People face trade-offs

Started: 25-ago-2021 Submitted: 29-ago-2021

People Face Trade-offs Raciel Vera

Essay

During my last semester, I am faced with a tough decision to make as far as choosing an elective course is concerned. I have three very important

courses that I am very interested in taking, but I can only take one of them due to financial constraints. The three courses am vested in are a

psychology course, a course in general macroeconomics, and a course in business ethics. How I wish I could take them all, anyway I am going to

have to settle for one. I will have to evaluate the opportunity cost of choosing any of the three then rationalize the decision by comparing the cost

and benefits of the course I settle for. In trying to rationalize my decision, I must ask myself what is the incentive for choosing one and not the

other? I am leaning more toward human psychology. Yes, I know I am surprised too. The main reason for choosing the psychology course and not

the other two is that the opportunity cost for foregoing the other two is not too much since I am an economic major, the other two courses have

come up here and there as topics in the other course that I have taken during my college. You see, opportunity cost is the cost of what you give up

getting something, and you want the cost of what you are giving up being as minimal as possible. If I were to miss out on a psychology course, I

would miss out on a lot, and it is one aspect of business that is very important. I am seriously considering going into business after graduation, and

the nature of my business ideas are very interactive to humans. So, taking a course in psychology will come in handy for me. Well, I guess what they

say is true; people always respond to incentives. That is my main incentive for choosing a course in psychology. One may wonder why I did not

choose business ethics instead. As I mentioned, I have brushed shoulders with some topics that touched on business ethics. I can use what I already

know to foster my knowledge of ethics; besides, I believe psychology touches on ethics. For me, the benefits of psychology do outweigh the cost of

foregoing the other two. It is a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

MY Tutor Feedback

Focus

Revision Goal 1: Establish and maintain a controlling idea or bottom line throughout the document in order to achieve the purpose established in your writing

prompt.

1. Re-read your document. Find a sentence that you could use as the controlling idea or bottom line of your document. You may also write a new sentence if

you wish.

Example: Eric's document is a bit scattered, but once he reads it again, he finds the sentence he wants to use as a controlling idea: "Telecommuting benefits

both employees and the community."

2. Once you have your controlling idea, highlight all the areas in your document that are on track with your controlling idea or bottom line.

Example: Eric finds some sentences that are on track with his controlling idea, including these:

"Telecommuting allows employees to more efficiently manage their busy schedules."

"Traffic congestion is reduced when employees telecommute."

Holistic Focus Content Organization Language Mechanics

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3. Integrate key words from your controlling idea into your supporting details. In addition, use transitional expressions to connect your thoughts.

Example: Eric still has to make sure that the ideas in his document are connected, so he uses key words from his controlling idea as well as transitional

expressions to connect his thoughts: "One benefit of telecommuting is that it allows employees to manage their busy schedules more efficiently. Another

benefit is that traffic congestion in a community is reduced."

Revision Goal 2: Understand and connect with the intended audience.

1. Re-read your document. Highlight sentences that demonstrate a lack of adaptation to the audience.

Example: Sarah reads her document and finds a couple of sentences that she realizes would make smokers angry and non-cooperative, definitely not the

purpose of the document: "Since smoking is bad for you and others, the management of XYZ company is no longer going to stand by and let employees who

smoke ruin their health and our bottom line."

2. Pay attention to the audience's knowledge, needs, beliefs, and/or feelings.

Example: Sarah has to do a lot of work to revise the above sentence. Notice how the sentences below show sympathy and respect for all involved while still

maintaining management's authority: "The management team at XYZ company acknowledges how difficult it is to quit smoking, despite the health benefits of

doing so. As we evaluate the smoking policy and health care coverage in regard to smoking cessation programs, we will consider the rights and

responsibilities of all employees--those who smoke, those who are trying to quit, and those who do not smoke."

Content

Revision Goal 1: Offer support for developing a concept or idea.

1. Re-read your document. Highlight one or two specific concepts or ideas that can be more sufficiently developed.

Example: Brian finds a sentence in his document that could be further developed: "A diverse audience requires a presenter to consider more closely how to

deliver the message of the presentation."

2. Add details such as reasons, explanations, facts, or arguments that can support your ideas.

Example: Brian realizes that the diversity of the audience is an area that could use further development. He chooses to focus on the diversity of technological

knowledge in the audience, particularly the difference between expert and novice understanding.

3. Now incorporate those supporting ideas into your document.

Example: Brian adds some minor descriptive elements to help incorporate his supporting details into his document: "Closely observing the audience's

diversity will help presenters in demonstrating 'cloud computing' to certified network specialists differently than they would to fifth graders."

Revision Goal 2: Show the use and understanding of business concepts and terms.

1. Re-read through your document and highlight at least two areas where you can include relevant business concepts or terms.

Example: One of the areas that Riva finds is this sentence: "Discussions about how much money our country owes focus on what the government owes and

often ignore what ordinary people and companies owe."

2. Create a list of three business concepts or business terms that could be included in your document in these areas.

Example: Riva creates a list of business terms that fit this subject:

"Public debt."

"Private debt."

"Economy."

3. Now incorporate these business concepts or terms into your document.

Example: Riva incorporates the terms into her sentence: "Discussions about our national economy often focus on public debt but ignore private debt."

Organization

Revision Goal 1: Establish and maintain a controlling idea or bottom line throughout the document.

1. Re-read your document. Highlight sentences that could serve as the controlling idea or bottom line. You may also write a new sentence if you wish.

Example: Elsie's document is disorganized, but once she reads it again, she finds the sentence she wants to use as a controlling idea: "Adopting the free and

open source operating system (FOSS) will hinder the ability of our teen youth group to function."

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2. Now that you have the controlling idea or bottom line of your document, brainstorm support for it. This support will become the bottom line or controlling

idea of the paragraphs in your document.

Example: Elsie can think of three ways that adopting the FOSS can hinder the ability a teen youth group to function. The first is that time spent learning FOSS

could be better used doing other things. The mainstream operating system is already familiar to everyone, so there is no training needed for it. In addition, the

mainstream operating system (MOS) has a 24-hour support staff, as opposed to the volunteers that offer "support" for the FOSS. Finally, using the MOS in an

office environment will give teens a valuable job skill, as opposed to the FOSS, which is used by only a small fraction of companies.

3. For each paragraph, brainstorm at least three supporting details.

Example: Elsie decides to start with the comparative value of the MOS and the FOSS to teens about to enter the job market. She brainstorms the following

supporting details:

"Employers all over the world use MOS as a matter of course."

"Few employers use FOSS."

"Employers value job candidates who can use the MOS expertly."

"Only a few value those that can program the FOSS."

"Most of our clients (and employees) are not capable of programming the FOSS but are capable of using the MOS."

4. Integrate key words from your controlling idea into your supporting details. In addition, use transitional expressions to connect your thoughts.

Example: Elsie now has to take the ideas she brainstormed and turn them into a paragraph that will fit into her document. This is what she writes: "Adopting

the free and open source software (FOSS) will hinder one of our group's goals, which is to help troubled teens find employment. Most companies are looking

for experienced users of the MOS, not the FOSS. In addition, those companies looking for experience with FOSS want job candidates who can program the

FOSS, not just use it. Unfortunately, we do not have the expertise or time to teach our clients or our staff or volunteers to program the FOSS. To adopt it would

greatly distract us from our goal of finding our clients jobs."

Language

Revision Goal 1: Accentuate the positive and de-emphasize the negative in your document.

1. Read your document. Highlight all words and phrases that sound negative such as do not, no, stop, and not, as well as words that convey a negative,

unpleasant, or disagreeable tone such as unfortunately, cannot, unable to, problem, difficult, error, loss, failure, or regret.

Example: Emily focuses on these sentences, which have two negative words sure to upset clients: "We do not guarantee success since we are unable to

predict the judgment of the courts."

2. Revise your document to accentuate the positive and de-emphasize the negative.

Example: Emily revises her sentences to focus on what can be done. Revising the sentence helps her to make the tone of her document positive: "At the law

firm of Dewey and Howe, we represent our clients through all outcomes to the best of our ability."

Revision Goal 2: Use active voice.

1. Read your document and highlight all sentences that use passive voice.

Example: Carrie reads her document and finds several sentences in the passive voice, including this one: "The report was developed and presented by the

committee."

2. Revise those sentences so that they are in the active voice.

Example: Carrie moves the committee, who wrote the report, to the front of the sentence: "The committee developed and presented the report."

Revision Goal 3: "Omit needless words." -- Strunk and White

1. Re-read your document. Highlight all wordy sentences.

Example: Vincent reads his document, and one of the sentences he highlights is this: "Cheryl's personal opinion was loudly stated."

2. Revise all highlighted sentences.

Example: Vincent revises his sentence like this: "Cheryl loudly stated her opinion." Vincent's revision eliminates "personal" since opinions are personal and, in

addition, rephrases the sentence so that it is active, not passive.

Revision Goal 4: Correct fragment errors.

1. Re-read your document. Highlight all sentence fragments.

Example: Karen highlights these passages in her document:

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"The client wants his office decorated elegantly. With antique books, high-end paintings, and quality furniture."

"A promise not to seek further damages from my client."

2. Revise fragments by combining fragments with other sentences or providing a subject and a verb for the sentence fragment.

Example: Karen revised those passages like this:

"The client wants his office decorated elegantly, with antique books, high-end paintings, and quality furniture." These two clauses belonged together since

separately, the second one was a fragment.

"The settlement must include a promise not to seek further damages from my client." Karen added a subject and a verb to this idea to turn it into a complete

sentence.

Revision Goal 5: Correct run-on errors.

1. Re-read your document. Highlight all run-on errors.

Example: Matt highlights this passage in his document: "A restaurant owner must have sufficient cash reserves to survive economic downturns and other

emergencies, without that reserve, the first unexpected event may force the owner to close the restaurant."

2. Revise run-ons by identifying sentences and placing periods at the end of them.

Example: Matt realizes that untangling this run-on will take some work, so he re-reads it slowly, looking for the end of each sentence. This is how he revises

that passage: "A restaurant owner must have sufficient cash reserves to survive economic downturns and other emergencies. Without that reserve, the first

unexpected event may force the owner to close the restaurant."

Mechanics

Revision Goal 1: Follow these steps to improve your use of mechanics and conventions.

Use the MY Editor feedback to improve your understanding of mechanics and conventions.

1. Pay attention to the specific feedback that MY Editor gives you as you compose and edit your document. Begin by revising any spelling or punctuation

errors you have committed. Then run MY Editor again to reexamine any remaining grammar errors that remain.

2. Write down the terms used in the feedback.

3. Study the terms that came up most often.

4. When you master your understanding of a particular term, move on to a new one.

Network to improve your understanding of mechanics and conventions.

1. Start or join a small, serious study group on the topic of mechanics and conventions.

2. Ask your instructor to recommend other resources to help you master mechanics and conventions.

When you rewrite your document, pay attention to your sentences to avoid errors in mechanics and conventions.

1. Place a period at the end of each of your complete thoughts/sentences.

2. Place the subjects of your sentences as close as you can to the beginning of your sentences.

When you rewrite your document, focus on correcting the errors that came up the most often in the original document.

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