During class today, we discussed Project 2, which is described in detail in the menu above. Also, we began using the Library’s databases and catalog to find sources for this research-based project. To organize your research, create a new Google Doc and title it “Research Logbook.” For each potential source, copy-and-paste the bibliographic information from the source. Then, type this information into APA format for the reference list. Next, copy-and-paste any quotes into your logbook beneath the reference that you just wrote. Put the quoted material in-between quotation marks and add a parenthetical citation following APA format–don’t forget the page number!). If you need help finding books or articles, don’t hesitate to ask a librarian for help–they are happy to give assistance with your work on a project like this!

Using the article that you read for today’s class, write a memo to Professor Ellis that does these three things:

Summarize the article in four sentences (include author, title of article, title of magazine, issue date/number).

Summarize the article in one sentence (include author and title of article).

Summarize the article using three keywords.

Copy-and-paste your memo into a comment made to this blog post when you are done.

To begin Project 2 (which is described on the Syllabus page linked above), I would like you to prepare a brief memo and turn it as a comment made to this blog post before class on Thursday. We will discuss these during class on Thursday, so be on time and prepared to talk about these with the class.

Your memo should begin with a memo header, have a one sentence description of its purpose in your own words, and five bullet points of information about your possible topics for research, and a concluding sentence stating which of the topics you have selected for your project.

The information that you will put into the bullet points includes: a term, word, acronym, phrase, or topic related to your future career that you would like to make the focus of your research project. After the topic, write at least a sentence explaining why you want to research this particular topic. Be specific and descriptive. Each bullet point is a different, possible topic for your research paper for a total of five possible topics for your research essay. You may write more than a sentence per bullet point if you would like. Remember that each topic should be from your field of study or your future career and not a job (as your previous project was about). For example, your previous report could have been about being a computer programmer, but this project should be about something within the field of computer science, such a programming language, an IDE, an approach to writing code, AI, HCI, APIs, distributed computing, quantum computing, etc.

Finally, you will write one sentence after the bullet points that states which of the five possible topics you choose to write your research essay about. Choose the topic that will do these three things: 1) you will learn something, 2) you will demonstrate what you have learned, and 3) has a rich discourse available through library sources.

As discussed last week, you found an article for today’s class that you would like to dissuade (or argue against) a co-worker from reading it. Unlike our previous assignment, you will not be writing a memo. Instead, you will format your dissuasion in a business letter addressed to me. Your letter should be formatted in this way:

Your Street Address
Your City, State Zip Code
Today’s Date

Professor Jason Ellis
Department of English
New York City College of Technology
300 Jay Street, N512
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Dear Professor Ellis,

Introduction paragraph (give your thesis and brief summary of reasons, include the article’s author, title in quotes, magazine title italicized, and date/issue number)

Expansion paragraph (expand on the reasons against reading the article through discussion, include some summary as appropriate)

Closing paragraph (thank the reader for their attention and offer to discuss the article in person at their convenience)

Sincerely,

(4x lines)

Your Name

For today’s in-class writing assignment, write a memo that makes a recommendation to read or not to read the article that you read before today’s class. Address it to an imaginary co-worker with your same level of knowledge and expertise. Weave together your argument (for or against) with a brief summary of the article’s content. Your memo’s content should be 50-100 words (excluding the memo header and the magazine article reference at the end of the memo). When you are done, post your memo as a comment made to this blog post.

When you have completed your Project 1 report and revised it according to the feedback that you receive on your writing, you may send it to Professor Ellis before our next class meets. Follow these directions for submitting Project 1.

1. Login to your Google Drive account
2. Open your report and verify that it is exactly how you would like it to be for grading
3. Click on File > Download As > Microsoft Word (.docx)
4. If you are on a campus computer, you might need to save your work to a flash drive. If you are at home, it might be saved in your /Downloads folder.
5. Open your school email
6. Create a new, professional email to jellis at citytech.cuny.edu (change the “at”)
7. Use this subject for your email: ENG2570, Project 1
8. Write a brief, professional email to Professor Ellis along these lines: Dear Professor Ellis, Please find my Project 1 Workplace Report attached. Sincerely, Your name
9. Attach your downloaded report in Microsoft Word (.docx) format to this email
10. Look over the email again and verify it is addressed correctly and your report is attached
11. Send your email to Professor Ellis
12. I will reply to your email with a notification of receipt as soon as possible

During today’s class, you will each have an opportunity to peer review two workplace reports by different students. It is your responsibility to find others in class with these documents that you can exchange for peer review. Don’t restrict yourselves to two-person exchanges. You might need to exchange documents between three people so that there is no odd person out.

For each document that you review, you will write a brief memo (each student should end up writing two memos). This memo will be emailed to the author of the document that you are reviewing (as an attachment or copy-and-pasted text) AND you will copy-and-paste your memo into a comment made to this blog post. At the end of class, you should have emailed two memos and made two comments to this blog post.

When you receive a classmate’s document printout, initial it at the top of the page.

Read the author’s document carefully and have the example documents available on OpenLab open on your screen for reference.

Write a memo addressed to the author of the document that you are reviewing. Your memo should contain these things: memo information block, a one sentence introduction (you are providing feedback on x document by y person), and between 5-10 bullet points written in complete sentences/paragraphs that provide suggestions, comments, questions, directions, and guidance for improving the document that you are reading. Remember: No document is perfect and can always be improved upon. Let Simon Cowell be your spiritual guide in this respect.

Again, remember to email your memo to the author of the document reviewed (attach it as a Word docx file, an Adobe PDF, or simply copy-and-paste your memo’s contents into the email), AND copy-and-paste your memo into a comment made to this blog post. Do not put all of your memos into the same comment. Instead, make a separate comment for each memo that you write.

Now that you have had a chance to perform research that will inform your Project 1 Workplace Research Report, you may now begin assembling the pieces into a draft that you will bring to our next class for peer review.

Schematically, your report should contain these components:

• Title page
• Abstract (second page, 50-100-word summary of the report that you are writing–what is its purpose, what kinds of information does it include, and who is it for?)
• Introduction (third page, one paragraph that introduces the reader to your report–like the abstract but in more detail about the report: purpose, road map, audience)
• Method (what did you set out to learn and how did you do the research)
• Results (using the information from your interview memo, library-sourced article memo, and Occupational Outlook Handbook memo, factually report what you learned about your selected career, remember to parenethically cite any quotes or paraphrases)
• Discussion (based on the facts that you report in results, discuss your career–is it the right career for you, what do you see as your prospects in your career, what do you need to do to prepare to enter this career, etc.)
• References (include all of your bibliographic references in alphabetical order)

Bring two printed copies of this report to our class next week. Do not plan to print them with our classroom printer. You have to print them before our class meets.

An example of the document layout is available here: ENG2570Project1FinalReport.

Submit a draft of your Occupational Outlook Handbook memo draft in a comment made to this blog post. Do this at the beginning of the second half of class after we have completed the in-class writing assignment.

During the beginning of class today, you will write a memo that explores how the magazine article that you brought to class today connects to writing that you find online.

Remember last week, when we discussed the Oxford English Dictionary, the OED provides definitions and the etymology of words. The OED’s presentation of sentences and phrases using the word defined in different contexts provides useful information to us about what the word means in the context of a sentence instead of just as a definition without that context.

For this assignment, we are interested in the context of jargon that you found in the article that you read for today’s class. You will find three web pages that use the jargon that you select for today’s assignment and cite them within your memo. Follow these guidelines:

Memo Header

Memo introduction paragraph–what are you doing and what is it about (include the author and title of your article here).

Brief summary paragraph of the article (you choose your word count, no paraphrase, no quotes, all your own words and descriptions)

One sentence identifying an example of jargon in the essay (quote and cite an example of this from the essay)

One sentence introducing three webpages where you found the term being used (the website must clearly identify an author’s name on the webpage–if no byline, keep searching and do not cite)

“Sentence from the webpage using the term” (citation).
Bibliographic reference in APA format (Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Website. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/)

“Sentence from the webpage using the term” (citation).
Bibliographic reference in APA format (Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Website. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/)

“Sentence from the webpage using the term” (citation).
Bibliographic reference in APA format (Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Website. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/)

When you are completed, copy and paste your memo into a comment made to this blog post.