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English 394: Business Writing
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Office Hours: Days/times and by appointment
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with formats and structures of business communication and provide practice in writing clear and concise professional documents (reports, memos, letters, resumes, and emails). Much emphasis will be placed on writing for a specific audienceand purpose.
By the end of any Professional Writing Program course a student will be able to do the following:
- Analyze a variety of professional rhetorical situations and produce appropriate texts in response
- Understand the stages required to produce competent, professional writing through planning, drafting, revising, and editing
- Identify and implement the appropriate research methods for each writing task
- Practice the ethical use of sources and the conventions of citation appropriateness to each genre
- Write for the intended readers of a text, and design or adapt text to audience who may differ in their familiarity with the subject matter
- Demonstrate competence in Standard Written English, including grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, coherence, and document design (including the use of visuals) and be able to use this knowledge to revise texts
- Produce cogent arguments that identify arguable issues, reflect the degree of available evidence, and take account of counter arguments
Required Text
- Business and Administrative Communication, 11th edition, by Kitty Locker and Donna Kienzler. McGraw Hill, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-07-340325-0
- An updated grammar/style guidebook in your discipline to help you identify proper citations, and to assist with your grammar, diction, and syntax issues. You may use Purdue University’s Online Writing Center (commonly known as OWL), which is available for free at
Grading Procedures and List of Assignments
All of the course’s assignments help students as they tackle and master the recommendation report, which this syllabus calls the expert proposal. Other, smaller assignments introduce ancillary genres like the thank you letter, the bad news letter, and evaluative memos. These homework and in-class assignments also yield points, enabling students to earn higher grades. (The names of the major assignments are italicized and bolded in the following table.)
Assignment Number / Assignment Name / Percentage of Course Grade / Related Textbook Reading[1]1 /
Resource Review
/ 10 / Chpt 182 / Proposal to Conduct a Study / 17 / Chpt 15
3 /
Review Panel Reports
/ 8 / Chpt 84 / Rhetorical Situation Memo / 5 / Chpt 2
5 /
Progress Report
/ 4 / Chpt 176 /
Expert Proposal
/ 25 / Chpts 11, 187 / Oral Presentation / 6 / Chpt 19
8 / Homework and In-Class Writing: e.g., reflective memos, bad news letters, 360 evaluation, summary and evaluation of oral report, and public relations letters / 17 / Chpts 4, 5, 6, 9
9 / Professionalism (see “Classroom Conduct Policy”) / 8 / Chpts 1, 3
TOTALS
/ 100Classroom Conduct Policy
Everyone in the classroom is to be treated with respect and courtesy as befitting professional colleagues. You are expect to meet the following standards in all class sessions:
- Come to class prepared to engage in meaningful discussion, with completed graded and non-graded assignments, including assigned readings
- Pay attention in class and participate in classroom activities and exercises
- Avoid side conversations
- Avoid e-mail, instant messaging, reading e-mail or newspapers, exchange texts messages and the like. Note: The computer labs contain a program allowing me to see what is on all screens at all times and to broadcast any screen to the entire class
- If in a computer lab, eat or drink nothing—except bottled water. (The prohibition includes sodas and coffee)
Doing otherwise will result in a substantial decline in the professionalism portion of your grade. Such penalties have lowered students’ grades—in some cases from an A to a B or from a B to a C.
Schedule of Meetings
Topics/Assignments / ReadingsWeek One / Chpts 1, 2
Day One /
- Introduction to the course: course policies, rhetoric and argument, term project. Reflective essay: establishing your expectations.
- Assign memo to propose term project topic
- Reflection One
- Proposed term project topic
Day Two /
- Review successful term project topics
- Discuss proposed term project topics
- Assign thank you letter
Week Two / Chpts 1, 3, 18
Day One /
- Revised term project topic
- Thank you letter
- Assign resource review
- Discuss collaborative work
- Draft thank you letters
- Revised term project topic
Day Two /
- Discuss revised thank you letter
- Discuss revised term project topic
Week Three / Chpt 18
Day One /
- Assign writing team contract
- Review draft resource review
- Draft and publishable writing team contracts
- Draft resource review
Day Two /
- Review draft writing team contracts
- Review new revisions of resource reviews
Week Four / Chpts 15, 18
Day One /
- Submit publishable resource review
- Assign proposal to conduct a study
- Discuss proposal’s audience and its rhetorical demands
- Publishable resource review
- Draft proposal to conduct: problem section
Day Two /
- Review draft proposal to conduct: problem section
Week Five / Chpt 15
Day One /
- Review revised proposal to conduct a study: problem section
- Discuss proposal to conduct: methodology section
- Revised proposal to conduct: problem section
- Draft proposal to conduct: methdology section
Day Two /
- Review newly revised proposal to conduct: both problem and methodology sections
Week Six / Chpts 3, 8, 15
Day One /
- Proposal to conduct a study
- Draft proposal to conduct: complete document
- Publishable proposal to conduct (to reviewers and instructor)
Day Two /
- Final review of proposal to conduct
- Assign review panel memos
- Publishable proposal to conduct
- IMPORTANT NOTE: This document is due the day after Day Two. Review panels must receive copies quickly so panel members can read and review documents before the next class session
Week Seven / Chpt 8
Day One /
- Review panels meet
- Draft panel review memos
Day Two /
- Review panels meet
- Publishable panel review memos
- IMPORTANT NOTE: These memos are due the day before the next class session. This delay gives the panels as much time as possible to master the assignment.
Week Eight / Chpt 2
Day One /
- Assign rhetorical situation memo
- Assign mid-term self-assessment
- In-class exercises: first public relations memo
Day Two /
- Discuss first public relations memo
- Discuss draft rhetorical situation memos
- Publishable mid-term self assessment
- Draft rhetorical situation memo
- Draft public relations memos
- Conferences to discuss graded proposals to conduct a study
Week Nine / Chpts 11, 18
Day One /
- Discuss draft rhetorical situation memos
- Introduce expert proposal assignment
- Discuss document’s audience(s)
- Examine order of composition
Day Two /
- Discuss newly revised rhetorical situation memo
- Discuss expert proposal problem section
- Newly revised rhetorical situation memo
Week Ten / Chpts 11, 18
Day One /
- Discuss expert proposal: problem section
- Publishable rhetorical situation memo
- Draft expert proposal: problem section
Day Two /
- Discuss newly revised expert proposal problem section
Week Eleven / Chpt 17
Day One /
- Introduce progress report assignment sheet
- Introduce expert proposal: solution section
- Expert proposal: newly revised draft problem section
- Publishable progress report
Day Two /
- In-class exercise: progress report
- Introduce bad news letter
Week Twelve / Chpt 10
Day One /
- Review draft expert proposal
- In-class exercise: bad news letter
- Expert proposal: all main body sections
- Bad news letter
Week Thirteen / Chpts 15, 16, 17
Day One /
- Review full draft expert proposal: all sections, including cover documents and appendices
- Expert proposal: in draft all sections, including cover documents and appendices
Day Two /
- Review almost publishable expert proposal
- Assign orals and final evaluative reports:
- Memo summarizing and evaluating oral report
- Memo presenting 360 evaluating of writing team
- Publishable complete expert proposal. IMPORTANT NOTE: This document is due the day after the week’s second class session.
Week Fourteen / Chpt 19
Day One /
- Orals: Set One
- Conferences by appointment to discuss expert proposals and remaining assignments
Day Two /
- Orals: Set Two
- Discuss assignment sheets for final evaluative reports
Week Fifteen
Day One /
- Oral reports: Set One
- Final evaluative reports:
- Third reflective memo: revisiting your expectations
- Memo evaluating writing team
- Memo summarizing and evaluating oral report
Course Policies
Grades. When grading each of your assignments, I will ask one overriding question: “Does this document do its job successfully?” The “job,” or purpose, of each document will be explained on the individual assignment sheets, and we will spend ample time in class discussing how you can create a rhetorically successful text for each assignment.
I will use the following grading scale to calculate your grade for each assignment and the course:
A+ / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / D- / F97% / 93% / 90% / 87% / 83% / 80% / 77% / 73% / 70% / 67% / 63% / 60% / 0%
Attendance and Participation. To succeed in this course, regular attendance is required. Classroom discussions and in-class work account for a significant part of your grade, and class participation, once missed, cannot be restored.Below are the policies on unexcused and excused absences, as well as tardiness. Please note that missing more than two weeks’ worth of class for any reason may result in a zero for the participation/professionalism portion of your grade and may jeopardize your overall course grade. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you’ve missed. Missing more than two weeks of class will make catching up difficult, if not impossible.
Unexcused Absences. You may take up to one week’s worth of no-questions-asked absences per semester for both the expected (i.e., being the best man in your brother’s wedding) and the unexpected (i.e., a flat tire).
If you take a no-questions-asked absence, however, youare still responsible for whatever material was covered in class. If a major scheduled grading event (assignment due, in-class workshop/peer review, presentation) is scheduled for that class period, and you don’t show up and don’t have a university-sanctioned excuse (see below) then you will lose the points for that activity.
Excused Absences.The University excuses absences for your own illness or the illness of an immediate family member, for your participation in university activities at the request of University authorities, for religious observance, and for compelling circumstance beyond your control.Documentation is required for all excused absences. If you have an anticipated excused absence, you must let me know in writing by the end of the schedule adjustment period or at least two weeks in advance.
Absence due to religious observance. The University System of Maryland policy provides that students not be penalized because of observances of religious beliefs, but rather shall be given an opportunity, whenever feasible, to make up within a reasonable time any academic assignment missed due to individual participation in religious observances. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor within the first three weeks of class regarding any religious observance absence(s) for the entire semester. The calendar of religious holidays can be found at:
Absence for one class due to your own illness. The university requires that you provide me a self-signed note attesting to the date of your illness, with an acknowledgment that the information provided is true.Providing false information to University officials is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. The Health Center provides an online form for this purpose:
Absence from more than one class because of the same illness. You must provide written documentation of the illness from the health care provider who made the diagnosis. The provider must verify dates of treatment and indicate the time frame during which you were unable to meet academic responsibilities. No diagnostic information should be given.
Non-consecutive medically necessitated absences from more than a single class. Such absences may be excused provided you submit written documentation for each absence as described above, verifying the dates of treatment and time frame during which you were unable to meet your academic responsibilities. However, as also noted above, if you miss too many classes—even if excused—though you are technically eligible to make up the work, in practice students are rarely able to do so.
Tardiness.In the professional world tardiness is not tolerated.However, this campus is large, and another instructor may keep you late.So if you do arrive late on occasion, do not disrupt class, and let me know by the end of the schedule adjustment period if you anticipate ongoing conflicts.Remember that it is your responsibility to catch up on your own time.
Making up Work. Timeliness is important in making up work. If you have an excused absence, please make arrangements with me as soon as possible to complete the assignment(s) you have missed during your absence.
Participation. The best way to earn high marks for participation is to complete required readings before class meetings, and bring to class the readings with key passages highlighted along with your own questions and issues for discussion.You are expected to participate actively in class discussions, to treat your classmates and teacher with respect and courtesy, and to behave in a manner appropriate to a college classroom. Since a basic level of active and intelligent participation is taken as a given, failure to participate at this level, including by virtue of excessive absences (even excused absences), can reduce your grade, as can negative or inappropriate participation. To get an “A” in class participation, you should not only speak during class discussion and be willing and able to answer questions but also encourage participation in others by asking thoughtful and appropriate questions and by listening carefully.
Electronics Policy. Use of laptop computers, hand‐held devices, and other electronics during class is prohibited without my permission. Although some students prefer to take notes on their laptops, experience shows that this practice is too often subject to abuse – that is, students email and surf the web in class, which 1) distracts them from what is happening in the live, interactive learning setting, and 2) distracts students sitting nearby. If you would like to take notes on your laptop, I will generally grant you permission to do so. In order to ensure that you are truly engaged in class and are using your laptop to take notes, I may periodically ask you to email your notes to me for a quick review. I will not be grading your notes; I am instead making sure that you are not using your laptop to surf Facebook, etc.
ELMS. Course documents (syllabus, paper assignments, etc.) will be posted on the university’s ELMS website ( If you misplace any of the paperwork distributed in class, you will be able to get replacement copies via ELMS. Additionally, you will find announcements, PowerPoint slides from class, and your grades on ELMS. Finally, you will submit your journals and formal writing assignments via ELMS. You must submit your papers in doc or docx format. If you compose your documents in another program, such as GoogleDocs, you will be responsible for copying the text to doc or docx format. Such copying may affect your formatting, and you are responsible for fixing any formatting problems. It is your responsibility to check the ELMS site routinely as part of your participation in this course. (Note: Adjust as necessary to your own use of ELMS.)
Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty—such as submitting someone else’s work as your own, submitting your own work completed for another class without my permission, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, or otherwise violating the University’s Code of Academic Integrity—will not be tolerated. You are expected to understand the University’s policies regarding academic integrity. These can be found at the Student Honor Council website at Please visit this website, click on the “students” link, and read the information carefully.