Communications 112: Professional Communication I

Communications 112: Professional Communication I

Assignment #2: Memo Summary

Worth: 10% of final grade

Length: approx. 1 ½ pages

Format: Memo format, typed or word-processed; single-spaced;

12 point font

Draft Review: Wednesday, September 13

Due Date: Monday, September 25

These are revised dates and do not match the course outline.

In a memo of about one and a half pages, please write a summary of this article:

Fielden, F.S., & Dulek, R.E. (2005). How to use bottom-line writing in corporate communications.

· Write the summary assuming the reader has lightly skimmed the article.

· Use reporting expressions, but you don’t need to include a reference page

· Express the central concern(s) of the article, accurately and economically

· Judge the balance between high-level abstractions and the low-level supporting details

· Use your own words as much as possible

· Include a brief introductory paragraph introducing your source (full name of author, full title of article), and the abstract concepts that comprise the argument of the article. In effect, those concepts will become your forecasting statement.

· New Exercise: create notes of this article. Attach your notes from this article to the final submission of this assignment. If I mentioned in the first note-taking exercise that you didn’t have enough notes for the previous summarized article, please ensure you take more this time.

High level ideas are the most important, but the details in this article are a significant aspect of the argument.

You can find information on memo format here (or just Google “memo format example):

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/01/

Remember, your draft should be as complete as if you were going to submit the assignment that day. If you do not come to this class with a complete draft as described above, your submitted assignment will lose 5% off the grade.