Purpose: Two main goals drive this first assignment. First, it is important for you to learn one of the most common technical writing genres, the memo. Second, it is of equal importance that you understand the role audience plays in crafting every element of any technical document. As you’ll learn this first week, the audience counts on you, the technical writer, to provide a document that is readable and accessible and takes into account their needs, values, and education level. To help illustrate the relationship of the audience to technical writing, you’ll read a short story, “A Gravestone Made of Wheat,” as well as two technical documents that pertain directly to the conflict of the story.
Task: You will write 3 memos or emails in total. You will make a determination of whether a memo or the email format is more appropriate for each of your choices. You should have at least one email and one memo among your three choices. At the bottom of your memo or email, explain in a few sentences why you feel that is the most appropriate format for the message.
You will use the short story, the technical documents, as well as any additional research of your own to craft the content of your memos. Each message should be carefully written to its intended audience and communicate its required message.
You can choose any of the options below:
From the Sheriff to Olaf explaining why Olaf cannot bury Inge on his farm, taking into account that Olaf did not petition for a permit and there are health concerns about home burials
From Olaf to the Sheriff petitioning to bury his wife on his farm, taking into account that Inge wishes to be buried there
From the judge to Olaf explaining why Inge cannot become a citizen and thus cannot get married, keeping in mind the cultural concerns about German nationals as well as the judge’s assumptions about farmers
From the judge to Inge explaining why she cannot become a citizen or get married, keeping in mind that she does not understand English well
From Olaf or Inge to the judge explaining why they should be allowed to get married
From Inge to a friend in Germany expressing a need for a letter of recommendation to support her petition for citizenship
*Please email me if you wish to use other characters or respond to other situations within the story to get approval
Requirements: Each memo or email should be no more than one page in length and follow the conventions of the genre as outlined in class. Make sure that the content and language of your memos or emails reflect the writer and the receiver of each memo or email. The memos or emails will be graded according to the grading rubric.
Submission Method: Submit your memos on Blackboard as Microsoft Word Documents.
Grading: 75 points