Memo Report instructions

1. Deliverable 1:
How to write
the Memo Report
1
ENGL 317: Technical Writing / Project 1

2. Table of Contents
How to Format the Report..............................................................................................3-4
How to Write the Introduction.......................................................................................5-7
How to Write the Findings (the body of the report)................................................8
Requirements ............................................................................................................9
Example.............................................................................................................10
What to Write If You Don’t Find Weaknesses ...................................................11
How to Write Findings about Noticeable Error................................................12
Example.............................................................................................................13
How to Write the Conclusion.........................................................................................14

3. 3
Memorandum
To: First and Last Name
From: First and Last Name
Date: Date Sent
Subject: What the Memo is About
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure
dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit
anim id est laborum.
Heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Leo integer malesuada nunc vel risus
commodo viverra maecenas.
• Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue. Ornare massa eget egestas purus. Dolor
sed viverra ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum. Non tellus orci ac auctor augue mauris
augue neque.
• Molestie nunc non blandit massa enim nec dui nunc mattis. Nam libero justo
laoreet sit amet cursus sit. Semper viverra nam libero justo laoreet. Etiam non
quam lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem.
• Rhoncus dolor purus non enim praesent. In egestas erat imperdiet sed euismod.
Vestibulum lectus mauris ultrices eros in cursus turpis massa tincidunt. Aliquam
eleifend mi in nulla posuere sollicitudin aliquam. Pulvinar mattis nunc sed
blandit libero volutpat sed cras. In hac habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum
rhoncus est pellentesque.
Heading
Fermentum iaculis eu non diam. Elit ullamcorper dignissim cras tincidunt lobortis
feugiat vivamus at. Ut venenatis tellus in metus vulputate eu scelerisque felis. Auctor
augue mauris augue neque gravida in. Arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit amet. Ut
faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim.
Dictum sit amet justo donec enim diam vulputate ut. Vitae congue eu consequat ac felis.
Pretium nibh ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam id. Porttitor eget dolor
morbi non arcu. Arcu non sodales neque sodales ut. In nulla posuere sollicitudin
aliquam ultrices sagittis. Augue lacus viverra vitae congue eu consequat ac felis donec.
Use standard conventions to Format the report.
Use standard heading
elements
Left justify and single-space text.
Use one line of additional white
space to separate paragraphs.
Create visual hierarchy using
heading levels, white space,
contrast, and alignment. Refer to
slidedoc 1 as needed.

4. In the header of all pages after the first, put the name of the
project and your name. Insert page numbers. Note: the page
number is usually omitted on the first page.
How you format the heading information is up to you. Here are
two possible ways.
4

5. 5
Memorandum
To: First and Last Name
From: First and Last Name
Date: Date Sent
Subject: What the Memo is About
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure
dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit
anim id est laborum.
Heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Leo integer malesuada nunc vel risus
commodo viverra maecenas.
• Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue. Ornare massa eget egestas purus. Dolor
sed viverra ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum. Non tellus orci ac auctor augue mauris
augue neque.
• Molestie nunc non blandit massa enim nec dui nunc mattis. Nam libero justo
laoreet sit amet cursus sit. Semper viverra nam libero justo laoreet. Etiam non
quam lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem.
• Rhoncus dolor purus non enim praesent. In egestas erat imperdiet sed euismod.
Vestibulum lectus mauris ultrices eros in cursus turpis massa tincidunt. Aliquam
eleifend mi in nulla posuere sollicitudin aliquam. Pulvinar mattis nunc sed
blandit libero volutpat sed cras. In hac habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum
rhoncus est pellentesque.
Heading
Fermentum iaculis eu non diam. Elit ullamcorper dignissim cras tincidunt lobortis
feugiat vivamus at. Ut venenatis tellus in metus vulputate eu scelerisque felis. Auctor
augue mauris augue neque gravida in. Arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit amet. Ut
faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim.
Dictum sit amet justo donec enim diam vulputate ut. Vitae congue eu consequat ac felis.
Pretium nibh ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam id. Porttitor eget dolor
morbi non arcu. Arcu non sodales neque sodales ut. In nulla posuere sollicitudin
aliquam ultrices sagittis. Augue lacus viverra vitae congue eu consequat ac felis donec.
Compose a short introduction
using rhetorical move 1
(see next slides).

6. Rhetorical Move 1. When someone requests information from
you, remind them they requested it and add a forecasting
statement about what is in the document.
This move shows you responded to the request and gave
readers what they asked for. Use this move because I'm
requesting information from you.
Examples:
• Here is the information you requested about X. Included in the
sections that follow are A, B, and C.
• This memo contains the information you requested about X. The
following sections explain A, B, and C.
• I have finished the analysis you requested about X. My findings
about A, B, and C are presented in the sections that follow.
6

7. Rhetorical Move 2. When readers didn’t request the information,
make it clear why you are writing in the first sentence.
7
Example:
• This memo explains problems we are having with X. The extent of the
problems are . . .
• Our tests revealed a problem with X. We are currently in the process of
determining the cause.

8. How to Write the Findings
"Findings" are what you discovered when you analyzed your
prior writing.
Report the findings in the body of your report for the three
concepts and include all corresponding causes/topics.
In addition, report findings from analyzing your writing for
noticeable error (see the slidedoc Style vs. Grammar).

9. Requirements:
• Define the concept in a sentence or two using the same
definition the course uses and it's fine to use the same
wording (no need to quote).
• Make a claim about a weakness in your style and be
specific about what type of problem by identifying the
cause.
• Provide evidence to support the claim either a sentence or
a very short excerpt from your prior writing.
• Connect the claim to the evidence by highlighting, crossing
out, or underlining so you can discuss specific aspects of the
problem.

10. 10
Being Concise:
To be concise means that every word in a sentence is needed to meet audience needs and
the writer’s purpose {definition}.
Unnecessary Words. I noticed many unnecessary words in my sentences.
{claim}. For example, I repeated the phrase “is meant to” ten times in sentences like
this one where I was defining symbols in my calculations: {cause}
X1 is meant to represent the percentage of the population with access to an
improved water source. {evidence}
I could easily eliminate this phrase in each of these sentences and just use the verb
"represents." {connection}
Example:
You don’t need to add definition, claim, cause, evidence,
and connection, but if it helps, you, then fine.

11. What to do if you don't find weaknesses.
For the concept Being Concise,
• make the claim that your writing is concise and support that claim
with a short paragraph.
• If you find both strengths and weaknesses, you will only be able to
write about weaknesses because you can't prove a negative (you
should, however, acknowledge that you checked your writing for
the subtopics but found no issues).
For the concepts Being Precise and Being Direct,
• make the claim that your writing is strong for each subtopic and
support your claim in the same way as if you were writing about a
weakness.
• If you find both strengths and weaknesses, then you will need to
write about both.
11

12. How to report findings about noticeable error.
If you did not find any errors that workplace readers are likely
to notice, just write that you did not find noticeable error.
If you did find noticeable error, report the findings as follows:
• Define the error you made. Provide the sentence where you
made the error and explain what you would need to do to
fix it.
12

13. Example of a noticeable error entry.
13
Comma Splices:
A comma splice joins two or more sentences with commas. I don't make
this error often, but I did find one example. To fix this error, I need to
replace the comma with a period and capitalize the "S" in students to
create two sentences.
The Raven is a classic poem by Poe, students love to read it out loud.

14. Write a conclusion.
Here are some possible choices for concluding the memo
report:
• State a major weakness you identified, and set a goal for
working on it.
• State what surprised you the most about doing the
analysis.
14