Response to Principles and SEND

I am not so sure that an argumentative style of writing would best suit the air bag case. The small statured woman in the complaint lady is already mad at her predicament, and taking up an argument with her, or addressing her problem verbatim to her is not helpful. Rather, I agree that reasoning skills are what truly would help this woman. It is silly that in the reading they call it an 'argument' when reasoning is what they really mean. Thus, acknowledging to this lady that she should take other safety precautions, Vanguard is in her best interest, and that we want her not to be harmed should be a top priority for the response letter. A good, well thought out opening sentence for this letter should reflect this 'priority' as I described above. As far as shaping texts, bolding certain words for emphasis is a little excessive for an assignment like this. Fancy indentations and alignments would most likely cause more harm than good. The purpose of a response to a complaint letter is to comfort or address the persons dilemma. Indentations and such would confuse the reader. Normal text indentations, and the text itself should remain conservative so that it is easy to read and understand.

Whoopah! I'm not done yet...

Email's are a great thing, and to most of us, it is a basic form of computing nowadays. However, the book has some good points to offer. What struck me the most was that you can actually get in a lot of trouble for writing something as simple as an email. This is an important chapter in SEND because many people forget that you represent the organization you work for and if you're caught writing an incriminating email (even if it was meant to be a joke) you can find yourself up shits creek. An immediate level of professionalism must be met once an individual has entered the work force. This is important to certain college students especially: those who like to 'goof' off. Goofing off in work is not viewed lightly - it's a situation in which one must act appropriate. You wouldn't be rude, obnoxious, or inconsiderate at a funeral, and the same should go for your job. This includes all aspects of you job, including using email. So don't even begin to write that message to Suzie Cutie telling her that her ass looks fine Bobby Graduate, you may just find yourself in a whirl of trouble.

Observations on My Group Work

Working today in the dregs of Hopwood (the bottom floor) I noticed that working with a stranger proved to be a bit of a challenge. Never before have I seen the man I was paired with, but that was ok because you do not choose who you want to work with out in the real world. Unfriendly on my part, I never asked or found out the name of the guy I worked with. Why didn't I ask his name? Anyway, most importantly, I learned that my partner and I weren't well suited for each other. We both did not step up and lead. As a result we did not accomplish much feasible work for our assignment of writing a definition about character in the Lynchburg College mission statement. We eventually cracked down and got to work, but I believe the unfamiliarity of the new classroom setting, brought over laziness from winter break, and a little shyness prevented us from fully achieving our work. Now as a result, I have calculated this mistake and am prepared to step up to the plate and get this simple task completed. Effective communication will be met between us and we will finish our assignment. I just need to get over the fact that my vacation in Hawaii is over and accept that it is time to work my ass off.

Implied in this course, and in the handout given out today in class, I need to learn this semester about effective business and real-world writing. There are forms, sets of rules, and rhetoric's that must me learned and applied in order for me to do well in this class. As much as I would rather sit in a hammock in Oahu and read a good novel, I must 'get down' with English and read about technical writing this time around. Until next time Hawaii, I await you like a koala waits for the early morning to eat the nutritious eucalyptus leaves. Structured, refined writing is what I need to work at, and I believe that completing this course will help me achieve this goal.