You will survey the kinds of writing people in your intended career field do and arrange the information in a table (like a benchmarking or comparison table). You’ll provide a short description of the different kinds of writing, identify the typical audiences and purposes, and classify the kinds of writing, matching the items to example resources online.

Think of your audience for this project as yourself. Your goal is to learn about the characteristics of the kinds of writing you will typically do in the workplace. This chart will be a go-to resource once you are in the workplace. You should be able to come back to this analysis to remind yourself of the kinds of features to include in whatever you are writing.

The Project Assignment

Step 1: Decide on the career you will focus on for your project.
Your major and experiences may have prepared you for several careers. For this project, you need to choose one (ideally the one you are most likely to pursue after graduation) and explore this field in more detail. You can focus on a career related to a job or internship you have had. You can also think about an academic future if grad school is in your future.

Step 2: Get started on your project, by working through the slides in this Analysis Project Overview & Tips Slideshow (there is no audio):

Step 3: Research writing in your field.
Do a thorough analysis of the writing in your field. Survey the kinds of writing people in your intended career do and come up with a comprehensive list.

Use what you know about your field to determine all you can about the writing you will do once you are in the workplace. Take advantage of the resources that you have available to you with these strategies:

• List the kinds of writing you know people in your field do.
• Add any writing that you have done in your courses or in internships.
• Search job descriptions for references to writing.
• Check the table of contents for the textbooks on the syllabus.
• Interview people who work in the field that you will.

Step 4: Use your data to create your table.
Create your project in Microsoft Word. Do not use Excel or Google Drive because the formatting options are limited in those tools. Remember that formatting errors and/or poor design can lead to an unacceptable draft.

In your table, do the following for each of at least 10 different kinds of writing that are typical in your field:

• identify the audience(s) and purpose(s) of each kind of writing.
• state the length of each kind of writing.
• describe the characteristics and special features of each kind of writing.
• provide links to any textbook explanations or advice articles.
• include links to examples of the kinds of writing to resources online.
• identify ethical issues and/or intercultural and global issues that can impact the different kinds of writing.

Share your draft with your writing group for peer feedback. Use the advice you receive from your readers to revise your table before the due date.

Step 5. Review your project for design and basic writing errors.
Everything you write should use accurate/appropriate image editing, grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, linking, and formatting. These are important basic writing skills that you should have developed in high school.

Also review your project, considering the layout and design of your project. Refer to the details on the course website listed in the Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing and the grammar and design Lynda.com videos included on that page.

Step 6: Submit your project in Canvas.
Upload your project in Canvas.

 

Photo Credit: 17.DistrictCondos.14S.NW.WDC.15April2011 by Elvert Barnes on Flickr, used under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license. Icons are under a public domain license, downloaded from the NounProject.