Business3210181

AdvancedProfessionalWriting

WRITINGASSIGNMENT#7(HYDEPARK)/#6(GLEACHER)
Dueasassignedbyyourlector:
HydeParkcampus,dueMonday,February16;
GleacherCenter,dueThursday,February19
Writeashort(1pagemaximum)persuasiveletterormemo.Yourfirstproblem
willbetoconceiveaplausiblesituationforsuchatext.Itmightbealettertoaclient,it
mightbeamemotoyourboss.Whateverrhetoricalsituationyouchoose,besurethatit
callsforprofessionalprose(notalettertoafriend)andthatyourreaderwouldreasonably
expectashorttext.
Lastweek,thechallengewastobeconsistentlyclearasyoudealtwithseveral
aspectsofanargument.Now,thechallengesare:(1)tochoosethemosteffectiveaspects
(becauseyoucan'tincludeeverything);and(2)toarrangetheminaneffectivestructure.
Thissecondchallenge,thechallengeofstructure,includesthespecificproblemof
whetheryoushoulduseanypointlaststructures.Partofthetaskyoufaceisdeciding
whethertherhetoricalsituationcallsforanypointlastorganizations.Youmaydecide
thatanyparagraphinyourtextshouldbepointlast,oryoumayevendecidethatthe
entiretextshouldbepointlast.
Butwehopethatyou'llthinkcarefullyabouttheeffectsofpointfirstandpoint
lastorganizations.Veryoften,whenwriterstrytobepersuasive,theyunconsciously
adoptpointlaststructuresbecausetheyassumethatitismorepersuasivetogivetheir
argumentfirst,andthenstatetheirpoint.Suchastructurecancertainlysucceed,butit's
risky.Ifyouputthepointattheend,youruntheriskthatreaderswillgetconfused:if
theydon'tknowthepoint,theymaynothaveenoughthemestofollowtheargument.
Andifyouputthepointattheend,readersmaysimplygetimpatientandstopreading
beforetheyevenknowwhatthepointis.
Thenwhywouldyoueverrunthisrisk?Mostoften,skilledwritersusepointlast
structureswhentheyknowthattheirreadersarehostiletothepoint.Thewriterwould
weightheriskofconfusingthereader(usingpointlast)againsttheriskofantagonizing
thereader(usingpointfirst).There'snorulehere:youhavetojudgetheparticular
situation.Andthat'swhatweaskyoutodoforthisassignment.Don'tarbitrarilychoose
touseeitherpointfirstorpointlaststructure.Instead,considerthereader'sattitude
towardyourpoint,andweightherisks.Webelievethatintherealworld,thisisjust
whatyouhavetodo.Theonlydifferenceisthatforthisassignment,you'llbeableto
inventwhateverreaderyouwant.Intherealworld,you'llhavetoplaythecardsyou're
dealt.
CritiqueAssignment:

ContinuetouseCOCOREtoeditunclearsentences.
ContinuetouseOld/Newtoeditinformation;lookforsuccessfulandflawed
Stresspositions.
Winter2004

Business3210181

AdvancedProfessionalWriting

Analyzethediscoursestructureofalltheparagraphsinthebodyofthetext:
paragraph:Dotheissuepositionsoftheparagraphsestablisheffectivethemes?Do
thematicstringsrunthroughouttheparagraph?Doeseachparagraphhaveaclearpoint?
Wheredoesthepointappear?Isthatthebestplaceforit?
Assessthediscoursestructureofthetextasawhole,takingintoaccountwhatyou
perceivetobethereader'sattitudetowardthepoint.Doesthetexthaveaclearpoint?
Wheredoesthetextpointappear?Isthatthebestplaceforit?

Winter2004