English 302    Business Communication
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The Iowa State University catalog of courses describes the goals of English 302 to be:

Theory, principles and processes of effective written communication typically encountered in business and the professions. Extensive writing practice in standard letter and memo forms, short proposals, policy and procedure descriptions, job descriptions, application letters, résumés, autobiographical précis, performance reviews and evaluations, and letters of recommendation.

2003-2005 Catalog

That description isn't too bad... Essentially what I want you to learn from this class is how to write for the career you will have when you graduate. The assignments we develop in this class will be opportunities for you to demonstrate and practice the type of writing you will be doing (or possibly have done already) in the workplace.

The Assignments for this class are incredibly flexible. If you think of an alternative or variation to an assignment I have listed for class, discuss this with me so we can tailor this class to your interests. As long as the alternative assignment demonstrates the types of writing you need to practice for your career, I will most likely approve the idea, and I will be very interested to see such innovation in your assignments.

Scope of English 302
The writing in this class will develop your abilities in the following writing / speaking concepts:

  • Professionalism
  • Diplomacy
  • Persuasion
  • Clarity of expression
  • Completeness of expression
  • Conciseness
  • Aesthetic appeal
Memos, letters, and resumes will compose the formats of writing we practice, but the styles of writing we practice will typically address presenting negative messages with positive phrasing, needing to relate to and persuade potentially-unreceptive audiences; we will only briefly discuss proposal writing, as there are other courses devoted entirely to proposal writing. The specific assignments themselves we develop may not directly pertain to your individual future careers, but the concepts practiced in the assignments will be necessary in any writing you do.

What English 302 is Not
Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation—These will not be taught in this class. These are prerequisites for the course, so you should already know this. Despite not being taught in this class, they are important, and you will be graded on your correctness.

Creative Writing—Colorful, flowery, narrative, and conversational writing are unprofessional in business writing; these styles do not fulfill the goals of this class. If you enjoy story writing or want to practice more imaginative writing, there are numerous creative-writing courses you can take (descriptions available in the ISU Course Catalog):

  • English 304 - Fiction
  • English 305 - Nonfiction
  • English 306 - Poetry
  • English 307 - Writing Young Adult Fiction
  • English 315 - Screenplays
  • English 316 - Playwriting
  • English 330 - Science Fiction

Grant and Proposal Writing—We will only briefly discuss proposal writing, as there is an entire other course devoted to proposal writing that discusses it in depth. If this is a type of writing you feel would most benefit you in your career, I recommend you take English 309 - Report and Proposal Writing.

Formulaic—Most of all, no writing is formulaic. For example, while grammar, spelling, and punctuation have concrete rules that govern their use, the method of registering complaints will depend entirely on the audience and nature of the complaint itself; policy changes will need to be implemented in different ways according to the anticipated audience reception of the change; different proposals will use different methods of persuasion. There is no one correct method of constructing any genre of writing.

  
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