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ReadingJournal

The Rhetoric of the Memo and Email

The third section down on page one discusses the difference between a memo and a note. The main underlying point about notes is that they are informal, concise, but informative. Then an example is given about a lunch note not being informative enough resulting in a back and forth note exchange. This example reminds me of people who text message but do not include enough information for the receiver. This which results in an exchange of an unnecessary amount of text messages.

In the fifth section of the page titled, "To Attach or Not To Attach" discusses when it is and is not appropriate to include an attachment. It talks about how it's frustrating for an e-mail receiver to get an e-mail with an attachment. The user has to take the time to open the attachment and wrestle with compatibility problems. This reminds me of when somebody sends me a doc.x file and I have to wrestle with the file unless I have access to Microsoft office 2007 or have to ask them to resend it to me in compatibility format.

Finally the last section on the page is the "Guidelines for Sending Messages" section. In this section it states that you should send as an attachment if the document has specialized formatting or complex features like tables and worksheets. This reminds me of when somebody copies and pastes a worksheet or a table into the body of an e-mail and it gets all jumbled up.

Types of Documents (Generes)

In the top section under the second paragraph, it mentions that e-mail is like the modern day memo. I never had written a memo before this class and feel that this could be a pretty good comparision, based on how it's explained

In the second section about templates I agree with the dangers listed. I feel that although templates can be helpful, people can become too dependant on them and that is an unhealth situation.

The Complex Nature of Writing

I found the part about the process of writing intersting. It seems that this little excerpt has in it the underlying theme of the class. This is an approach that I've never really had a class focus on so I find it very hard but interesting at the same time.

Also under the productions and delivery systems section I found it clever that they mention that if you haven't patened an idea, you need to be careful how you talk about it.

Understanding Purpose

In reading about principal 2 I could not help but think about the time I wrote a letter to Human Resources in order to promote better human relations. Because I used effective communication I was able to get an awful manager fired

When I was reading about principal 3 I couldn't help but think about the way my company handle business. Specifically, I think about the dispute over raises.

Then the persuade section reminded me of how I wrote an pre discussion e-mail to my manager in order to persuade him to give me a raise.

Overview: The Rhetorical Theory of Professional Writing Online

When I was reading about the way writing functions within an organization I couldn't help but think about the one time I was injured at work and they forced me to go to the clinic, but it wasn't in writing so i fought it and got away with it.

Style, Audience, and the Arrangement of Information

I though the K-mart analogies on how to arrange information based on the audience was interesting. I feel like arragment of information in aims for a more desireable outcome happens all the time. This is especially true in politics.

Thinking About Document Design

When I was reading the exceprt about unity I as thinking about examples where it is not used and the user gets a headache trying to navigate the page. Also, when I was reading the part about emphasis, I was thinking about how during presentation people always put too much information up for the audience, it becomes an information overload.

Ordering Information For Understanding

When I was reading the areas that were discussing how readers preprocess information I remember these terms from psychology. In regards to chunking I know that when we have a phone number to remember we try to break it into chunks that we will remember