Update: Beginning Wed. Jan. 11th, we will be meeting in Room 223 in the 200 building. Thanks!

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce the business culture of a foreign country to the instructor.  Consider the instructor a company manager planning his first business trip to the country.  Use Table 3-1 on page 76 of the textbook to help guide your writing.  This table highlights and asks many of the common questions and concerns a business traveler might have.  In a broad sense, you should address at least one significant aspect from each of the following areas:

1)      Relevant social customs and behaviors
2)      Food and clothing norms
3)      Legal and ethical issues
4)      Economic and business structure

Additionally, you will need to document the sources that are used to gather the above information.  They need not be scholarly.  Document these sources by simply stating in your introductory paragraph where you looked for information.  I have created a wiki page with some “business culture” links that may be helpful to your research. Feel free to add to or edit the list for the benefit of other students.

Example: I looked at the “Poland” section of Executive Planet (http://www.executiveplanet.com), a website dedicated to profiling the business culture and customs of countries around the world.

You need not follow a particular institution’s citation guidelines, but I will check the document for plagiarism. (Paraphrase in your own words and attribute ideas to the source).

Format Requirements: Memo format required for this assignment (see Figure 1.10 p. 26 in your text).  Purpose of memo and sources must be clearly stated in first paragraph, and you must have at least one separate paragraph for each of the four required areas.  Document must be typed.

What follows is a rubric for the assignment.

Rubric:
_____  60%                 Content. Information is relevant/clearly expressed in paragraphs.
_____   20%                Memo format
_____   20%                Memo is free of major errors in GSP

Here is the Quantcast profile for TheDigitel Myrtle Beach website that Melissa Byers mentioned during class on 2/15.

The Quantcast profile provides helpful demographic information that will help you tremendously with your audience analysis memo.

Melissa can be contacted at melissa [dot] byers [at] thedigitel [dot] com.

• What you need for class:
• What we will be doing: review syllabus; intro diagnostic assignment
• For next time: Read The Norton Field Guide (NFG from now on) pages 1-17; Pick one short piece of typed writing (newspaper article, short story, advertisement, blog, song, etc.) and analyze it rhetorically (read your textbook!) in a one-page typed response. Bring this to class and be prepared to share it!

Wed.

• What you need for class: piece of writing and journal entry.
• What we will be doing: questions about syllabus; discussing rhetoric and sharing first writing assignment; redefining “literacy” and beginning to think about narrative. If time allows, begin reading “Mother Tongue”
• For next time: Read NFG 21-37 on literacy narratives; Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” 564; Rick Bragg’s “All Over But the Shoutin’” 153; Malcolm X’s “Literacy Behind Bars.” Write a 200 word reaction to either of the pieces considering some of the concepts presented in 21-37.

Here’s a thoughtful analysis of Lola from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on a blog called Racialicious that a student pointed out to me. It’s part one of two.

This popped up in the NYTimes most emailed articles feed and it would make an excellent addition to any paper that is focusing on the significance of fukú.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/in-defense-of-superstition.html

• NO CLASS. Memorial Day

Wed. 1/18/12

• What you need for class: Response to either Tan, Malcolm X or Bragg.
• What we will be doing: Discuss Tan, Malcolm X and Bragg; Assign literacy narrative; begin brainstorming
• For next time: Read NFG 343-351; Bring in 2 copies of literacy narrative for workshop.

• What you need for class: 2 copies of Literacy Narrative
• What we will be doing: Discuss 343-351; Workshop literacy narrative
• For next time: read NFG 278-282 on Cause/Effect and 283-293 on Argument. Considering what the book says about visual rhetoric, bring in a visual text (advertisement, magazine cover, dvd case) that you feel conveys a strong argument. Write a 1.5 – 2 page response considering the rhetorical components: author, audience, purpose, language, context, design, stance, etc.

Wed:

• What you need for class: Read NFG 278-282 on Cause/Effect and 283-293 on Argument. Visual text to share with class
• What we will be doing: Types of arguments/claims; Claims vs. Facts
• In-class stuff: Aristotelian argumentation. SNACKS: Wikipedia entry for snack tax, also known as “fat tax.” USDA report on modern snack tax legislation, helpful website that aggregates snack tax studies and includes recent definitions. A 2010 CBS poll on junk food taxes and a report the World Health Organization (WHO) published on fiscal policy, health and diet.
• Rick Berman on The Food Channel 
• For next time: Read NFG 294-299; 315-321; Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” 961; Consider the many different arguments/claims in Carr’s piece. Be prepared to talk!

• What you need for class: Smart observations on Carr’s essay.
• What we will be doing: Discussion; Assign Textual Analysis (formerly titled Position Paper); Discuss elements of They Say / I Say
• For next time: Finish literacy narrative final draft; choose text for analysis; complete a draft of the precis and bring a hard copy to class. It is also probably a good idea to begin readingThey Say, I Say 3-27; 55-67

Wed:

• What you need for class: Literacy narrative final draft; hard copy of precis
• What we will be doing: Student Sample: Textual Analysis; Discuss Quoting vs. Paraphrasing (MLA style)
• For next time: Read They Say, I Say 3-27; 55-67; finish summary/precis; complete a draft of the textual analysis (you will draw from the precis for the “they say” and shift to your points and analysis in the “I Say.”