CS 3604: Assignment 2 (Email message to coworkers and boss)

Fall 2002, Dr. Rosson

Due dates: 9/20 (2-A, first draft); 9/27 (2-B, final draft)

Approximate size: 1 page, about 250 words

Learning objective:
To help you get experience with a particular kind of short writing that you will encounter as a CS professional.

Audience:
Your workgroup on the job as a CS professional, plus your boss.

The Task (What to do):
Your job is to write a hypothetical email note expressing your concerns about the increase of computer viruses in your workplace and potential damage within the company. The message should be serious, and may focus on either your analysis of the problem, suggested solutions or precautions, or both. The email should be directed to one or more workplace colleague(s), but should also be cc'd to your boss.

Normally email is one of the least formal forms of professional writing that you will do. Quick messages to friends or coworkers can even be ungrammatical, with spelling errors and typos, and the message gets through. Rarely does informality in an email message result in a poor impression on the part of the recipient. However, at times your email writing needs to move up a notch in quality and formality. This usually happens when the topic is more serious and when one or more of the recipients is not well known to the sender. This assignment is one of those times.

For this assignment, pretend you are working in a job as a CS professional and are concerned about the assigned topic/issue. The issue should be treated as thought it were of about medium importance, such that an email message is an appropriate way to raise it for discussion. Write a message of about 250 words (one page) addressed to one or more coworkers (at least one of whom is not well known to you) with a copy to your boss. Bring the issue to their attention and perhaps suggest an appropriate action. The copy will let your boss know you are concerned about this issue, and will let the other recipient(s) know your boss is in the loop.

Be explicit and clear enough about everything in the message content, so we (instructor and GTA, as outsiders) can understand the issue and why you are sending the message to this person or persons. Hint: One way you can do this is to mention the role of that person in the message. Example: "I am sending this to you because of your role as security officer for our department."

  1. Assignment 2-A, first draft. It is important that you understand that the term "first draft" here does NOT mean "rough draft". In fact, it is the opposite, the first draft is expected to be the very best writing you can do. The iterative writing process is designed to make your final draft even better. In a one-semester course like this, we have to compress the process from what it would be in the real world, where it is not uncommon for a journal article, for example, to undergo 20 iterations over a period of six months! At least this will follow the spirit of that kind of iterative writing. That means getting two proofreaders to read it and make suggestions for revision. They are not to just read it over and make some general suggestions, but are supposed to make specific editing markups throughout the text. Your two proofreaders will sign the grading form for this draft of your assignment.

    Deliverables for 2-A (stapled together in this order, please):

  2. Assignment 2-B, final draft to hand in for grading
    Based on what you learn from the grading and any discussion of the first draft, write another (final) draft. Try hard to improve the work in this draft.

    Deliverables for 2-B (stapled together in this order, please):


Last Updated 8/23/2002
© Rex Hartson, 2002
Modified by M. B. Rosson, 2002