Professional Writing

These are the Major requirements for the Professional Writing Concentration (27 credits)

EL109 Business Communication 3
1 Interdisciplinary course 3
EL 237 The Literary Essay and one other genre course 6
Four 300-level Period/Figure courses including
One course in American Literature 3
Two courses in British or European Literature before the 19th century 6
One course in British or European Literature after the 18th century 3
EL 400 Senior Project in Professional Writing 3

These are extra Concentration Requirements for the Professional Writing Concentration (18)

EL 108 Technical Writing 3
EL 110 Introduction to Creative Writing 3
AR 131 Design: Two Dimensional (also fulfills Fine Arts Core) 3
CA 100 Introduction to the Information Arts 3
CA 110 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising 3
CA 230 Writing for Media 3
Free electives 11

Aside from this course sequence, these are the documents expected in Junior Seminar and Senior Project:

Paper Options: A body of work equalling 25 pages that may take the form of one or more of the following professional writing samples:

Proposal
Investigative Report
Progress Report
Instructional Manual
Computer Documentation
Problem Analysis
Technical Consulting Report

Research Report on some facet of Professional or Technical Communication

Guidelines for Proposal
The proposal for the Professional Writing project, to be completed by the end of the Junior Seminar, should identify a specific problem or sequence of tasks that the writer will investigate on which the writer will report. This project may not be a revision of old paper, but must be a new and original endeavor. After identifying this problem or task, the proposal should, state the purpose of your project, and speculate on the project’s plan or subtasks. Your proposal should review at least ten recent secondary sources or other kinds of sources that will be necessary to the completion of this project. The proposal should be about five typed, double spaced pages, with a bibliography of works cited appended, if necessary. Here are those tasks in detail:

State the Problem
What is the problem, conflict, or issue? What exact discrepancy do you see?
Is this an old or new problem?
If old, how has it been addressed in the past?
How significant is this problem?
How can this problem be broken down into its parts?
What are the causes of this problem?
What are its effects?

State the Purpose in light of this problem
What is your purpose?
How does this address the problem as stated?
State the Plan
What is the structure of your project?
What is the logic of this structure?

Review Sources: Include a bibliographic essay of about 800 words that reviews the state of secondary source scholarship, or state those resources, human or otherwise, that you will need to consult.

Proposal Approval Process:
At the beginning of the seminar or sooner, you should secure a First Reader from the faculty who has taught a course that covers the topic or writer you are choosing. That faculty member should be consulted regarding your topic choice and must ultimately place his or her signature on your ungraded proposal, indicating that this is a viable topic. That faculty member, though he or she may not grade your proposal, will be involved in the assessment of the final project.