Assignment 1: Memo-in-Context

Due date: Wednesday, 9/5 Where: Please email to me as an attachment. Include a brief, professional message in the email body. **In your email to me, please indicate the number of the prompt you chose to respond to. When: 11:00 am For our first assignment, you will be given various prompts to choose from. Each prompt provides a real-life situation in which an organization might need to produce and distribute a memo. You will choose one of these prompts and create a one-page memo based on the context provided to you in the prompt. Purpose: To learn and produce the rhetorical strategies and genre characteristics of a business memo. This assignment will challenge you to consider not only the genre of a memo, but also its role within an organization or group. Audience: Remember that knowing your audience is key to writing with an effective tone. Adapt your language accordingly based on the given audience in the prompt.

Key Skills: genre analysis, concision, clarity, grammar, persuasion, narrative

Format

o one page o single-spaced o 12 point font o Times or Times New Roman for body o Times or Arial for headings o 1 inch margins o block format (no indentation at the beginning of paragraphs and left indent) o Do NOT use a Word memo template, please

Header Your header will need the following items:

o a “To” line that identifies the intended audience/readers o a “From” line that identifies yourself as the author and should include written initials of

its author. (Since this is electronic, you will instead use a script-like font for intitials) o a “Date” line (the date the memo was written) o a “Subject” line. This will need to concisely describe the memo’s purpose. o one space between each of the lines. o NOTE: Sometimes memos contain a “CC” line, which stands for carbon copy. This line

denotes others who are receiving the memo but are not directly the audience of the memo. Those persons might be supervisors, administrative assistants, or other members

of the organization. Consider the context of your prompt—you might need to CC some people!

Memo body The body of your memo should carefully address the prompt. Also, remember you want to establish a professional and friendly tone.

o Start with a brief overview/summary. o Include bolded subheadings if rhetorically appropriate. o Use brief, organized, concise paragraphs that deal directly with the prompt o Make sure the information you transfer from the prompt to the memo is correct o Make sure your narrative is organized and flows. o End your memo with a quick statement of summary or a call to action, depending on the

prompt. o Be concise. Carefully consider your reader’s time and the amount of energy you want

them to expend by reading your memo.

o Also remember that your memo is a rhetorical document. Feel free to use images or other

persuasive techniques if you find them to be rhetorically effective; however, don’t overdo it. And don’t forget about the 1 page max!

o Other important considerations: Grammatical errors will hurt your professional image; Make sure your audience will not have gaps in knowledge; do not regurgitate the language of the prompt; carefully consider your ethos in your given role.

Grading Your memo will be graded for both form and content. Be sure you respond to the rhetorical situation in an appropriate manner. Be aware of your audience and your tone. In terms of formatting, check your fonts, margins, and all other design aspects of the memo. In terms of content, be certain that you have addressed all the questions provided and corresponded in a tone of friendly professionalism. *Note: we will create a rubric for this assignment together in class. Therefore, the evaluation of this memo will be agreed upon by all of us. Prompts Below are the prompts you may choose from. If you don’t find any of these prompts useful or appealing, you may write one yourself. However, you must email it to me for approval before you start writing your memo.

1. You are the Chief Pharmacist at the University of Arizona’s campus health center. The normal working hours are M-F from 8 am – 5 pm. However, less students come to the pharmacy over the summer, so the Campus Health Director has decided to change the summer hours to 8 am – 3:30 pm. This change will be in effect from May 23rd-August 22nd. It’s currently April 21. The Director has asked you, as Chief Pharmacist, to write a

memo to the part-time pharmacists and pharmacy technicians informing them of this change. In addition, you need to keep in mind that these employees are paid by the hour. Write a memo that explains the reasoning behind this change in hours and also assuages the concerns of the employees. Remember that memos are public documents and you therefore cannot just blame the Director!

2. You are the office manager at an architectural consulting firm. Your company is working on a very important, time-consuming and time-sensitive proposal. Memorial Day is coming up, and employees are supposed to receive holiday pay. Yet, with the impending deadline, you need approximately 20 (out of 300) employees to volunteer to work on Memorial Day. Volunteers will receive an incentive (choose an incentive you deem appropriate to the situation, such as overtime pay); however, if enough volunteers are not found, you will have to require others to work on Memorial Day, starting with those who have been hired most recently. Write a memo providing all relevant information and persuading volunteers to work on Memorial Day.

3. You work at an engineering firm with approximately 150 employees, and your company has just changed its email system from Outlook to Gmail. Many employees are having trouble using this new system (filters, folders, etc.), so your boss has decided to organize training sessions. Since you understand the new system well, he has asked you to write a memo to persuade your colleagues to attend the training. It’s now September 23rd, and the training will occur in three 2-hour sessions on October 2nd (8 am-10 am, 10:15 am-12:15 pm, and 2:00-4:00). The conference rooms can accommodate 25 employees at a time. Employees must email you with their chosen time, and they should keep in mind that these slots are first-come, first-served. Write a memo that persuades your coworkers to attend these sessions, and be sure to include all relevant information for scheduling the sessions. Oh—and your boss just dropped by to mention that he cannot offer pay for any part-time or by-the-hour employees. They must clock out for the training.

4. You are the most experienced animal technician in the veterinary office you work for. The veterinarian who you work for just read some recent research about the medication, Amoxicillin, which is an antibiotic for dogs. While he has previously prescribed up to 200 mg for dogs with ear infections, he has learned that prescribing over 100 mg per day can harm the dog’s liver. Therefore, he has asked you to write a memo to the other veterinarians in the office to warn them of this concern. (Remember, you are a tech writing to the vets; consider your tone!). Also, since your vet is the head of the practice, he wants you to implement some sort of penalty for those who do not follow his instructions. Determine a sanction appropriate to the situation.

5. You run a dance studio, in which you have employed one receptionist, four dance instructors, and an accountant. Massive street construction has been implemented on the main street where your studio is. This construction will last from October 3rd through December 4th (Today is October 1st). You are very concerned that you might lose customers due to lack of parking spots or general frustration with the construction, and you’re also worried that new customers might not know your studio is open. Write a memo to the parents of your dance students that explains the construction situation, indicating that your studio is still open during construction and alleviating any concerns they might have about parking or general access to the studio. In addition, consider asking the parents to promote your studio to friends (or come up with some useful alternatives), since you’re worried about losing new business.