a film or website
6) Technical Research Documents- medical journals, analysis, taxes, will, investment documents
7) Non-Profit Organization- what needs they may have, link up, some sort of survey report whether their information is being correctly communicated to their audience
8) "How to" document- any genre, sports, outdoor activities, depending on your interests, rules of Golf, how to read music, how to learn guitar, how to computer software, how to fly fish, incorporate a video, how to apply to Medical school and undergraduate programs, how to create a gaming comp., how to backpack through Europe, how to build an investment portfolio, good places to hike in and around Clemson, start off your finances after college, where and why to invest
9) Evaluations of Different Schools Admission Materials- from a student's perspectives
10) Legal Documentation- how to, process behind, talk to Lawyers
11) Resume Building- video resume, more than just a word document, taking advantage of media technology, broaden your appeal
12) Off Campus Housing Advertising- pros and cons, market analysis
13) Rate My Professor- more in depth, what professors to take in order to improve the students' learning
14) Medical Research- genetics
15) Evaluation of Medical Product Reviews-
16) Guide to Studying Abroad- different steps, etc. to making it work financially, academically and socially, create a website
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