Composition, Prose, and Rhetoric: Examples of Strong Writing from MGT 360

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Composition, Prose, and RhetoricExamples of
Strong Writing from MGT 360

• Wayne Smith, Ph.D.
• Department of Management
• CSU Northridge
• ws_at_csun.edu

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Superior, Contemporary Writing

• Employ higher-order writing strategies
• Always elevate your writing (throughout this
  class and beyond)
• All of the following examples are from my
  outstanding students
• Technical Composition
• Introductory Sentences, Thesis Statements, Topic
  sentences, Transition sentences, Contrasts,
  Emphases, Transition words
• Artful Prose
• Short Sentences, Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases,
  Adjectives and Adverbs, Prepositions,
  Conjunctions and Coordination, Dependent Clauses,
  Sentence Openers and Inversion, Branching
  Sentences, Appositives, Interrogatories,
  Exclamatories, Imperatives, Parallelism, Cohesion
• Sentence Variety Length, Passive constructions
• Persuasive Rhetoric
• Quotes, Analogies, Metaphors, Similes, Arguments

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Exemplars Composition Introductory Sentences

• A startling statistic or an unusual fact
• Chuck E. Cheese isa corporation that provides
  employment to much older people with limited
  English.
• A vivid example
• He routinely yells at his employees and
  threatens to cut our hours if we dont work
  harder.
• A description or an image
• In my experience, a manager can change the
  attitudes of many employees by having a certain
  feature that they carry with them at all times.
  This feature is always displayed on a managers
  face and can be felt when a manager is motivating
  the employees.
• I have been working there for over a year, and I
  must admit that I really love what I do.
• A paradoxical statement
• Bill seemed to be aware that he didnt obtain
  his position purely through merit, but he was not
  an incompetent supervisor.

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Exemplars Composition Introductory Sentences

• A quotation or a bit of dialogue
• The phrase, the customer is always right is
  highly used and expected by the customers.
• A question
• What is a company with no policy?
• An analogy
• Working for a mother as a babysitter can be just
  as challenging as being an employer working for a
  manager with equal responsibilities of dealing
  with customers as well as having precise time
  management skills.
• An anecdote
• Today, a friend and coworker of mine was let go
  from my job. He was always an ideas person and I
  was the one doing much of the executing.

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Exemplars Composition Thesis Statements

• It seems that throughout the three years that
  Tariq has been working for TRUECar, he has not
  developed himself and has not taken any
  leadership role in his department.
• Customer service is a problem faced by any
  service industry and this issue is a priority for
  restaurants because its a big part of the
  restaurant experience for the customer.
• A thesis statement generally appears in the
  introductory or opening paragraph.
• A thesis statement
• requires further proof or development (not a fact
  or description),
• is an answer to a question (not the question
  itself),
• is neither too broad (not specific enough) nor
  too narrow (cant generalize), and
• should be sharply focused (avoiding vague terms
  or fuzzy meanings)

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Exemplars Composition

• Topic Sentences
• A management issue that I have to deal with is
  how the schedule is handled.
• Transition Sentences
• This is a missed opportunity both in sales and
  customer service.
• Contrasts
• Two of my co-founding partners lack of
  leadership skills were the inability to listen
  and reason, which is quite odd because the
  partner I originally went into this project with
  was smart, talented, and eager to work at the
  early stage of the project but all that was a
  façade.
• However, they are doing so effectively but not
  efficiently.
• Emphases
• But as time went on, I couldnt help but notice
  that this particular situation was just a matter
  of starting off with a good first impression.
  (emphasis in the original)
• Leadership is the best work of management.
  (emphasis in the original)

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Exemplars Composition Transition words

• Similarity Relationship
• Furthermore, the manager did not provide any
  benefits such as health insurance. (emphasis
  added)
• Difference Relationship
• I thought all the employees they had hired were
  fashion designers and professionals. However, I
  later found out they were nonqualified
  individuals who where looking for jobs.
  (emphasis added)
• Temporal Relationship
• Ultimately, we were able to convince him to give
  customers the sale price on sodas, without any of
  the required limit (emphasis added)

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Exemplars Prose

• Short Sentences
• We are a small firm.
• The problem was never fully resolved.
• Noun Phrases
• This is where the burden fell on my shoulders.
  (emphasis added)
• Verb Phrases
• This not only allowed the business to get back
  on track, but also began replenishing my trust in
  him. (emphasis added)
• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Service makes a good restaurant amazing.
• There is a restaurant. Its look externally is
  neither fancy nor beautiless.
• Prepositions
• Of all the experiences, one case came up to my
  mind instantly.

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Exemplars Prose

• Conjunctions and Coordination
• The manager approved my idea, and now every week
  I have the employees and their supervisor sign
  their report.
• Dependent Clauses
• I suggested changes that will help the students
  as a whole and also included a way to advance the
  skills of the other upcoming and continuing
  tutors in the program.
• My parents, who loved me dearly, wanted to
  instill a strong work ethic in me when they
  required me to get a job.
• Sentence Openers and Inversion
• Yet through all of this, I never complained to
  any coworker, manager, or any of the bosses.

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Exemplars Prose

• Left-Branching Sentences
• On the rare occasions that they do notify me,
  they send an email saying a package in my name
  has arrived.
• As I returned to my desk thinking on how mad
  this client sounded over the phone, I heard
  screaming coming from the reception area.
• Right-Branching Sentences
• Throughout my years as a Youth Advisor, the only
  time that the staff would come together as a
  whole was in the first fifteen minutes of work to
  discuss any individual problems that we may have
  faced the day prior with any of the kids that the
  staff should know about.
• Appositives (one noun phrase redefining another,
  prior noun phrase)
• I faced my most difficult organizational
  challenge while working for the San Diego Scout
  Shop, a retail store owned by the Boy Scouts of
  America.

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Exemplars Prose

• Interrogatories
• For example, are safety measures taken
  seriously? Are consequences given for unsafe
  behavior? Are sanitary regulations kept
  up-to-date?
• Exclamatories
• I hate my manager!
• Imperatives
• The burden is now on me to motivate and
  encourage my students to stay focused and to
  strive harder than before in order to do better.
• Parallelism
• Work tasks were monotonous unchallenging,
  unrewarding, and unsatisfying.
• Managers have many responsibilities, and that
  includes organizing, motivating, coaching, and
  staffing.
• Cohesion
• After working there for another six months since
  the changes, I resigned.

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Exemplars Sentence Variety Length

• Aim, in general, for sentences around 20 words.
  But vary the sentence lengths. Think of 20 as a
  mean, as it were, for the entire document
• Examples from the same student-professional on
  the same document
• Short-length sentences
• We are a small firm.
• Medium-length sentences
• On the rare occasions that they do notify me,
  they send an email saying a package in my name
  has arrived.
• Long-length sentences
• Customer service is a problem faced by any
  service industry and this issue is a priority for
  restaurants because its a big part of the
  restaurant experience for the customer.

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Exemplars Sentence Variety Passive
constructions

• In general, use active sentences. That is, write
  sentences where the subject is the clear focus.
• But dont be afraid the use a passive
  construction for variety.
• Also, sometimes it just sounds better and is more
  pleasant
• Its particular helpful when discussing rules or
  policies objectively
• Just like bold, italics, and underline, use
  passive constructions sparingly.
• Passive construction
• Employees are not permitted to be under the
  influence or in possession of drugs or alcohol
  during paid work hours.

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Exemplars Rhetoric

• Quotes
• You cant teach an old dog new tricksUnknown
• All ye abandon hope who enter hereDante
• You cant create experience. You must undergo
  it.Albert Camus
• There will be moments where fate rarely calls
  upon us during a moment of our choosingTransform
  ers (movie)
• Analogies
• During my four years working at this coffee
  house, I had to deal with my share of good and
  bad. Customers wanted their free drink, and
  management wanted their sales numbers. (emphasis
  added)
• As a business grows, the management team should
  grow with it. (emphasis added)

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Exemplars Rhetoric

• Metaphors
• Working in a pizzeria is all the fun that would
  be expected, but when the dough rises, so does
  hell. (emphasis added)
• Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours.
  (emphasis added)
• Similes
• there is a breakdown in communication between
  personal goals and overall team goals. When you
  walk into our bank branch, there is the open
  area with the desks where the bankers sit, and
  the windows where the tellers stand. Tellers are
  separated by a bandit barrier to help ensure
  safety. It seems like this barrier has taken a
  more literal meaning. Everyone who works on the
  other side of the bandit barrier is completely
  separated from the open side. Oftentimes, it
  feels like were two separate countries who have
  become enemies at war. (emphasis added)
• Working there felt like walking on eggshells.
  (emphasis added)

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Exemplars Rhetoric Arguments

• Claim
• As a result, I felt harassed and discouraged for
  most of my time with the company.
• Reasoning
• In my situation, my value was not based on the
  quality of my work, but on my failure to
  socialize.
• Evidence
• Subsequently, I began to experience a series of
  negative consequences, such asfrequent quality
  reviews, unprofessional emails, and threats to
  terminate my employment due to vague reasons.
• Warrant (Theory)
• In conclusion, management should always try to
  lead by example and provide all necessary tools
  for its employees to be successful.
• Acknowledgement/Response (Counter-argument)
• Initially, I was appreciative and excited of the
  invitations to socialize especially when they
  were paid by the owner.
• Qualifications (Limitations)
• Personally, I have had to opportunity to
  experience both sides of the business, as both an
  employee and part of the management staff.

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References

• Most of the categories for the Composition
  section of this presentation were excerpted and
  adapted from the following book
• Hacker, D., and Sommers, N. (2011) A Writer's
  Reference (7th ed.), Bedford/St. Martin's,
  BostonMA.
• A few of the categories for the Composition
  section of this presentation were excerpted and
  adapted from the following book
• Garner, B. (2013) HBR Guide to Better Business
  Writing, Harvard Business Review Press,
  BostonMA.
• The categories for the Prose section of this
  presentation were excerpted and adapted from the
  following book
• Tufte, V. (2006), Artful Sentences, Graphics
  Press, Connecticut.
• The categories for the Argument section of this
  presentation were excerpted and adapted from the
  following book
• Williams, J., and Colomb, G. (2007), The Craft of
  Argument, 3rd ed., Pearson Education.