My Last Blog

America is unique country. It's the land of opportunity. Only in America I met a school dropout who earns 6 figures. In Europe young people know that without education they will never get a good job that pays a good money and provide financial security(unless you have an entrepreneurial abilities and financial means to run a business). America has spoiled its citizens with decent wages, that so many people became reluctant and lazy not only to advance their education but many drop school at the age of 12. This shocked me when I first came to US in 1999. Higher education is more affordable in the USA than in Europe, and in ex-USSR in particular. So I don't understand why not to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Even though my parents have never got their higher education due to financial hardship of that time, they always reminded me and taught me that I have to finish university. This is what I teach my little kids (I have 4 and the oldest is 6). I tell my boy that if he don't master his home work, he will master a big shovel. Sometimes it works. So if my kids graduate from university I'll consider my mission accomplished.

I work in the company that is very vulnerable to current economic crisis. I have survived two lay-offs for the past 2 months, but I'm not sure if I stay employed there after New Year. They plan a pretty massive lay-off. I see that a lot of my co-workers are freaked out. They are in panic. Because my company is one of few in this area that pays to an employee with no high school diploma the wage equal to bachelor degree salary. I understand them. If they lose their job, the next one will be an assembly line for a minimum wage. Some of them stayed with this company for 20 years. They made their way up through hard work. After few months of my employment I realized that this is very painful and long way to advance, that, in fact, does not guarantee you a secured future.

So, here I am at WSU completing my degree. I really don't see any other way to succeed and provide a better future for myself and my family. And maybe this economic crisis will change minds of many Americans to encourage them to advance their education.

Response to Melisa's Blog

Melisa made a good point, that the best piece of work could be worthless if nobody is going to read it. So whatever we write we have to keep a reader in mind. I would waste my time writing this blog if I know nobody will ever read it. All writings must have their readers. Another point Melisa made is about objective part of the resume. I had that problem also. I'd say objective is the hardest part of any resume. I used to skip it but then resume seems to loose its purpose. Or I wrote what kind of job I'm looking for. But employer must know how he will benefit from hiring me. So now it is easier from me to word it with reader-employer in mind.

What I've learned from English 402

Looking back at the beginning of this semester I can say that I took one of useful and practical classes that helped me to improve my communication and writing skills (I see how my grades improved over the course). I've learned about rhetoric, reader-centered approach and target audience. So from now on, every time I write something I mentally check myself to ensure I use those three approaches. Also I got familiar with business writing in general, e.g. memos, proposals, letters etc. I find all of these extremely helpful in my future career.

Response to Jeff Schafer's Ch.17

Jeff made an interesting point about having an eye contact with the audience you talk to. I talk in front of 15-20 people every Monday for 10-15 minutes at my work as a safety person. I remember when first I started, I was embarrassed so I was skimming over the heads trying not to look in my co-workers' eyes and I mostly read from my notes. But later the more I was taking the more confident I became. I think I got used to my audience. I can feel myself relaxed. I have my notes in front, but I memorized the most of material so I can speak in conversational manner now. However, when I think of my presentation in class I'm a little bit nervous. I think I'll prepare an outlined talk.

Chapters 17 &18 readings

Ch.17
This is just in time chapter right before we are preparing for our presentation. This chapter already helped me to design my presentation. I made a mental notes on how and what I want to say to my audience. I originally intended just a verbal presentation. But the book advises to use the graphics while speaking. This makes your presentation more professional, more prepared, and more persuasive. So I will keep in mind this useful tips on how to make a better presentation. Also, what readers could find handy is writer's tutorial on creating a listener-centered presentation. This tutorial talks about power-point presentations, how to make them more organized, what to include in presentation to make a better effect on listeners.

Ch.18
Creating any sorts of web stuff including this blog is kind of confusing for me, since I'm not a computer savvy person. This chapter mainly talks about creating web pages and websites. They fall under the same guidelines as any other written documents that are created with reader in mind. You follow the same steps, e.g. define objective, purpose, gather info, etc. The only difference that this category of communication is more technologically inclined. The good thing though is that there is a lot of software available to help to facilitate a process of creating web pages and websites. But what differs websites from other forms of written communication is that after you created your web page or website, it is very important for your audience to find it in world wide web. Otherwise, it is a waste of time and resources, if your message will remain unnoticed. At this point the book gives some tips on how to make you website "visible" to your potential readers.

Response on movie "The Persuaders"

I was indeed impressed with this movie. When they were talking about politics, especially when they manipulated with words to win voters, I remembered The Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson in order to gain support to separate from England, originally wrote:"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of property." But a lot of people were poor and did not have any property, so he changed property to happiness, to remove this tension. I think this is when marketing came to existence.

Response to Holley's ch 9 blog

Like Holley says, nowadays we receive so much emails so first thing we do is look for the title. If there is something important we open it. Otherwise, it goes directly to recycle bin unread. So, as the book teaches, in order our email to be opened, read, and considered, we need 1)to give a proper title for my email, and 2)to tell reader how he/she will benefit from the information we are sending. And of course, we have to write with reader in mind.

Ch 2, 9, 10

Ch.2
This is probably the most important chapter in the entire book, because before we utilize all our skills about ability to write, we need to be hired first. So here resume comes into play. Resume is our ethos. Just by looking at our resumes, employers can make a pretty accurate picture about who we are. So it is extremely important to have a nicely done resume, because they judge a resume not only by its content, but also by how it draws an attention, i.e. is it looking good enough so employer can start dig in it, or may be it will go automatically to the bottom of the pile. Also, book talks about cover letters, that accompany our resume. It tells how to write a good letter, so it will appeal to potential employer.

Ch.9
This chapter talks about how to start an effective communication and how to create messages that grab readers' attention. Writer of the message must:
* announce the topic
* tell his/her reader how they will benefit from the information that they received.
These two both must be considered.
The book also suggests that writer of the message must state the main point at the beginning. It will help readers to find what they want or need most. This chapter is very similar to those that talk about memos, proposals, etc.

Ch.10
As it is important to properly start our communication, it is also important to properly finish it. So this chapter teaches how to end our communication in order not to ruin otherwise a good beginning. This chapter gives 9 guidelines on how to finish our communication. Depending on the situation, our audience and objective we can effectively manipulate with these guidelines to create a successful communication.

Response to Ch.14

I have read some blogs on ch 14 and found that majority of us have a problem revising our own writings. I don't know why we ignored such a simple technique: clear up your head from what we just wrote, to let some time pass and than reread it again. I myself noticed when I get my writing back on next class and read it again I notice what I would change. My errors become so obvious, but first time I did not see them. So, it will be helpful in the future to use this simple and useful advise to distance ourselves from our work. And maybe tomorrow I will read this blog again and find some errors and glitches I'd like to fix.

Ch. 14 & 15

Ch.14

This is a very handy chapter. It helps to improve revision work. I personally have problems to revise my own writings. I miss some errors and imperfections. As chapter mentions, writer is so much adhere to his/her writing such that it is hard to find and correct problems. You read but don't see errors. Book's advice: put aside your writings, cool down, so your memory freshens up and then start revising. Also, if you are a reviewer, some tips from the book on promoting openness with a writer will be just helpful.

Ch.15

This chapter introduces a professional way of revising and testing drafts for usability and persuasiveness. It even describes a facility where testing is held. As an example the book describes how computer manuals are being tested for usability. Testers observe manual users, who represent the target audience, how they react for a specific task in manual, etc. So it helps to identify where manuals need some improvement. In other words, as in previous chapter, testers want to look at manuals from readers' point of view. This ensures successful testing.

Response to Inna's blog

Like Inna I have never paid much attention to the ethical part of the news. I myself thought that a news media (TV or newspaper) is a sport: whoever first to transmit the news is the best, leaving ethical factor behind. Now I realize how important is to comply with ethics, even if you loose business or it slows you down. I also amazed how Jesse is so much enjoying his job despite non-stop deadlines and stress. Also, I always thought that those journalists or reporters who stand in front of camera actually wrote their stories. Now I have an answer: there are invisible men inside the studio who produce most of that work and give it away so others could take advantage of it: sort of journalistic socialism...

Journalism

When I was in high school I dreamed to be a journalist. I even was published in the local newspaper called Communist. There was very little of communism in it. Paper was focused mostly on local news and events. After USSR collapsed they published mostly ads to make some money to survive. After the last class I realized how smart I was not to pursue career in journalism. There are few reasons for that. First of all, after I saw a REAL journalist I realized that to become one is not the same as to become an accountant or manager or even professor. You have to have a TALENT. Jesse Day seems to have one. Education on this matter is just a ticket to job market to show that you're educated. Second, it seems to be a pretty stressful job to live constantly on deadlines, especially for TV and broadcast journalists. That's a lot of pressure. So to be a journalist you really-really have to love this "sport".

Response to News blogs

For curiosity's sake I read most of the blogs about news. And it's not surprise to me that majority of students in our class have neutral if not some negative attitude toward news channels or news in general. Some watch news because they have nothing else to watch or they don't like news content or a reporter. Some feel that news are shallow or stuck to one big event and dance around it for a while until you got tired of it and switch a channel. Some students prefer to learn news from internet because it is more convenient. I agree with Inna that news nowadays are a bit depressing because there are more negative than positive information. I personally don't know anyone who would say that he enjoys so much watching news that he watches it all leisure time. News are not a pleasant thing, so TV stations put a lot of emphasis to make it like a show to attract viewers. As I said in my blog about news I prefer to watch news from outside to get more less objective picture of what is going on inside the country.

About NEWS

I grew up in the USSR, the country where 9pm news were equal to the show of national scale. The country was giving report to the people where it stands in terms of economics, politics, culture etc. Now I live in the US, however I prefer to watch news from Russia. My favorite channel is Russia Today( www.russiatoday.com). It is broadcasted in English directly from Moscow and it is designed for English speaking countries. This is 24/7 100% news. I like this channel because it gives more less unbiased information about what is happening in Russia and around the world. I also prefer to learn about what is going on in the US again from this channel, because I think local news feed people with information to keep everybody happy, not always giving them complete info.

Response to Freelance Writing blogs

I have read most of Freelance Writing blogs. I can say for sure almost all of us were unaware of this kind of niche in the market where you can write about anything you want and make an extra buck. I agree that many of us see this kind of work as a supplementary income, not a full time job. It makes sense . Any job that has high level of solicitation is low security job, because you never know what's gonna happen next month, if they take your work to publish or not. So, to become a full timer in freelance writing you really need to be known by publications in the way that they will be looking for you to give you an assignment. Otherwise, the fun sport of writing may turn to headache while trying to meet the ends with your hobby to write.

Thoughts on freelance writing

What is freelance writing? Someone might think of it as a hobby, who likes to put their thoughts together. For others it's another way to complement their income. Others see it as a full time job. When I think of freelance writing, freelance photography comes on my mind. I like to take pictures. Sometimes when I'm lucky to freeze a good moment I'd like to share it with others. But to show a picture is not enough, even if it is a good one. It is always good to accompany your work with a good message. I like Popular Photography and National Geographic magazines. I like to read articles written by freelance photographers+writers. They write about their trips to some exotic or dangerous places, accompanying writing with excellent photos. Or they share their experience on some technical aspects of photography. If I had to send an article to a magazine, I would write something about my home country. People like to read about other places. I myself like to read about remote regions. Here in the US we all live pretty much in a good comfort . To read and write about another comfort is kind of boring. So, I think to write and photograph other world is a good way to stand out and be accepted by editor.

Response to Sara Ross Ch 8 and 19

Sara is right about being careful using stereotypes. I know what it is since I work in multicultural environment. Sometimes people carelessly can make a comment about your skills or abilities mentioning your cultural background. This sounds very insulting. So, when communicating with co-workers from other cultures, I always avoid mentioning about their backgrounds. I try to sound neutral. I remember this from my International Management course. My instructor was from Argentina. He shared his experience managing multicultural teams. It is easy to ruin reputation with stereotypes but it is hard to rebuild trust again.

Chapter 8 and 19 reading

Ch.8

This chapter is really handy when it comes to writing styles. I found out that there are different styles that companies use in their environment. But what I discovered for myself is that bureaucratese style really exists. That is why some information is easily understood and other I have to read 3 or more times to get an idea what they want from me. Interestingly, in some companies they practice bureaucratic style on purpose. But it is a great idea to pass the law to use plain English in government documents to avoid confusion. America is the country of immigrants, so it is important to use simple language when you write instructions, emails, directions etc. Another valuable advice is to keep in mind cultural factor. The writing voice we use here may sound offensive and rude in other cultures. So, it is good idea to consult with someone who is familiar with particular culture you are dealing with.

Ch.19

This chapter talks about managing client's projects. We know how to use reader-centered approach. Now we can rephrase it: client-centered approach. It is important to understand client's needs and communicate with the client throughout the project. Also, working on the project, we also must learn about client's target audience. It will ensure better outcome. The last guideline tells how to deliver the final product. Usually we follow up by sending a letter or instructions how to use product. Or we could provide some information on software that was used to develop client's product etc. We need to use some level of creativity to keep a good relationships with the clients.

Response to Robert Clemans' Ch 6/7 reading

Robert is comparing his way of doing research and research methods with the way the book teaches. I admit that my lack of proper knowledge and methodology on research conduct results in less qualitative outcome. When I was doing research for my other classes generally I wasn't taught on how to do research in proper manner. What Robert notices is that generally his research takes more time because it's done in unorganized manner and he misses some important resources. Unfortunately, this is not only his problem. Sometimes I find myself stuck with my research because my resources are not so credible. I spent much time digging the wrong ditch. So it is very important to find the right information and organize it with reader-centered approach. Hopefully, after this class I'll be able to produce better papers with less time consumption.

Chapter 6 & 7 reading

Chaper 6 is exectly what I need to create my research project. This chapter teaches us how to get research done in most efficient and productive manner. In any research the first step is to determine objective. Also I have to know who will be the end-users to read my writing, what category of readers. So I have to build my research around my future readers. Also it is very important to find research sources my readers can rely on. The sources have to be carefully evaluated. Also as research progresses it is important to observe copyright.

Chapter 7. New challenge: how to draft paragraphs, sections, and chapters. And again, focus on usability and reader-centered approach. This chapter also talks about how to organize writing: from most important info to least important. There is an important statement in guideline 8 about human consequences of what we write. I think this is extremly important because what we write could be interpreted in different ways and result could be dramatic. So, it is all about readers. If we want to succeed we have to always think of them.

My Rhetoric

To write a topic about rhetoric may take hours because thousands of smart minds starting with Aristotle, who simply defined rhetoric as persuasion, talked a lot about rhetoric. We use rhetoric everywhere: from writing email to verbal conversations with friends and relatives and even our bosses whom we try to persuade that that’s not our fault. There are 3 categories of rhetoric that define all communication ether:
¨ Ethos, or ego, I
¨ Pathos, or path (pathetic), emotion
¨ Logos, or logic
However, these three categories of rhetoric are not firm. Boundaries between them are blurred. Any of them could be equally applied to the same set of information depending on what we try to emphasize. As we discussed an example of web advertisement of house cleaning company earlier in our class students saw all categories in the same text. So, it might be controversial but, again, boundaries between ethos, pathos and logos are overlapping. For me it is sometimes confusing to create a writing in specific rhetoric category, because others can see a different rhetoric in the same writing. For me it seems to be never-ending question.

Ch. 4, 5, 16, and 23 response

Ch.4

Chapter 4 continues on making our writing usable and persuasive. it mainly talks about how to effectively organize our writing and make it usable. Some of its guidelines I used before to write my house repair estimates. But I never realized that there is a science behind my writings. If I picked up this book earlier, I'd be more successful because it goes step by step on the structure of documents, how they should be organized. Also I was always wondering why instructions in the US are so detailed and elaborate. Now I have an answer to my question: we live in low-context country (thanks to this book).



Ch.5

Now we're talking about persuasion. This chapter gives us a few guidelines on persuasion. It also talks about two types of persuasion: cooperative and competitive. Cooperative persuasion comes first because in order to produce competitive document, those who work on it must get together (cooperate) to achieve some positive result. For me this part of a project is the hardest. Because to persuade someone for specific actions is much harder than just to produce a usable document.



Ch.16

A group project is what came to my mind when I read the title. This chapter will be really handy when we'll come up to our group project. Basically it teaches how to manage the group discussion more efficiently. It also helps to avoid common problems that adherent to group projects. It tells how to organize a team. I find this chapter useful.

Ch.23
This chapter is talking about reader-centered instructions. This is very importand topic, because in some cases misunderstood instructions if they are written unclearly may result in injury in production environment. I work in multinational team in production facility. I come across various instructions. Some of them are written properly, others create more confusion than help. If I stumble upon such an instruction, sometime trial and error comes instead if time is an issue. Writers of instructions sometimes are disconnected from working environment. They assume the same level of language for everyone. But sometimes, like in my company, overwhelming number of employees is from other countries. So for them it’s hard to understand complicated instructions. So, it is very important to understand cultural factor.

Response to Traci Johnoson's writing

I have similar feelings on writing. Of three English classes I had before I remember almost nothing, except the title of one of them was "Shakespeare". I was struggling through that class since for non-native English speaker reading Shakespeare is the same as if you look at Chinese hieroglyphics: no idea what's going on. Other English classes were just producing papers on abstract topics to get a credit. The more you write the better credit. I'm practical person. If I don't see benefit for myself, doing it becomes waste of time and money. And this could be anything: from classes I take to shopping. So, unlike those classes I took before, this one seems to be very promissing in terms of usability and usefulness. In fact, like Traci, I' m looking forward to come to this class.
Go Kat! Teach us how to win the army of readers.

Ch.3

Chapter 3 gives us a deeper look at who are our readers. It talks more about how to make our communication more successful. It touches not only our local environment, e.g. company where we work, clients, but also intercultural aspect. It tells us about how to deal with readers from different cultures and countries. I remember this topic from my International Management course where we studied international trade a bit deeper. I find this extremely useful, because we live in the country, which, according to reading, reached 2.5 trillion dollars in international trade. The country itself is a "melting pot" of various cultures. So, potentially we will deal with bosses, clients, partners etc. from other cultures. And now we can learn how to communicate with them in most effective manner.

This chapter also talks about complex audience and gives an example of a letter addressed to such category of readers. I had no idea that there is a special kind of readers that book calls phantom readers. These are people "behind the scene". Interestingly, that what you write can be used in a future by other people to save their time writing or by lawyers in courts years from now. I find this information to be very valuable. Overall, chapter 3 is another stack of useful information that we can use to win our readers.

Feedback on the book "Technical Communication"

After reading just three chapters from the book "Technical Communication" I found this book to be a very handy aid on writing documents. It easily could be a reference book for those who wants to improve their writing skills. From the very beginning reader immerses in straight forward process of creating reader-focused documents such as letters, memos, emails, instruction, etc. I like this book because it is written with a language that is easy to understand without confusions. It also gives examples of various documents including tips on how to structure and make them usable and persuasive.

In chapter 1 I have found an interesting statement: one survey shows that good writing skills is a major consideration for promotion. Before, I did not pay much attention on sharpening my writing skills until I discovered this statement. I hope my writing skills will greatly improve after taking this course which I find to be a very practical, or I would say, live course, that I will take with me through career journey.