Instructions Selection Memo Wednesday, Nov 19 2008

This assignment was the first of the “Instructions Analysis” assignments.  I turned in a copy of the instructions I chose.  I also described the goals and audience of my instructions.

 

I chose instructions that showed how to make an origami hopping frog.  I chose these instructions because I thought they would work well for the assignment.  Origami instructions need to be very clear for a person to do them correctly.  I also thought origami instructions would work well for user testing.  It should be easy to tell if the instructions are confusing if the person has a hard time with the folding steps. 

 

The instructions I chose didn’t connect with my academic major or future career because I haven’t declared a major yet.  I also don’t know what I want my future career to be.  I chose instructions that seemed fun and interesting instead.  I think it made the assignment easier to do since the instructions are a little more light-hearted.

 

I chose parents with young kids as my audience when I first started this assignment.  I chose this audience for several reasons.  The instructions say that the paper frog can be a “fun action toy” and also mentions Kermit the Frog.  I thought the instructions could also be used to teach young kids how to make a fun and inexpensive toy.

 

I decided my instructions were also for people with little to no origami experience.  Each step is very short.  There are pictures to go along with most of the steps.

 

I decided my goal for the instructions was to learn how to make an origami hopping frog in a short amount of time.  This is because the steps are very short and simple.  The pictures serve as a guide to a person to see if they are making it right.  The person can quickly look at the picture and move on to the next step. 

 

I wasn’t sure if this assignment would be useful to me when I first started.  I had never done an assignment like this before.  I had never had to write about any kind of analysis testing.

 

However, I think my writing was still improving at this point in the class.  I tried to write shorter sentences.  I tried to make most of the sentences simple.  I learned it is easier for you to grade assignments with simple sentence structure. 

 

I am attaching a link to my instructions selection memo below.

Instructions Selection Memo

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Formal Memo Tuesday, Nov 11 2008

I wrote about the Texas Tech gymnastics club for my formal memo.  I pretended I was the president of the Tech gymnastics club.  My memo was addressed to Texas Tech incoming freshman.

 

The purpose of my memo was to try to convince incoming Texas Tech freshman to join the Tech gymnastics club. 

 

I chose Texas Tech freshman as my audience for many reasons.  One reason is that our club is always looking for more members.  New college students usually want to find a place to belong while in college.  I tried to convince the freshman that the Tech gymnastics club provides students a chance to be involved in their University.  I also emphasized that the club offers students an opportunity to have fun, meet new people, and get a good workout.

 

I divided my paper into five different sections.  The first four sections were reasons that incoming freshman should join the club.  These sections included: friendship, fun, travel and competition, and independence.  The last section of the memo included information about how to join the club.

 

I appealed to my audience through my memo in different ways.  I decided to use simple language.  I used simple language because I was talking to my peers.  I wanted to be very clear and concise.  I also emphasized the opportunity to make friends and have fun.  This usually appeals to new college students who don’t know very many people.  I also emphasized independence.  College freshman are very excited about the new-found independence that college brings.

 

I edited my memo by taking it to the Writing Center.  This was somewhat helpful.  They gave me a couple ideas about making my ideas more clear.  However, it is hard for the people at the Writing Center to really effectively help you.  They didn’t know exactly what criteria you were looking for.

 

I think I improved from the “Resume and Job Letters” assignment to the “Formal Memo” assignment.  It was easier to see the writing style that you preferred after getting back the first major assignment.  I think I used more simple sentences in my formal memo.

 

I think this assignment made me think more about audience analysis.  I had to accommodate to my audience that I wrote to.  I did this by writing simple sentences that are easy to understand.  I helped them by writing points that I thought appeal to them.  These things helped prove my point to my audience.

 

I am attaching a file of my formal memo here at the bottom. 

 

Formal Memo

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