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Assignment
1: Clarity and Concision Part I
Due January 29, 2002
Purpose: This assignment introduces you to techniques for writing prose
that will help your readers grasp information quickly, make informed decisions,
and take sensible actions. You'll be refining these techniques when you
take Editing and Prose Style.
Working in groups, rewrite the following passages, using techniques we've
discussed in class. Work done collaboratively belongs to everyone in the
group. But you can also work on this assignment outside of class on your
own, turning in rewrites that reflect BOTH group knowledge and your own
enhancement of that group knowledge.
DELIVERABLES: Print document with both original texts and rewrites. Preface
this document with a one-page memo explaining of some of the decisions
you made in your group sessions and on your own.
I. Letters to Parents from Principal
Rhetorical Situation: An elementary school principal provides two
different types of information to parents. When you rewrite, consider
the following:: What sorts of actions does the principal expect parents
to take in each case? How can the principal use these documents to create
good will on the part of the parents toward the school, its teachers,
its curriculum, and its principal? In other words, how can the principal
use language to make the parents trust him and all that he represents?
Letter A:
Dear Parent:
We have established a special phone communication system to provide
essential and additional opportunities for parent or guardian input.
During the coming year we will give added emphasis to the goal of good
communication and good feelings and utilize a variety of means to accomplish
this very necessary goal. Your input, from the unique position as a
parent, will help us to plan and implement an educational plan that
meets the needs of your child or children. An open dialogue, with feedback
and sharing of information between parents and teachers, will enable
us to work with your child or children in the most effective and beneficial
manner.
Letter B:
Dear Parent:
Fundamentally Foster is a good school. Pupils who require help in certain
subjects or study skills areas are receiving special attention. In the
school year ahead we seek to provide enhanced positive learning environments.
Children, and staff, must work in an atmosphere that is conducive to
learning. Wide varieties of instructional materials are needed. Careful
attention to individual abilities and learning styles is required. Cooperation
between school and home is extremely important to the learning process.
All of us should be aware of desired educational objectives for every
child. Keep informed about what is planned for your children this year
and let us know about your own questions and about any special needs
your child my have. I have met many of you in the first few weeks. Please
continue to stop in to introduce yourself or to talk about Foster. I
look forward to a very productive year for all of us.
II. Property Management Contract
Rhetorical situation: A property management agency wishes to rewrite
the template for contracts between the agency and the home owner. The
writer wants to avoid misunderstandings and legal hassles, and she wants
to gain reputation for the agency as ethical, efficient, fair, and easy
to deal with.
Passage 1: Payment
of Fees Upon Termination: if Owner terminates this agreement and the
Property is leased to a tenant on the date this agreement terminates,
Owner must pay Broker all amounts then due under this agreement and
a fee equal to the management fees that would accrue over the remainder
of the term of the lease, then in effect, excluding any potential breach
by a tenant. If more than one property is made part of and subject to
this agreement, this provision apples to, and will be in effect only
with regard to, those properties then leased., and this agreement will
terminate as to any property not then leased.
Effective Services:
if Broker determines that Broker cannot continue to effectively provide
leasing and management services to Owner, for any reason, at any time
after sixty (60) days after the Commencement Date, Broker may terminate
the agreement by providing at least thirty (30) days advance written
notice to Owner.
Security Deposits
and Contracts: Upon Termination: Before Broker is obligated to deliver
to Owner any tenant's security deposit held by Broker after this agreement
terminates, Owner must deliver to the tenant then occupying the Property
a signed statement acknowledging that Owner is responsible for the tenant's
security deposit and specifying the exact dollar amount of the security
deposit. Owner agrees to be responsible for all then-existing contracts
related to the Property executed prior to the termination of this agreement
and to hold Broker harmless from all claims related to such contracts.
This paragraph survives termination of this agreement.
III. Introductory Paragraph for Music Appreciation Textbook
Rhetorical Situation: The author of a music textbook designed for sophomore
level students writes an introduction to students. The author has several
goals. First, he'd like to accurately represent the contents of the book
Our lives and the
world we are a part of are uniquely multifaceted and a sense of identity
with these pluralisms is expressed in musical terms. The fact that there
are today so many varied aesthetic attitudes shaping the musical structures
and that these approaches to creativity are seemingly disparate is consciously
understood and challenged. That is, we live side by side and with and
among so many attitudes, so music's language is a host that embraces
a wide range of possibilities.
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