While the other extra credit that I’ve mentioned in the class is an opportunity for you all, it is small game. It can give you a boost on a missed log book entry, a skipped beginning of class writing assignment, or points added to your final portfolio. If you’re interested in big game, I have an extra credit option for you that can add up to 10 points to your final grade. To earn these points, you need to read Sullivan and Savage’s Writing a Professional Life: Stories of Technical Communicators On and Off the Job (Allyn and Bacon, 2001) or another book about the professional work related to our field that you clear with me in advance (this means a book about the work experience in the field or a field related to your specialization and not a handbook, textbook, or reference guide).
After reading it, write a 1,000 word book review that includes an introduction (provide a thesis, such as reviewing this work as an exercise in your professionalization; and give a road map for the rest of the review), a discussion of each section/chapter, and a conclusion that connects what you’ve read to what we’ve discussed in our class or other things that you’ve learned in the PTW Program. Include a Reference section with a single entry for the book in APA style at the end of your document. If you quote or paraphrase any material, remember to parenthetically cite it using APA style (see the Purdue OWL APA site for more info).
Copies of the book can be found in the New York Public Library and Archive.org. Amazon has used copies and used bookshops likely have copies, too.
Everyone should be doing this kind of work anyways–learning as much about the field as you can in preparation for beginning your career–but I can give you these points as encouragement.
