During Week Eight I'd like you to begin drafting Project 4, your persuasive letter requesting assistance with Project 7. The rough draft and APS for Project 4 will be due at the beginning of Week Nine, on 20 Oct. The revised draft for Project 4 will be due at the beginning of Week Ten, on 27 Oct. In Week Ten we'll begin thinking about Project 5, a letter in which you refuse a customer request.

Also, at the beginning of Week Nine I'd like you to submit responses to a short midsemester quiz.

During Week Eight, please prepare for the following two assignments:

1. Rough Draft/APS of Project 4: Saturday, 10/20 (Week Nine)
2. Midsemester Quiz (10 pts.): Saturday, 10/20 (Week Nine)
3. Revised draft of Project 4 (15 pts.): Saturday, 10/27 (Week Ten)

• For 20 Oct
  Three Assignments:
  • Rough Draft of Project 4 (1 pt.)
  • APS of Project 4 (2 pts.)
  • Midsemester Quiz (10 pts.)

  1. Rough Draft of Persuasive Letter (1 pt.)
     Use regular e-mail to submit a rough draft of your letter to your interview subject. The draft should be in a letter format. Use either a full-block or modified-block style. Again, follow the examples in the book. Also, remember that you are going to deliver this letter to the person whose assistance you are asking for. So, what I see is what that person will see. (And, surely, you want both of us to be pleased by what we see.) 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 4 is attached to the message. Last, in order to give you credit for the exercise I need to receive those drafts by 20 Oct.

  2. APS for Project 4 (2 pts.)
     Use the APS Form to submit an analysis of the audience for Project 4. A couple of things to keep in mind: First, you know the person to whom you are writing, but I do not. So, make sure that you include enough detail about that audience so that I can get a clear sense of that person. Second, keep in mind that when you describe the format and organization of the letter you should be as complete and as specific as possible. So, for instance, just describing the format of the document as a "formal letter" is not sufficient enough to give you a clear sense of what the letter should look like or how it should be organized.

     Submit the APS Form by 20 Oct.

  3. Midsemester Quiz on Course Material (10 pts.)
     Follow the instructions to download and save a copy of the midsemester quiz (Quiz 1).
     1. Hold down the shift key on the keyboard and click here. That will open a Save dialog box.
     2. Save the file "quiz1.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.

     Respond to the items on the quiz. All of the information can be found in either your textbook, my notes in response to your rough drafts, and/or the project descriptions of the projects you've completed to date.

     When you have completed the quiz, save the file with a new file name. Then, submit the quiz to me as an attachment to an e-mail message.

• For 27 Oct
  One Assignment:
  • Revised Draft of Project 4 (15 pts.)

  1. Revised Draft of Persuasive Letter (12 pts.)
     Submit your revised draft of the letter to the person whom you have asked for assistance with Project 8, the Business Communication Analysis Report. Submit your letter to me as an attachment to an e-mail message. Deliver your letter to the addressee by whatever means appropriate. If it is a co-worker, relative, or friend whom you see regularly, simply place the letter inside an envelope addressed to that person and hand it to him or her. If you want, e-mail the letter to the person as an attachment. It's up to you, just make sure that the person gets it soon after you've revised your rough draft.

     As with the letter to Mr McCord, make sure that your document is formatted as a letter. Make up a personal letterhead--you could use that letterhead even after you've completed this course. Also, be sure that you save the file in Rich Text Format. Submit your revised letter by 27 Oct.