ENG:103 Report Writing Adams
Process Memorandum Team Report #3
PURPOSE: To learn to work effectively in teams, to write clear, easy-to-follow instructions, and to use a standard memorandum format.
AUDIENCE: Department Manager, Marketing Director and President of Company for Memo; Twelve-Year-Old (approximate) User for Directions
VOICE: Informal, active, second person
PRIMARY TRAIT: Explanation of a process /presenting instructions
2-PART ASSIGNMENT: Write a short "cover" memo and explain how to carry out a procedure--a set of directions.
You are new employees in the corporate office of Ballyho Advertising Company (BAC) that has as one of its clients the Tinkertoy Toy Company (TTC). One of its products is "Tinkertoys." TTC's marketing department wants a new, more simplified and up-to-date booklet of instructions to be included with the toy sets that are to be on store shelves before Christmas. Your department manager, Mary Lou Brooks, is holding an employee contest (with sizeable cash prizes) for teams to develop a new models, graphic representations of them, and clear instructions to build them (written for a typical 12-year-old). Your team and the others entering this contest are to include your instructions with a memo and send them to Mary Lou Brooks with copies to Bill Smith, marketing director at TTC, and Cedric Tinker, TTC President. You each want to impress your boss with the quality of your writing so that you will be recommended for a raise early in the new year, escape the impending "downsize list," and also qualify as cash prize winners.
NOTE: TTC has just acquired Construx and Capsela toy companies, so you may use them also for models.
Requirements:
The model must
1. have at least 30 parts, no more than 45.
2. use at least 3 connecting parts.
3. be somewhat sophisticated--not too simple (to take 5-10 minutes to assemble). Include an estimate of how much time it should take to assemble.
4. have at least one moving part and three or more subsections.
5. represent something from real life like a house, vehicle, farm machine, recreation apparatus, or an animal.
6. have a name
The instructions/directions for putting together the model should
7. Include a drawing or a graphic (of any kind) as a visual aid to your written instructions.
8. Should be written for an average twelve-year old reader. (The newspaper is written on this level.) However, the audience for your memo will be your department manager.
9. Follow directions for good process writing.
10. Use "Notes" or "Warnings" to highlight any steps that need special consideration or caution.
11. Be "field tested" by your peers before you attach them to memo.
12. Use task-specific vocabulary.
The memo should
13. Use traditional memo format (see text)
14. Have an audience of your department manager, Mary Lou Brooks, with two cc's (above)
15. Introduce the new model and tell that the instructions are attached.
16. Be no longer than three paragraphs.
This assignment is due_________
Process-Writing Instructions
PREWRITING:
Choose/design a model that is appropriate for the assignment.
Divide the process of building the model into logical parts.
Decide which person(s) you want to learn this process.
List the steps in an organized and meaningful order.
Write a thesis telling your reader what to expect from reading further.
List the items you need or might need to carry out the process.
List the vocabulary terms needed for explaining specific tasks
INTRODUCTION:
Tell the purpose of the process if it is not already made clear.
Tell how much time assembly should take.
List the main steps or main parts of the process
Briefly explain the theory if some clear principle underlies the process.
BODY:
Write a topic sentence for each set of steps.
Use numbers or bullets to list steps.
Use details, descriptions, and examples to make your reader understand each step.
Write in the second person. Keep your directions in active voice. (The word you will be the subject of most sentences, either expressed or understood.) Be concise. Avoid wordiness and repetitions.
Use transitions to express time and position, such as first, next, during, behind, in front of, etc.
CONCLUSION:
You may end with the last step. Just make sure it sounds ended.
Or you may evaluate the results of the process.
Or you may briefly summarize the reason for the process.
Or you may discuss the importance of the process.
Writing A Simple Memorandum (Memo)
Create a Memo Heading
TO: (reader's names and job title)
FROM: (your name and job title)
DATE: (complete and current date)
SUBJECT: (what the memo is about, highlighted in some way. This is a type of title. Use title caps)
Add Content
Organize the content of your memo to transmit the necessary information and to help achieve your purpose in this assignment.
Suggestions:
Opening: Come right out and tell your reader (the name next to TO:) the kind of information that you are transmitting. For example, you might say: "This memo presents _______________."
Body: State the most important points first and move to the supporting details. Include only as much information as is needed. Don't ramble on. Most memos are rather short although they can go to several pages when they are part of a proposal or recommendation, for example. This assignment requires a short, one-page information memo. You can enclose your directions, which may be longer than one page, with your memo.
Note: For easy reading, put important points or details into lists rather than paragraphs when possible. Be careful to make lists parallel in grammatical form.
Conclusion:
After you have supplied all of your information, you want to close with a courteous ending, similar to a letter, stating what action you want your reader to take.
Necessary Attachments/Enclosures
You can attach procedures, lists, graphs, tables, etc. at the end of your memo. Be sure to refer to your attachments in your memo and add a notation about what is attached below your closing, similar to this:
Attached: Directions for XYZ Tinkertoy Model
Concurrent Copies
You may want to send copies of your memo to readers other than the one listed in the heading. You can add a concurrent copy list at the bottom of the page like this:
CC: Jim Jones
Look at the sample memos in your text for some additional ideas. Good luck on your memo.
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TEAM PROCESS MEMO REPORT #3
(Attach to paper)
EVALUATION:
MEMO
1. Is your process report included in a correctly formatted memo? Does it have a proper heading and effective paragraphing? Does it follow the assignment directions?
2. Have you constructed an appropriate thesis statement explaining what process is being explained and why?
3. Is the body of your memo clear and concise about the details you are transmitting?
4. Does your memo have an appropriate concluding sentence or paragraph?
5. Does your memo have the appropriate notations following the concluding paragraph?
6. Are your words, sentences, and paragraphs clear and correct in the memo?
PROCESS DIRECTIONS
1. Do you have a title for your model? Do you have a thesis statement saying what process you are explaining?
2. Have you listed all the items that will be needed for the process to be carried out?
3. Do you have a list of main steps (not too many in each grouping)?
4. Have you included an estimate of assembly time?
5. Have you organized your paragraphs well enough for the reader to follow your directions? Do they have appropriate topic sentences.
6. Is every step needed to carry out the process discussed? Are the steps organized and sequenced effectively? Is each step explained in enough detail for the reader to carry out the process?
7. Are the instructions written in active voice in the form of commands? Have you avoided wordiness and repetitions? Used task-specific vocabulary?
8. Have you used effective transitions?
9. Is your visual aid/illustration effectively labeled, neatly finished, and appropriate for its purpose?
10. Are your sentence structure, grammar, mechanics, and spelling satisfactory for a college-level paper?
Scoring Rubric for Composition 103 (Report Writing) Papers
6= 100 points 5= 80 points 4= 60 points 3= 40 points 2= 20 points 1= 0 points
6 Superior