Choose two writers who address your topic of interest.
Compose a brief 1-2 single spaced page attachment to an email in which you assess the ways each writer reports the facts of the situation.
The e-mail should be in the form of a routine message: it is responding to a routine request for information from your immediate supervisor—who has asked each member of her team to give her a brief summary of current writers/ideas in your area of business interest.
The attachment should be in the form of a memo to your boss—refer to Appendix B p. 524 in Cardon for formatting basics (omit the Enclosures and Distributions section). As you write the memo, plan on the first opening paragraph/section as providing an executive summary overview of your business area of interest and what how it is your two writers contribute to the field. If you would recommend one writer over the other, say so and say why.
When you organize your memo—use headings after the first section and have the first sentence of each section establish some kind of position/make some kind of claim—do not just describe. Refer to the Effective Claims handout (which is available on ICON) for assistance in writing narrow and specific claim statements and then substantiating them in your memo sections.
Objectives
This assignment asks you to become familiar with the business press. You will practice your analytical skills as you move through varying kinds of coverage of an event, issue, or development in the business world. As you move through your professional career, you’ll want to stay informed about changing landscape of business. The press is your best asset when doing so.
Your email memo attachment will demonstrate the extent to which you can analyze and compare different press accounts of a topic and then organize that information succinctly. The memo attachment will also demonstrate your understanding of audience. This attachment is for your boss. It must be succinct, clear, and informative.
The objective with the memo format is to give you a guide for how to present information clearly in a standardized format. You will not be assessed for how many inches your margins are or how many blank lines you leave between sections—follow the guidelines provided in the Cardon text but do not obsess over them. Your document should look clean and organized and use space on the page appropriately. The Appendix B sample gives you an idea of how you might structure the memo—although that sample does not include headings—and your memo should.
Approach
Choose a topic that interests you and choose two different information channels or formats (i.e. a blog and a print article). Take care to note where, when,and howeach instance of coverage was created and who was responsible for its content.
Determine each document’s main purpose(s). Be able to explain why the author created the document. How do the intended audience, the format, and the content focus determine the kinds of claims or information it contains?
Point out the assumptions the document makes about the topic and if these assumptions seem fairly mainstream/traditional or “outside of the box.”
You do not have to compare/contrast the two writers—the goal is not to describe the writers but to notice what kinds of contributions they are making to a particular topic or what insight they may have. You may find of your writers to be extremely useful—in either the same or in differing ways. It would probably not make sense to your boss to be given the names of two writers whom you find to be of little use to you—she would be wondering why you bothered to tell her about them. Think about what kind of information you would find useful or would want to know if you were the boss and asked your team to provide you with some ideas for who it is they are reading currently in their field of interest.
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