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English 3130 Syllabus

Time:
Place:
Instructor:
Office Hours:
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Webex Room:		 N/A (Online)
N/A (Online)
Dr. Baotong Gu
By appointment
Sun Trust Building, 25 Park Place, Suite 2437
404-413-5845 (O)
bgu@gsu.edu
https://sites.gsu.edu/bgu
https://gsumeetings.webex.com/meet/bgu 

TEXTBOOKS
No official textbook is required for this course. However, for those of you who would like to have something as a reference, I recommend the following:

Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. (2013). Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job. 11th ed. Boston, MA, and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Print. (Recommended)

COURSE GOALS
English 3130 is an advanced course in business writing that deals with various issues involved in the business writing practice, such as audience, purpose, form, genres, conventions, and strategies. Our focus will be on how to design business communication products so that they are effective solutions to real communication problems.

Because of such a focus on the real-world practice, this course will use a case-based approach—that is, we will read about real or semi-real communication situations/needs and then develop solutions, often in the form of a “text,” an oral report, or some other appropriate product of communication. In some cases, of course, you may find that there is no perfect solution but a variety of possible approaches to the situation, which in itself will be a source of learning for you. Such a case approach simulates the real-life practice of the professional writer and gives you a chance to experience, almost first hand, what it is like to be a business writer. Although every business writer’s practice differs from everybody else’s and it’s impossible to simulate all the different practices, the rhetorical strategies you learn in this course should prove to be useful in various business writing situations.

This course prepares two groups of students: those of you who intend to be professional writers—people who write as a profession—and those of you who intend to be writing professionals—professionals who will write as part of their job. Therefore, Business Writing has the following objectives:

  • To foster a view of writing as situated action (people acting through writing within organizations)
  • To foster educational practices that demand a consideration of ethics
  • To create contexts for writing that are real and sophisticated (through the use of cases, real clients, and service learning with community organizations)
  • To recognize the fact that computers significantly alter where and how people work and that the use of computers is integral to how people write in the workplace and the types of documents they produce
  • To advocate reader/user needs
  • To create contexts for effective collaboration
  • To teach visual and verbal argumentation
  • To teach research practices
  • To teach students to follow and adjust conventions of business writing

GSU POLICY PROHIBITING STUDENTS FROM POSTING INSTRUCTOR-GENERATED MATERIALS ON EXTERNAL SITES 
The selling, sharing, publishing, presenting, or distributing of instructor-prepared course lecture notes, videos, audio recordings, or any other instructor-produced materials from any course for any commercial purpose is strictly prohibited unless explicit written permission is granted in advance by the course instructor. This includes posting any materials on websites such as Chegg, Course Hero, OneClass, Stuvia, StuDocu and other similar sites. Unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of such material is a violation of the instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy rights of students attending the class, and is prohibited. (This policy was approved by the GSU Faculty Senate on August 21, 2020.)

DIVERSITY, INCLUSIVITY, AND RESPECT STATEMENT
It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of all diversity including gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, and culture. Your comments (in the discussion posts and in person) related to the class and content will be encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students or student groups.

POLICIES
Late Assignments
No late assignments are accepted! Justification? At a workplace, try how many times you can miss a deadline without being talked to by your supervisor or getting fired. My 30+ years of teaching experience tells me most late work is of subpar or poor quality because they are often completed in haste due to a late start. Start early and give yourself enough time so that the work you turn in can represent your true capabilities. The only exception to this policy is if you have a debilitating injury or illness or very extenuating circumstances that render you incapable of doing school work. I reserve the right to make the final assessment whether your excuse for late turn-in is valid.

Assignment Turn-ins
Turn in all your assignments as email attachments to bgu@gsu.edu, unless you’re told otherwise.

ASSIGNMENTS
The course work consists of reading and writing assignments. The reading assignments are indicated in the course schedule. The writing assignments consist of the following:

Reading Responses (15%)
For this project, you’ll conduct online or library research for the concepts listed in the Readings & Research column.

Document Analysis (15%)
For this project, you’ll find an actual business document and analyze the effectiveness of its design in terms of its audience, purpose, content design, format design, medium, etc. The document could be any form of a business document such as a department guideline, a company policy, a business memo or letter, a webpage, an online tutorial, etc.

Job Search Project (15%)
This project requires you to locate a job ad and design a resume and cover letter tailored specifically for the job.

Business Case (15%)
For this project, you are put in a complex situation involving business communication. Your task is to come up with a reasonable, ethical solution that solves the communication issue.

Final Project (40%)
For this final project, you’ll work in groups to design a professional project for a real client. Your project can be, for example, a pamphlet for the Career Services office, a grant application for a non-profit organization, a proposal, a web site for a company, some online documentation for a software program, a promotional packet for a startup, a business plan, a recommendations report for solving the communications problems for a company, etc. This project contains the following components:

  • Project proposal (5%)
  • The project (30%)
  • A rhetorical analysis (5%)

IMPORTANT*
A passing grade for all the assignments is a prerequisite to, but not a guarantee for, passing the course. Observe the following rules closely:

  • You must complete all the major assignments. If you miss any of the projects, you will automatically fail the class.
  • Your reports and assignments should be presentable. If you hand in poorly proofread documents, they will be returned to you for correction before they are graded.
  • If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out the assignments you missed. An excused absence will not get you off the hook for a tardy assignment.
  • A Special Note: Submit your work on time. Late assignments are generally NOT accepted unless for extenuating circumstances. Work is considered late after class begins on the due date, unless noted otherwise. In cases where late work is accepted, there is a 10% grade reduction for each day your assignment is late.
  • All projects must be submitted electronically via email unless you’re instructed otherwise.

PLAGIARISM
No plagiarism or any other forms of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this class. Any plagiarism, as defined by GSU’s Policy on Academic Honesty (available online at http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct_conpol.html), will result in a grade of F at least for the assignment (and most likely an F for the entire course at the instructor’s discretion). In addition, all university policies related to academic honesty apply.

GRADE CONVERSION
Your grades are converted as follows:

980-1000
930-979
900-929
870-899
830-869
800-829
770-799
730-769
700-729
670-699
630-669
600-629
599 & below		 A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

GRADING
Since your final course grade will be based predominantly on writing assignments and the grading of writing cannot be reduced to simple quantitative measures, I will grade your writing on a holistic basis. Each assignment will have specific grading criteria, which I will explain in class. Generally, however, the three general criteria below will be applied to all the major assignments:

Purpose
How effectively does the document accomplish its intended task?

  • Does it meet its goals and the demands of its context (both academic and organizational)? Does it solve a problem or address a significant organizational need? help people?
  • Does it provide a sound argument in support if its claims?
  • Does it meet readers’ needs and expectations? Improve relations between people?
  • Does it provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?

Product
How well constructed is the document?

  • Is the presentation of material orderly and coherent?
  • Is design and formatting effective?
  • Are the sentences grammatically correct?
  • Does it use visuals effectively?
  • Does it have a professional tone and style?

Production
How effectively was the document produced?

  • Was the project well planned?
  • Were research and invention well conducted?
  • How did drafting, editing, proofreading go?
  • Was collaboration successful?

The following is a general description of expectations for assignments for each grade:
A
Your project is of impeccable (or almost impeccable) quality in both content and format design, with no major weaknesses in any area. It provides adequate information that users need and effectively fulfills the intended purposes. Presentation is of professional quality. There’re few to no mechanical errors.

B
Your project is of high quality in most of the major areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes quite effectively. Presentation is quite professional. There’re only a few mechanical errors.

C
Your project is of reasonable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to a large extent, although major deficiencies are observable. Presentation is of semi-professional quality. There’re some mechanical errors, but not to the extent of seriously affecting readers’ comprehension.

D
Your project is of acceptable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to some extent, but major deficiencies exist in several areas. Presentation quality is acceptable but low. There’re quite some mechanical errors.

F
Your project is unacceptable in quality. It does not fulfill the user’s needs or your intended purposes. Major deficiencies are observed in most areas. Presentation quality is poor, and there’re too many mechanical errors.

CONTACT INFORMATION
I strongly encourage you to communicate with me about any issues concerning this course. It doesn’t help for you to be confused or frustrated about certain aspects of the course without letting me know. At the same time, you have nothing to lose by communicating with me.

You can communicate with me through any of the following means:

Email—-Typically the most effective way to communicate with me is through email. I’ll respond as soon as I can. At the same time, please be aware that sometimes, especially on weekends, I may not be checking email as often as I do on week days. If you don’t get a response from me, including acknowledgement of your assignment turn-in, within a couple of days, feel free to send me an email reminder.

Cell Phone—For obvious reasons, I’m not going to publish my cell phone number here. Please refer to the syllabus I emailed you at the beginning of the semester. You’re more than welcome to call my cell phone during normal hours. You are encouraged to email me first , but if you don’t get an answer from me for a few hours, it’s a good idea to call me.

My Webex Room—For obvious reasons, I won’t be on campus much at all. If anybody would like a “meeting,” we can schedule a WebEx conference. Here’s my Webex room: https://gsumeetings.webex.com/meet/bgu.

PORTFOLIO
For those of you majoring in English, especially Advanced Composition and Rhetoric, please be aware that you are required to turn in a writing portfolio as part of your graduation requirement. For this portfolio, you’re going to include a set of writing samples as representing your best work or your development as a writer. Therefore, for each of the courses you take, you should carefully evaluate and assess all the projects you do and see which one is a good candidate for your portfolio.

For this particular course, I strongly recommend that you include your final project as part of your portfolio.