Portfolio and Cover Memo

RE: Memo Format, WP #3, and Portfolios

Memos are single-spaced. Paragraphs are not indented, but you do put spaces between the paragraphs. Memos are still fairly common, especially when a paper trail is needed (for any number of reasons), but email may well replace memos in the long run.

The memo’s style emphasizes concision, and memos eliminate some features of a letter, such as the greeting and closing. That is, you won’t see a “Dear John” at the beginning or a “Sincerely” at the end. Memos do include some information from letters, such as the date.

Content-wise, memos cut to the chase. The first paragraph gets down to business. Occasionally, for longer memos, the first paragraph will give an overview of what follows. The first paragraph won’t be full of idle chatter; rather, the first paragraph will contain important information about the subject.

Think of WP #3 as a problem/solution memo. First, think about your professional life (as a student, at work, in an organization to which you belong), and then identify an exigency – an “imperfection marked by urgency” as Bitzer states – that you would like to see addressed. Once you’ve selected the problem, figure out your audience. What one person can best address your exigency? Choose a single person (and not all Americans or everyone in your organization). Then put yourself in their shoes, locate the common ground you share, and then explain the problem and how it might be solved. Keep Doumont’s and Tannen’s advice in mind.

Looking ahead past WP#3, for your portfolio cover memos, be sure to discuss each of the WPs you’re submitting, the revisions made to them, and the rationale for those revisions. You might want to discuss each WP in a separate paragraph. Feel free to point to specific revisions in the content of the WPs, such as new paragraphs or changes you made to the organization. The WPs should represent your skills as a writer and rhetorician.

Your cover memo should also discuss three specific learning goals from the syllabus. In the process, you should discuss your ability to accomplish the goals, and then provide specific evidence to back up those claims. You can point to specific elements of your portfolio essay as evidence, or you can identify specific in-class activities, readings, and exercises as evidence, or some combination of the two. You might refer to the document you completed in Week 1, when you first evaluated your skills versus the learning outcomes.

The length of the portfolio cover memo is one-to-two single spaced pages. You shouldn’t need more than two pages, and may need little more than one. Be certain to polish the cover memo before you submit it. And please do not pander to the instructor. Remember that of the Aristotelian appeals, I most value ethos. Thanks.