Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e
WebThink Chapter 6
1. Revision: The Final Step
Resource Web Site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/648/01/ (“Revision in Business Writing”)
The last step in the writing process is revising your document. This step includes revising, proofreading, and evaluating your writing. A careful writer always pays very close attention to this step before sending out any message. For this exercise you will read an article on the Purdue University Online Writing Lab Web site. When you have finished reading the article, print the following questions and submit your answers to your instructor.
a. Why is revision so important for business writing? List several reasons.
b. What is meant by the statement that "Revision Requires a Shift in Your Perspective"? Why is this important? How can this shift be accomplished?
c. How can a good writer decide what to include in a document?
d. Do you think the revision stage can ever be skipped when writing? Why or why not?
2. Proofreading Errors: It's All in the Price
Resource Web Sites:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17916862/ (Royal Caribbean Cruise Line)
http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=7553 (Opodo)
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-993246.html (Amazon.com)
http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=3243 (Starwood)
http://www.out-law.com/page-3516 (Thai Airways)
http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=2326 (Eastman Kodak)
http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=4106 (Dell)
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-964831.html (Disney)
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-834803.html (Best Buy)
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-277375.html (Dell Computers)
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-271967.html (United Airlines)
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-271310.html (Dell Computers)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-5668095.html (BlueLight.com)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-5337913.html (Amazon.com)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3413542.html (Dell Computers)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3191999.html (Buy.com)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-2761393.html (Amazon.com)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-2410043.html (Amazon.com)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1525926.html (IBM)
In this chapter you have learned the importance of proofreading documents carefully. Many retailers have learned the hard way that proofreading is an essential part of the business writing process. This exercise will allow you to read a number of brief articles about online retailers who were unfortunate enough to let typographical price errors slip by on their Web pages. You will also read about the results of these errors and how these companies resolved the problem. After you have read these articles, print the following questions and submit your answers to your instructor.
a. What types of typographical errors did these online retailers make? What were the results?
b. How do you feel about the way these retailers handled the resulting situations? Which retailers handled the situation effectively? Which handled the situation poorly? Why?
c. Comment on this statement: Proofreading price information that will be placed on a Web site can be even more important than proofreading information that will appear in a newspaper ad.
d. Choose one of the cases. If you were an executive with this company, how would you have handled the situation?
3. What’s the Buzzword for Today?
Resource Web Site:
http://www.buzzwhack.com/ (BuzzWhack.com)
One of your important jobs during the revision phase of the writing process is to determine if you’ve used appropriate words for your audience. Should you include buzzwords? Do you know what buzzwords are? You will at the end of this activity. BuzzWhack is a Web site devoted to buzzwords; it even has an IMglish Dictionary that contains abbreviations and acronyms frequently used in instant messages, text messages, and chat rooms. When you have finished reading exploring the site, print the following questions and submit your answers to your instructor.
a. What is a buzzword? Given this definition, should buzzwords be used in your business documents?
b. What is Today’s Buzzword on the day you visited the site? (Hint: You’ll find it on the homepage.) What are some other recent additions? Do you recognize any of these words or have you heard them used? Explain.
c. Search the IMglish Dictionary for at least ten acronyms and abbreviations that are unfamiliar to you. What do they stand for? Do you think these types of abbreviations and acronyms should be used in business correspondence? Why or why not?
4. Testing the Fogginess of Your Writing
Resource Web Sites:
http://www.juicystudio.com/fog/ (Readability Test)
http://www.gopdg.com/plainlanguage/readability.html (“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Readability Tests But Were Afraid to Ask”)
Have you ever stopped to wonder what grade level you’re writing at? Why is knowing this information important? This activity will give you a chance to put one of the most popular readability indexes, the Gunning Fox Index, to work. When you have finished visiting these two sites and doing your calculations, print the following questions and submit your answers to your instructor.
a. What are readability tests? When, where, and why were readability tests first developed? What are some of the most popular tests?
b. Select a paragraph from your business communications textbook and calculate its readability using the Gunning Fox Index. Now do the same for a paragraph you’ve written for one of your class writing assignments. What are your findings?
c. Why are reading indexes popular? What are their limitations? How do you think they can aid business writers?
d. What are the reading levels of various popular publications? (Hint: Visit the Juicy Studio site.) Were you surprised by these statistics? Why or why not?
e. Choose a favorite Web site and test its readability. (Hint: You’ll find a tool for doing this on the Juicy Studio site.) What Web site did you test, and what were the results? Be specific.
5. Editing and Proofreading: Becoming a Pro
Resource Web Site:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/proofread.html (“Editing and Proofreading”)
As you’ve learned from your textbook reading, Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process it the most important, and its’ the one you should probably spend the most time on. That’s because revising, editing, and proofreading help to ensure that your final document is professional and that it will achieve its goal. For this activity you’ll learn some techniques for becoming an effective editor and proofreader. When you have finished reading the article, print the following questions and submit your answers to your instructor.
a. Is proofreading the same as editing? Explain. When should each be done?
b. What six techniques are given in the article that can be applied to both editing and proofreading?
c. What are you looking for when editing your document? Explain each area.
d. What tips are given in the article for making the proofreading process systematic and focused? What tips would you add to the list?