Using the storyboard from the discussion this week, create a How-To Presentation that teaches how to complete any assignment you’ve done so far in this class. 

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English

Assignment Instructions

Why a presentation?

Presentations are useful methods of sharing important information, and are common formats used when training your audience how to do a specific task. Likewise, employers often seek individuals with presentations skills, as they can be trusted to communicate effectively. This assignment gives you an opportunity to practice giving a presentation, and also create a guide that future students of this course can use!

The Assignment

Using the storyboard from the discussion this week, create a How-To Presentation that teaches how to complete any assignment you’ve done so far in this class. YOUR GUIDE MUST TEACH YOUR AUDIENCE HOW TO COMPLETE A TASK RELATED TO THIS COURSE. This can be a general guide on how to do an entire assignment, or merely a portion of one (such as how to format APA-style citations, or methods to make sure you get your discussion board posts in on time). If your discussion board posts don’t match this requirement, you can instead choose a new task related to the course for your presentation.

Try to choose a task that can be completed effectively in 5-10 steps, as longer instructions might get overwhelming.

Your presentation will have to include both audio and visual elements.

Audio Elements

Your presentation must have an audio component. You can accomplish this by choosing one of the following options:

OPTION 1: Have someone record you on video (or record yourself) as you present using slides, drawings, posters, or other visual aids.

OPTION 2: Record the audio using PowerPoint or another tool that allows you to record your voice (e.g. Audacity, Screenr.com, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or other software).

Video Elements

If your presentation is a video, you can use any available method to represent your steps—you can hold up images representing your steps, actually perform the activity as you narrate each step, or use a screen-capture software to record your screen if it’s a computer-related task (a free online program that allows you to do this is Apowersoft (Links to an external site.).)

If you don’t want to record yourself visually, you can use Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Movie Maker, or any other appropriate software that you’re familiar with to make a slide presentation or video that includes both your audio and visual elements.

Provide a discussion about how you will use the source to support your argument for community change. Paraphrase a key point from the source that supports or challenges your thesis and include an in-text citation.

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An annotated bibliography

Assignment Introduction
An annotated bibliography organizes your research by way of APA citations and a short paragraph about each source. For this assignment, you will create an annotated bibliography for four sources related to an argument for change. One of the sources should help you to address a rival viewpoint or misconception related to your topic. Your instructor will provide insightful feedback on the sources you find so you can determine whether to use them in the Unit 8 Assignment, a persuasive research essay

Assignment Instructions
Keeping track of the sources you have found to support your argument for change, assessing the credibility of those sources, and determining their value for supporting your argument will help you to write a more effective academic essay. An annotated bibliography allows you to do all of these things; it is essentially a references page with “annotations” for each source that summarize the main idea, assess the source’s credibility, and note the value of the source for your argument.

For the Unit 6 Assignment, you will prepare an annotated bibliography that includes four sources related to your idea for change. Include the following:

>Title page in APA format
>>Your revised thesis statement for an argument for change in your community
>>Citations and annotations for four separate sources, which can be primary or secondary but should all be credible and appropriate for academic research
>>One source that includes a visual or graphic component to help you prepare for the Unit 9 Assignment (the presentation)
>>One source that addresses a rival hypothesis or misconception about your topic (NOTE: the source does not have to oppose your thesis; it just needs to help you address a rival perspective)
>>Citations should be in APA format
>>Annotations should include the following:
>>Use 1–2 sentence summary of the source’s main idea, followed by an in-text citation, e.g. (Smith, 2014)

 

Evaluation of the source’s credibility, including the author’s credentials and the verifiability of the source’s information; this should include where you found the source (Library, Google search engine, government website, etc.). Use the criteria covered in Evaluating Information to guide your evaluation.

Discussion about how you will use the source to support your argument for community change (this would include whether it poses a challenge to your argument that you will need to address). In this section, paraphrase a key point from the source that supports or challenges your thesis and include an in-text citation.

NOTE: No separate references page is needed, but each annotation should have a complete reference citation in APA format.

Identify the rival hypothesis you need to address in your essay. Describe the rival source you found and why you selected that source. What makes this a credible source? Copy and paste a 1–5 sentence passage from the source and label it as the “Original Passage.”

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Rival Hypothesis

1. Identify the rival hypothesis you need to address in your essay.
2. Describe the rival source you found and why you selected that source. What makes this a credible source?
3. Copy and paste a 1–5 sentence passage from the source and label it as the “Original Passage.”
4. Paraphrase the short passage you shared in a way that you might use the idea in your essay (for example, refute the rival hypothesis). Be sure to use in-text citations with any sentences paraphrasing ideas from the source, e.g., (Doe, 2013) or According to Jane Doe (2013). Remember from your reading that an effective paraphrase sets up the information and explains it in a way that connects it to your argument (Krause, 2007).
5. Ask an open-ended question related to how you can effectively address the disagreement in your argument or related to paraphrasing and using sources.
6. At the end of your post, provide a complete Reference page citation in APA style for the source.

NOTE: You can begin working on a references page for your upcoming assignments by tracking the key elements of each source:

In a five-paragraph literary analysis essay, explain how each author develops the common theme. Compare and contrast how the authors develop this theme by referencing specific literary devices and techniques in your response.

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“Mericans”  by Sandra Cisneros

In a five-paragraph literary analysis essay, explain how each author develops the common theme. Compare and contrast how the authors develop this theme by referencing specific literary devices and techniques in your response.

Compare Jung and Freud- Where do they ideas both converge and fall away from one another? Provide some defining characteristics of psychoanalysis and how each author exemplifies aspects of the discipline Compare Jefferson with Aristotle – How does each writer view and define the tenants of democracy? How was this viewed or applied during their time in history? Are their views relevant today?

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Research Essay

Research Essay / Compare and Contrast- You’ll be comparing two of the authors in the textbook.
Choose ONE of the following suggested topics:
Compare Jung and Freud– Where do they ideas both converge and fall away from one another? Provide some defining characteristics of psychoanalysis and how each author exemplifies aspects of the discipline

Compare Jefferson with Aristotle – How does each writer view and define the tenants of democracy? How was this viewed or applied during their time in history? Are their views relevant today?

Have you ever bought a product that did not work as promised? Have you been disappointed in service at a bank, restaurant, department store, or discount house or from an online merchant? Have you had ideas about how a company or organization could improve its image, service, or product?

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Positive Business letter

Writing Assignment 1
(From Chapter 6 “Positive Messages”)

Case Study 6.17
Direct Claim: Righting a Wrong (Obj.3)

Adapted from Page 186, so refer to this assignment sheet as the final word for assignment requirements
Have you ever bought a product that did not work as promised? Have you been disappointed in service at a bank, restaurant, department store, or discount house or from an online merchant? Have you had ideas about how a company or organization could improve its image, service, or product? Remember that smart companies want to know what their customers think, especially if they could improve their product or services.

Your Task
Select a product or service that has disappointed you. Using the positive message approach, write a claim letter requesting a refund, replacement, explanation, or whatever seems reasonable. For claims about food products, be sure to include bar code identification from the package if possible. Consider any proof you would need to include (not really, just for the letter) to prove you purchased an item or a service. (Use section Objective 3 in Chapter 6 to guide your content.)

What does Atwood’s story suggest about age and women’s power? For each research source in your annotated bibliography, provide the bibliographic citation in MLA format (9th ed.), followed by the annotation: 2-3 sentences explaining the research source’s main argument the specific point you will be arguing using this source.

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Stone Mattress

“Stone Mattress” is the title story in Margaret Atwood’s 2014 collection of short fiction. What does Atwood’s story suggest about age and women’s power?

Step 6: The Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is like a Works Cited with explanations. It must include your primary source (the story) and SIX literary critical scholarly research sources that you have read and plan to use in your essay.

A literary critical research source is a source that is written by a scholar about literature; for the purposes of this assignment, this means a book, an article published in an edited collection of essays, or a journal article. See the instructions in Module 2 about how to do research in English study.

For each research source in your annotated bibliography, provide the bibliographic citation in MLA format (9th ed.), followed by the annotation: 2-3 sentences explaining the research source’s main argument the specific point you will be arguing using this source.

Organize the annotated bibliography alphabetically by author; don’t separate primary and secondary sources.

See an example of an annotated bibliography here

You can change your mind about these sources, as your research and your ideas develop further. The annotated bibliography simply gives a snapshot of your research and ideas at this point in time and gives your instructor a chance to comment on that research.

Write a two-page analysis of the rhetoric devices used in the video. Begin the paper with an introduction. End the introduction with a thesis statement of what device is used the most. Then, spend the rest of the paper discussing the different devices used, and proving that the device in your thesis is the one used the most.

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Video analysis Paper

This link is to a video made in the 1950s. It is about the prominent conspiracy theory of that time–the threat of communism taking over the world.

Write a two-page analysis of the rhetoric devices (pathos, logos, ethos) used in the video. Begin the paper with an introduction. End the introduction with a thesis statement of what device is used the most. Then, spend the rest of the paper discussing the different devices used, and proving that the device in your thesis is the one used the most.

Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxWJRLd6_0M

View this video then write an acceptance speech that would be 45-60 seconds in length, if presented orally. Be sure you identify the reason for the award and use the guidelines from the lecture notes to write the speech. It can be for an award you have actually received or it can be an award that you would aspire to receive. Explain the reason for your choice.

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Speech 4

 

THIS SPEECH WILL NOT BE PRESENTED

View this video then write an acceptance speech that would be 45-60 seconds in length, if presented orally. Be sure you identify the reason for the award and use the guidelines from the lecture notes to write the speech. It can be for an award you have actually received or it can be an award that you would aspire to receive. Explain the reason for your choice.

Have they worked for one or two organizations throughout their lives or have they changed jobs frequently? What kind of loyalty do they feel to their organizations and occupations? Has technology transformed the nature of their work? Do they feel these shifts are for the better or worse? Do they feel the impact of globalization in their work? How do other nations and culturesinfluence their work lives and the flow of business in their organizations?

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Case Study Charting the Changing Nature of Work

Overview

Case Study Assignments are self–administered, guided problems that follow each of the readings. The purpose is to walk you through the readings, emphasizing the points that will provide the foundation for understanding the overall importance of storytelling and touching narratives in communicating the benefits of an organization and/or its products and processes. The information sets emphasized in the Case Study Assignments follow the readings of each Module: Week and highlight the key parts of the chapters. Think of each exercise as Interactive Mental Highlights (IMH).

Instructions

You will read each case study and the corresponding questions in MindTap and submit your responses to the questions by uploading a Word.doc or similar format into Canvas.

  • Length of assignment – at least 1 paragraph per case study question (no specific word or page count)
  • Format of assignment – current APA
  • At least 1 citation from textbook
  • At least 1 integration of a Biblical principle
  • Acceptable sources – Textbook, Bible

 

 

In this final case study, we turn away from looking at fictional (or occasionally factual) organizations for information and inspiration. Instead, as we close our examination of organizational communication, we ask you to look at yourself and others close to you as a way of understanding how the work world—and communication within that world—has changed in recent years and will continue to change in the future.

Throughout this chapter, we have highlighted ways that society has been transformed in recent decades and the implications of those transformations for organizational communication. Our economy is now primarily a service economy. We live in a global village dominated by business conducted in the global marketplace. Many workers are “disposable,” moving in and out of organizations, as temporary and contract work become more common. These workers are sometimes (but certainly not always) disposable by choice. At a more macro level, companies merge and acquire with such frequency that the question of “what owns what” is often difficult to answer, and loyalties toward organizations are not at all straightforward. In short, we live in an organizational world that is far different from the one inhabited by workers one hundred, fifty, or even twenty years ago.

As you conclude this course in organizational communication, then, we would like you to first take a look at those who have worked in organizations for many years. Talk to your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, or old family friends. Ask these people how the work world has changed in the years they have been employed. Here are some questions you might ask them:

  • Have they worked for one or two organizations throughout their lives or have they changed jobs frequently? What kind of loyalty do they feel to their organizations and occupations?
  • Has technology transformed the nature of their work? Do they feel these shifts are for the better or worse?
  • Do they feel the impact of globalization in their work? How do other nations and culturesinfluence their work lives and the flow of business in their organizations?
  • How have economic shifts affected them? Have they ever been laid off or downsized? Have they chosen alternative work arrangements like contract work or temporary work? Have they started their own businesses as a result of economics (or other factors)? And how have all these alternative work arrangements influenced the quality of their work and family lives?
  • Are the people you talk to happy with their work lives? Do they enjoy their work? Do they like the amount of time they spend working? If they could go back in time and make different choices about work, what would those choices be?

These questions—and the stories they spur in the people you talk with—will help you understand the changing nature of work in a very personal way. Consider the brief stories of Kathy’s family as an example. Her grandparents labored during the early part of the twentieth century in working-class jobs typical of the time. One grandfather was a printer, and the other was a bookkeeper. They worked to keep food on the table during the Great Depression and the time surrounding it, and they thought little about the intrinsic rewards of work. The question of whether work made them feel happy would seem quite ludicrous to them. Her grandmothers both cared at home for their families, although one grandmother was trained as a schoolteacher.

Kathy’s parents—born in the 1920s—both went to college and worked as journalists. Her father worked for a large daily newspaper for more than thirty years and felt a strong connection to the organization and to the union. And the corporation he worked for (with some prodding from the union) reciprocated through steady employment, a pension, and retirement benefits. Her mother was a journalist during World War II; in the decade after, she dropped out of the workforce to have her children. She returned to a newspaper job when the youngest was in school and continued to work for many years. Her career trajectory was typical of working women of her generation.

Kathy’s parents’ children (four girls) have had varied career paths, which are typical of late baby boomer children. One daughter is a college professor; one teaches music in a rural school district; another—originally trained as a computer engineer—returned to school to earn a teaching degree and has taken early retirement; and another also returned to school after her children entered elementary school, and after completing her education degree, she is now an elementary school teacher who has gone on for a graduate degree. None of these women feel tied to a particular organization as their parents did, although they all enjoy our workplaces and colleagues. These four sisters define themselves more in terms of their profession and family. Indeed, a few years ago Kathy shifted from a tenured position to one that afforded more flexibility for a variety of pursuits and she is now shifting again to a full-time writing career apart from the university setting. And then we can turn to the future and consider Kathy’s daughter who recently graduated from college and is exploring career options and Josh’s two young children who will be making these decisions far in the future. In short, you can see that the notion of there being a single way to work and communicate in organizations is as outdated as an eight-track tape player.

So, what are the stories of the people you know? And what do you think your own story will be? Will you stay in one career or explore various options throughout your life? Will your job take you to various parts of the globe or will others from worldwide cultures be an important part of your work life at your home base? Will you work in a manufacturing industry, a service industry, an information age industry, or perhaps an industry we have not yet dreamed of? How will you fit family into the mix of your work life? These questions will take many years to explore. Hence, these questions serve as a fitting end to our consideration of organizational communication.