During Week Four you'll submit your revision of Project 2, and we'll begin working on Project 3, a Cooperation Letter. As the name suggests, it is a good news letter; specifically, it is a letter that grants an adjustment to a customer. In preparation for drafting the letter, we'll (1) read some material in your textbook regarding adjustment letters; (2) read an essay on jargon in business letters, which I handed out during the orientation session, and generate a response to it; and (3) prepare to submit an Audience Profile Sheet and rough draft for the project. The APS and draft of the project will be due at the beginning of Week Five (on 23 September to be exact), and the revised project will be due at the beginning of Week Six.

During Week Four, there are three assignments due:

1. Revision of Project 2 (9 pts.): Saturday, 09/22
2. Reading in Your Textbook: Wednesday, 09/26
3. Editing Exercise 1 (6 pts.): Wednesday, 09/26
4. Writing/Online Exercise 5 (2 pts.): Saturday, 09/29 (Week Five)
5. Project 3 Rough Draft/APS (1 pt./2 pts.): Saturday, 09/29 (Week Five)

• For 22 Sep
  One Assignment:
  • Revised Draft of Project 2 (9 pts.)
  1. Revised Draft of Three Memoranda Project (9 pts.)
     Use regular e-mail to submit your revised drafts of Project 2. Again, be sure that your report is in the form of a memo to the appropriate audience. (Remember, Memo 2 is a different audience from Memos 1 and 3.) Be sure that you have saved your file in Rich Text Format. Put all three memos in a single file. Separate them by inserting a page break between each. Attach your revised project to an e-mail message to me. Again, be sure to fill in the "Subject" line of your e-mail message. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to put your name and to notify me that your revised draft of Project 1 is attached to the message. Make sure that the attached file is in Rich Text Format. Last, be sure that I receive your revised draft by 22 Sep.

• For 26 Sep
  Two Assignments:
  • Editing Exercise 1 (6 pts.)
  • Reading in Fundamentals of Contemporary Business Communication
  1. Editing Exercise 1
  
  Follow the instructions to download and save a copy of Editing Exercise 1:
  • Hold down the shift key on the keyboard and click here. That will open a Save dialog box.
  • Save the file "edit_ex1.rtf" to your hard drive or to a floppy disk. Don't change the filename, just save the file in a location where you'll be able to find it.

  Revise the sentences to eliminate the passive constructions. If you have questions, first consult the grammar and style section of your textbook.

  When you have edited the sentences, save the file with a new filename and submit your edited exercise to me as an attachment to an e-mail message.

  2. Reading in Fundamentals of Business Communication
     In your textbook, read pp. 143-48 on routine adjustment letters (or "good news" letters).Read the information on the design and layout of business letters.

• For 29 Sep
  Three Assignments:
  • Writing/Online Exercise 5 (2 pts.)
  • Project 3 APS (2 pts.)
  • Project 3 Rough Draft (1 pt.)
  1. Writing/Online Exercise 5
  
  Read Janice Tovey's essay "'As Per Your Request:...,'" which I handed out during the orientation session. That essay provides a good historical understanding of the kinds of jargon and conventional language that we find in business letters. Then, in at least two paragraphs, summarize Tovey's essay, and respond to it on the basis of your own awareness of and experience with jargon in business writing, the format of "form letters," and the like.)

  In order to be eligible for credit for this exercise, post your response to the class WebBoard discussion forum by 29 Sep.

  2. Rough Draft of Project 3, a Cooperation Letter (1 pt.)
     Use regular e-mail to submit a rough draft of your letter in response to Exercise 11 on page 154 of your textbook. The draft should be in a letter format. Use either a full-block or modified-block style. Follow the examples in the book. In my general comments to the drafts I will talk about which style seems most effective given the audience and context of the letter.

     Again, this formatting is important. So be sure that you have saved your file in Rich Text Format, which will preserve the formatting. Attach your revised project to an e-mail message to me. Be sure to fill in the "Subject" line of your e-mail message. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to put your name and to notify me that your rough draft of Project 3 is attached to the message. Last, in order to give you credit for the exercise I need to receive those drafts by 29 Sep.

  3. APS for Project 3 (2 pts.)
     Use the APS Form to submit an analysis of the audience for Project 3. A couple of things to keep in mind: First, even though none of us has ever met the customer, we must try our best to describe that person. In marketing terms, we need to determine the demographic for that person. Second, keep in mind that a secondary audience for such a letter would be the store manager where the product was purchased; or, if it were a mail-order item, then typically a manager might ask the writer how the complaint had been addressed. Third, keep in mind that the purpose does not include just granting the adjustment. The purpose is also to maintain goodwill for the company. So, just sending her a check might not do as much as the response could to engender goodwill. Last, especially with disgruntled customers, it's always helpful to provide a contact for the customer as a way of keeping open lines of communication.

     Submit the APS Form by 29 Sep.