ENC 3250 PROFESSIONAL WRITING: MIDTERM REFLECTIONBy: Evan Hamel

THE FIVE C’S

• One of the first documents I remember reading for this class was the 5 C’s grading rubric. I think the 5 C’s will not only apply to this class but will be crucial in any writing I do later in life for business. The 5 C’s are:

• Clear

• Concise

• Complete

• Correct

• Courteous

• By keeping these simple steps in mind I will be able to make sure any emails, memos, letters, or any other documents I write will be up to any companies standards of writing.

WA1- LETTER OF COMPLAINT

• Our first writing assignment was to write a letter of complaint. Learning how to write a letter of complaint is very useful in all aspects of life whether personal or business. When things do not go the way they should or how you expected you need a way of letting a company know and how they could do better and this assignment really showed me how to do this appropriately.

• By following the lay out provided I was able to learn how to go about a complaint nicely while still letting them know I was dissatisfied.

• First you identify the problem, followed by an explanation of what happened in detail. You then go into what you expect the company in wrong to do to fix such problems from reoccurring.

• By following this outline and keeping the 5 C’s in mind I was able to create a good letter of complaint and will be able to do so again when needed.

MEDIUMS OF COMMUNICATION

• There are so many ways of communicating now a days such as emails, memos, letters, faxes, instant messaging, phones, face-to-face meetings and plenty more I often find it difficult to choose which way is best.

• When reading chapter 2 I learned how to choose the best form depending on my purpose.

• The book went over ways of deciding such as: who my audience is, my best form of communicating, how big of an audience I am talking to, the confidentiality required, the resources available, and the policies for that specific organization.

• Being able to choose the right form of communication will be key anywhere ever I work after I graduate so I found this very interesting.

MEDIUMS OF COMMUNICATION

• E-mail:

• E-mail is very common for students and teachers or in the work place for employees and/or management to get in touch with each other.

• E-mails are often an acceptable form of communication for just about any purpose.

• Memos:

• Memos are a good way to relay a message to multiple people r employees of an organization.

• Can be used to give instructions, announce policies, report results, or to delegate responsibilities.

• I work at Marshall’s, and management is always posting memos in the break room for the employees including myself to read.

MEDIUMS OF COMMUNICATION

• Faxes:

• Faxes are used when the information must be viewed in its original form.

• Faxing makes it easy for people who may not be close to each other in distance to get important documents such as forms or contracts.

• Face-to-Face Meetings:

• Meeting in person is a good way to start initial contacts with associates or clients such as a new hire or a new long lasting client.

• Meeting in person can also be good if you have a specific problem or have specific questions you may not want others to know about.

WA2- MEMO

• Our second writing assignment taught us how to format and write a memo. I found this very interesting because I’ve never written a memo before and know they are commonly used in businesses for communication.

• In our memo we had to send recommendations of books for first year students to read to the One book One Campus committee. I didn’t follow the exact format given and put the table at the end rather than before the concluding paragraph and I now see that the concluding paragraph should have been saved for the end due to proper formatting of memos.

• I work part time at Marshall’s while I am still in school and I always see memos posted in the break room for the associates to get any new information.

• Memos are a great way to relay information to large amounts of people that may not all be in the same area at a given time.

AA2- ANALYZING TWO WEBSITES

• I chose to do my AA2 assignment on animal shelters which made this assignment kind of fun. I got to look at pictures of dogs and cats and people taking care of them all while analyzing the websites.

• This assignment taught me the Do’s and Don’t’s of creating websites and how to portray information clearly and effectively to best reach the goals desired.

• This assignment also taught me how to analyze things better and really break down information to see how clear and effective these things are.

DESIGN AND VISUALS

• Writing and Reading are very good ways of communicating but sometimes a visual can really put things in perspective.

• Common types of visuals are tables, charts, pictures, or graphs which make seeing the information much easier at times rather than just reading about a topic.

• Knowing the proper use of visuals and how to portray them will be key in my life after graduation in order to relay accounting information to other departments and reach the companies goals.

STYLE

• Style is very important in writing any form of professional writing.

• Being too casual or informal is often seen as unprofessional and most people in the business world will not take such writing seriously.

• Especially in writings such as emails, letters, or memos it is important to maintain a level of professionalism to be as effective as possible.

CLARITY

• Clarity is also very important in any form of professional writing.

• In order to get things done as effectively as possible people have to be able understand what and how to do what is being asked or told.

• Often times in my writing I can be too wordy which is a big cause of being misunderstood or not clear.

• Reading chapter ten helped me see many ways of how to make my writing more clear which will be very useful now while I’m in school and in my career after graduation.

MOST IMPORTANT THING I’VE LEARNED

• I think the most important thing I’ve learned so far is the use of the five C’s.

• In any writing I do in life these simple steps will help me make my writing the best it can be.

• After writing any form of document whether it be an email to my boss or teacher, or writing a memo to the faculty at Marshall’s or at an accounting firm after graduation by simply seeing if my writing is clear, concise, complete, correct, and courteous I will be able to make my work as effective as possible.

REFERENCES:

• Alred, G., Brusaw, C., & Oliu, W. (2005). The Business Writer's Companion . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

• google images. (2014, October). Retrieved from Google.com: https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ei=2045VKePLofIgwTW_oGgCA&ved=0CAQQqi4oAg