Effective

Business Writing
Course

MBA 621
Fall 2015
Constant Hall 1059
S 9am1pm, Aug. 22Oct. 13
mba621odu.wordpress.com

Instructor

Dr. Daniel P. Richards

Department of English
Batten Arts and Letters 5032
T 9am-11a; W 6p-7p
dprichar@odu.edu

Course Description
Any individual who has spent any amount of time in a business setting knows how important
written communication is to the functioning of a successful organization. More the just the oil
that keeps the engine running smoothly, effective business writing helps create, maintain, and
sustain positive workplace cultures in areas of public relations, interoffice communication, and
employee moraleto name just a few. On an individual level, being an effective writer in the
workplace allows you to advance in your career in more dynamic and beneficial ways.
The difficult part of this conversation is the fact that many of us have strong feelings of stress,
anxiety, and insecurity when it comes to writing. The reasons for these feelings are varied and
to put it bluntly unimportant. What is important at this stage in your life and career is that you
start taking personal responsibility for your writing by reading, studying, and practicing the
art. People are not born good writersgood writers work hard and diligently at their art and
treat it like any other. This short class represents a step in that direction.
This course is designed to provide students not only with an understanding of
communication, specifically written, in business and management settings but also with an
open space to cultivate the finer skills associated with becoming an effective business writer.
These objectives will be accomplished through exploring rhetorical theory that helps situate
our work, producing and revising documents that fall within common business genres, and
working collaboratively with your peers on producing meaningful work.

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Course Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Analyze written and verbal communications through the lens of rhetorical theory

Think critically about rhetoric and audience awareness

Prepare clear messages using logical arguments and effective organization

Apply principles of design, style, and tone to workplace writing documents

Methods of Teaching

Given the unique configuration of this course and the amount of time we will be spending
together at one time, there will be ample discussion and individual and collaborative in-class
activities to coincide with lectures, presentations, and reading time.

Textbook
Piotrowski, Maryann V. (1996). Effective business writing: A guide for those who write on the
job. (2nd ed.) New York: HarperCollins.

Attendance
Attendance to all classes is mandatory. In addition, you will be counted absent if you:
Arrive more than 15 minutes late
Leave early
Sleep during class time or are thoroughly unengaged
Use electronic devices (laptops, cell phones, etc.) outside of approved times
Read outside materials or do work for another class
Disrupt classthis includes chatting, text-messaging, inappropriately using a computer,
or generally disrupting the flow of class

Technology Requirements
Specific technology requirements are as follows:
Old Dominion email account and the ability to attach files
Working knowledge of an Internet browser and a word processing program
Ability to convert files to PDF
Openness to using Google Drive for writing and collaborative activities

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Email Policy
Given the nature of the course, professional email correspondence is of utmost importance.
All emails sent to the instructor must have the following characteristics: pertinent title,
appropriate greeting, clear sentences, concise paragraphs, and a signature indicating your full
name. I reserve the right to not respond to any email that does not fulfill the above
characteristics or that asks questions about the timeliness of grading and/or information
presented clearly presented in the syllabus (you may ask for further clarification). Below are
some basic dos and donts:
Do
Check your email every weekday
Expect response within 48 hours
Think of professor as an academic
Write about concerns of learning

Do Not
Check it once a week
Expect response outside of the 8am-5pm block
Think of professor as a customer service agent
Write about grading timelines

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Plagiarism will result in the failure of the assignment and possibly the failure of the course.
Students cannot use work completed for credit in previous courses to count towards this
course nor can they lift ideas or content from any source without proper APA citation.

Accommodations1
In accordance with university policy, a student who wishes to receive some instructional
accommodation, because of a documented sensory and/or learning disability, should contact
the instructor to discuss this accommodation. The instructor must be notified in the first two
weeks of the course of any students requiring accommodations.

Withdrawal
A syllabus constitutes a contract between the student and the course instructor. Participation
in this course indicates your acceptance of its content, requirements, and policies. If you
believe that the nature of this course does not meet your interests, needs, or expectations
(amount of work involved, class meetings, assignment deadlines, course policies, etc.), you
should drop the class by the drop/add deadline, indicated in the ODU Schedule of Classes.
If you have questions about assistance, please contact the Office of Educational Accessibility at
757-683-4655 or visit odu.edu/educationalaccessibility.
1

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Assignments
All assignments must be complete by due date indicated. All late work will be penalized at a
third of a letter grade per day late. Extensions will be negotiated on a situational basis. All
assignments must be submitted in order to pass the class.
Assignment
Participation & In-Class Activities
Assignment One: Rhetorical Analysis
Assignment Two: Writing within Genres
Assignment Three: (Re)Styling Your Work
Assignment Four: Collaborative Project
Writing Inventory & Reflection

Weight
30%
15%
15%
15%
15%
10%

Due Date
Weekly
September 8
September 23
October 1
October 10
October 13

Below you will find specifics on each assignment and how each will be assessed.
30% Participation and In-Class Activities
Each student is expected to come to class having done the required readings and
ready to engage in thoughtful, energetic discussion. Given the size of the class and the
nature of its content, consistent participationbe it discussion, in-class activities, group
work, or research exercisesis an essential component to success in this course. Any
work done during class will be handed in hard copy, through Blackboard, or through
Google Drive.
15% Assignment One: Rhetorical Analysis
Effective writing means first knowing the situation at hand: analyzing the players
involved, articulating the purpose of the message, and getting to know the audience.
Students will begin the course by conducting a rhetorical analysis, in the process
honing their communicative analytical skills.
15% Assignment Two: Writing within Genres
Genres are the categorical conventions of different writing artifacts or processes.
Writing effectively in a business setting means having the dexterity to enter in and out
of different writing genres at different times and for different purposes. Each student
will select two genres and compose documents within the understood conventions of
each genre, noting how genres emerge from different social needs and contexts.
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15% Assignment Three: (Re)Styling Your Work

This assignment asks students to get their hands dirty and focus on the finerwhat are
called lower-orderconcerns of a written document. This involves paragraph
development, word choice, focus, and verb tense, to name a few. Students will take
their two written documents from assignment two and re-style them, refining them
for clarity, conciseness, and overall effectiveness. Revisions will be noted and
rationalized in a separate document.
15% Assignment Four: Collaborative Project
This project asks students to do something that is difficult but that each person will
invariably do a lot of in their lives: working collaboratively. Students will divide into
groups and compose a useful set up instructions for future writers on a given topic.
The document must be well-researched, with examples integrated throughout.
examples. This project will exemplify the principles of document design and effective,
rhetorical writing.
10% Writing Inventory and Reflection
Students will use the writing inventory composed during the first week of the semester
and write up a reflection on how their perceptions, actions, and attitudes have changed
over the course of the eight weeks.

Weighting Scale
Letter grades are determined according to the following scale (%):
A
A-

95-100
90-94.9

B+
B
B-

87.5-89.9
82.5-87.4
80-82.4

C+
C
C-

77.5-79.9
72.5-77.4
70-72.4

D+
D
D-

67.5-69.9
62.5-67.4
60-62.4

<59.9

Pass/Fail grades are determined according to the following scale (%):

Pass 75-100
Fail 74.9-below
Late assignments will receive a penalty of one-third of a letter grade per day, including
weekends (i.e., a B+ grade would after two late days be reduced to a B-).

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Assessment
All deliverables will be assessed generally in accordance with the following four categories.
Concept: Purpose, audience, effective research, knowledge of a topic
Structure: Strong thesis, logical and detailed argument, exploration, explanation,
effective paragraph organization
Design: Document design, professional formatting, accurate visuals, usable for readers,
technically sound
Style, Grammar, and Mechanics: Sentence-level organization, prose, grammar,
punctuation, mechanics, citation

Course Schedule
Follow Blackboard and course website announcements for changes and also check email for
any updates. We will only be meeting four times in person in Constant Hall 1059. The time
between meetings will constitute the time of completing assignments. Note: The due dates
fall in between class meetings. Pay close attention to the due dates.
Meeting One
Aug. 29

Topic:
Readings:

The Contingency of Language

Piotrowski, Chapters 1 + 2

Due: Assignment One (September 8)

Meeting Two
Sept. 12

Topic:
Readings:

The Patterns of Communication

Piotrowski, Chapters 3 + 7

Due: Assignment Two (September 23)

Meeting Three
Sept. 26

Topic:
Readings:

The Shaping and Styling of Texts

Piotrowski, Chapters 4 + 5

Due: Assignment Three (October 1)

Meeting Four
Oct. 3

Topic:
Readings:

Writing as a Social Process

Piotrowski, Chapter 6; Schon

Due: Assignment Four (October 10)

Due: Writing Inventory and Reflection (October 13)

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