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, Types, Passive
  constructions, Originality, Rhythm
• Persuasive Rhetoric
• Linkages to Domain/Subject Matter, Linkages to
  General Education
• Quotes, Analogies, Metaphors, Similes,
  Topic/Content order, Arguments
• Figurative Language

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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.

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Exemplars Composition

• For word emphasis, use italics, then, if
  necessary, use bold, and then, if necessary, use
  underline. For phrase emphasis, use an em-dash
  ()
• Italics are also often used when introducing key
  nouns, especially proper nouns.
• For word or phrase de-emphasis, use parentheses
  ( and ).
• Emphasis (all emphases are in the original)
• 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.
• Leadership is the best work of management.
• I just dont knowreally knowhow to balance my
  precious time at this job.
• a proper career would allows for a certain
  level of autonomy and trust from managements
  side.
• I think the store manager, Nikko, picked up on
  that right away.
• De-emphasis
• The managers assistant had to the take the
  water (its not fresh at that point) to the
  workroom to be dumped out. (de-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?
• Have you ever been given your supervisors
  responsibilities?
• 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 Types

• Vary the types of your sentences. Even a 1 ½
  page essay will have a mix of all four main types
  of sentences.
• A simple sentence has one independent clause.
• A compound sentence consists of two or more
  independent clauses.
• A complex sentence contains one independent
  clause and at least one dependent clause.
• A compound-complex sentence has at least two
  independent clauses and at least one dependent
  clause.

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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 Originality

• Some sentence construction, and by extension,
  paragraph construction, is highly original. Such
  sentences are memorable and distinctive. Such
  sentences represent the best of the writers
  thinking and expressiveness. When chosen well
  and used appropriately, these sentences have
  persuasive, lasting impact.
• I walked into a cold, monotonous establishment.
  I knew no one, and understood no one. It was
  abuilding on a corner, weathered by the sun, and
  time. It was my first day as interim General
  Manager. I can still remember the icy cold air,
  the blue-tinted ambience, and the smell of
  grease.
• my manager came back to the office after work
  because she forgot her wallet and was surprised
  to see me at my desk. She questioned why I had
  not gone home, and out of frustration, I replied,
  Well, there are only eight hours in a given
  workday, and when I have to do both your job and
  mine, those hours are simply not enough
• For me this experience was very eye opening
  because I learned thatmany people have no
  business being managers.

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Exemplars Originality

• The cash register was more of a decorative
  statement than a functional instrument.
• It all ended in one fell, and foul, swoop.
  (emphasis in the original)

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Exemplars Rhythm

• Some sentences are deliberately designed to flow
  well that is, the sentence is conscientiously
  rhythmic and effortlessly natural. Like deeply
  original sentences, these sentences too have
  persuasive, lasting impact.
• Perhaps his planning was good, but his leading
  wasnt effective.
• After cleaning my apron and preparing my pens
  for action, I am ready for another day of work at
  a local restaurant.

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Exemplars Linkages to General Education (Basic
Skills)

• In general, individuals with college degrees work
  on different issues than individuals without
  college degrees. Applying key concepts and ideas
  from fundamental courses matter deeply throughout
  your personal and professional life.
• Computing
• One potential way of transferring data is to
  create an Excel template and go about the process
  of manually inputting all customer data into the
  system. However, a more productive compromise
  would be scanning the data of current clients
  into the computer and from that point forward
  inputting all new client data into the computer.
• English
• My main problem with the team was lack of taking
  notes and then retaining the information for the
  next day.
• Math
• One day I made exactly 7.50 because I had one
  client who came in for a 15 haircut. That
  really frustrated and angered me because I was
  already charging 20 for friends and family.

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Exemplars Linkages to General Education
(Subject Exploration)

• Again, individuals with college degrees work on
  different issues than individuals without college
  degrees. Applying concepts and ideas from all
  breadth courses matter throughout your personal
  and professional life.
• Arts and Humanities
• Dealing with people is difficult, to say the
  least.
• Comparative Cultures
• Most problems are based on human beings or
  employees themselves. Also, these problems are
  different from countries and cultures because
  every country has its own working habits and
  behaviors.
• Critical Reasoning
• Using statistics for soccer can be good
  indicators of the areas of improvements. We can
  have 240 passes and three shots on goal, but live
  examples will encourage strategic applications of
  techniques to get more shots on goal.

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Exemplars Linkages to General Education
(Subject Exploration)

• Again, individuals with college degrees work on
  different issues than individuals without college
  degrees. Applying concepts and ideas from all
  breadth courses matter throughout your personal
  and professional life.
• Government
• Six bales with some of our larger, and more
  expensive, antique rugs had been flagged by US
  Customs in transit from Afghanistan they were
  being held at the dock for inspections.
• History
• The business has been running strong for over 25
  years here in the United States.
• Natural Science
• My first year at the afterschool program was
  very rewarding. I was the coach of several teams
  and leader of the science club.
• Oral Communication
• A simple thank you can go a long way.
• Speaking in person definitely helped reduce the
  miscommunication and we were finally on the same
  page.

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Exemplars Linkages to Domain/Subject Matter

• Business students have successfully completed
  lower-division core classes. Students are
  incorporating these high-level concepts into
  their writing.
• Accounting
• When asked what I did to come up with the
  numbers on the financial statements, I had no
  answer. I had no explanation of how the numbers
  got there because I really didnt understand what
  I was doing.
• Business Law
• Economics
• It was not until after hours were cut that it
  was made clear to us why we were failing to make
  sales management was modeling our locations
  sales goals on the sales numbers for a location
  in San Francisco.
• I believe the overarching issue here is that the
  owners sole concern was making as much money as
  possible while keeping her labor costs to a
  minimum.
• Statistics
• On a normal weekend, our restaurant would
  average about 7,000 dollars however, on that
  specific night we made over 11,000 dollars.

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Exemplars Linkages to Domain/Subject Matter

• MGT 360 is the Principles of Management and
  Organizational Behavior. Students, already,
  have learned about planning, leading, organizing,
  and controlling and are incorporating these
  high-level concepts into their writing.
• Planning
• Elements of planning are demonstrated when high
  levels of management determine specific plans and
  goals of the bank tellers.
• Leading
• Elements of leading are seen when my manager
  tells me day-to-day words of encouragement and
  coaches me on how to improve my solutions pitch
  to customers.
• Organizing
• Organizing elements can be observed when my
  manager organizes my work schedules and where I
  am on the bank teller line directionally to
  maximize my number of customer interactions.
• Controlling
• Elements of controlling are seen when I am
  evaluated on my performance to reach my solutions
  goals at the each quarter end.

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Exemplars Linkages to Domain/Subject Matter

• Business students may have successfully completed
  one or more upper-division core classes, other
  than MGT 360. Students are incorporating these
  high-level concepts into their writing.
• Finance
• I receive creditwhen a banker successfully
  enrolls a customer into online banking, opens
  accounts, or upon approval of credit card, loan,
  and lines of credit applications set up by a
  banker.
• Marketing
• Fast forward to two years later when my boss
  broke the record of having 1,000 orders per day
  on Amazon.
• Operations
• Any store has sales problems at one point in
  their business cycle and it is simply
  inevitable.
• In particular I recall my delivery job from 2013
  at a small business called Night Owl Cookies
  where I had a new method of making our deliveries
  more efficient.

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Exemplars Rhetoric Quotes

• 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)
• The single biggest problem in communication is
  the illusion that it has taken place.George
  Bernard Shaw

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Exemplars Rhetoric Analogies

• Analogies (General)
• 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)
• Analogies (Linkages to movie clip shown in first
  class)
• Going to work every day became a chore if I knew
  I would be working with her. However, I knew in
  the back of my mind that the person that would
  have to change would be me. Just like in the
  clips the class instructor showed us in class,
  the horse trainer stated that your life is
  reflected into your horse, just like my
  inappropriate behavior reflects back into my
  team. (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)
• Topic/Content order
• The current method of closing the books was to
  use Quickbooks online beginning on the 25th day
  of the month, but the new proposal was to begin
  that process five days earlier the 20th of each
  month. (order in the original)

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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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Exemplars Figurative Language

• There many different types of figures of
  speech. These are employed to provided
  additional emphasis for key ideas, concepts, or
  images in a narrative. In business prose
  figurative language can be helpful but only if
  used sparingly.
• Cliché
• The shoes you filled when Michael left were
  huge.
• Personification
• Hyperbole
• Symbolism
• Im confident in your ability to right the
  ship.
• Synecdoche
• Metonymy

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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.