Victoria Hill reflects on what she has learned in her ENC 3250 Professional Writing midterm course. She discusses key concepts from each chapter, including the functional outline, 5 Cs, writing process, workplace technology, correspondence, style and clarity, and design and visuals. She explains how assignments and exercises helped her apply these lessons. Victoria recognizes this course has provided important skills for her future academic and career communication needs. Her goals are to communicate more clearly, concisely and professionally.

1. +
ENC 3250 Professional
Writing: Midterm Reflection
Victoria Hill

2. +
What did I learn? & How did I learn it?
The Functional Outline / 5 Cs, Ch.1 The Writing Process, Ch. 2
Workplace Technology, Ch. 4 Correspondence, Ch. 10 Style & Clarity,
Ch. 7 Design & Visuals.

3. +
Functional Outline / 5 Cs

What?
 I learned that when writing
to someone, it’s good to
put the news first then
follow up with the reason
along with the details.
Always close with a honey
statement to establish
goodwill. This is the
functional outline.
 The 5 Cs are important for
any business document.
It’s good to be clear,
concise, complete,
correct, and courteous.

How?

Every assignment and email that I write allow me
to use the functional
outline.

The 5 Cs are something
that I have also been
incorporating to every
assignment and e-mail
that I have been sending.

These are very useful tools
that I strengthen with
practice.

4. +
The Writing Process

What?
 I learned how crucial it is to
know your audience before
you begin writing.
 Context, or circumstance, is
important to understand so
that you will achieve your
purpose.
 Preparation is essential to
ensure that proper
information and research
have been acquired.
 Outlining has an advantage
to organization and making
sure your paragraphs have
unity and coherence.

How?

There is an emphasis for
me on analysis Assignment
1. It really allowed me to
use these tools and apply
them to a real scenario.

I actively analyzed how
content was being used to
meet the audience’s
needs, as well as capture
their interests for an
attendant giving flight
information.

5. +
Workplace Technology

What?
 I learned the guidelines for using
technology effectively in the
work place.
 Adapting to new technologies,
which for me would be having
my first online course in Canvas.
I’ve had to experiment and
learn everything I can to make
sure my experience in this class
has no technological hiccups.
 Writing styles for forums and
blogs are to be informal and
conversational.
 Always proofread e-mails and
other online communication
before sending (and don’t
forget to add a signature).

How?
 My experience in this class
has allowed me to gain
further understanding of all
of these concepts.
 I actively use a discussion
forum to keep in contact
with other students in the
class which forms a sense
of community in a virtual
environment.
 Also, e-mails are an
important way to keep in
contact with the Professor.

6. +
Correspondence

What?
 The main thing I took away
from this chapter was proper
formatting for letters,
memos, e-mails, and
inquiries as well as the
process for these writing
tasks. These are all types of
correspondence used at
most work environments,
and I did not previously
know these professional
layouts.
 I learned to always have a
proper opening and closing
to establish goodwill – even
if filing a complaint.

How?

I was able to use the
functional outline and 5 Cs
together with these
formats to properly
address my audience in
the selected medium.

Writing Assignment 1,
along with doing a peer
review, helped me to
improve my own work as
well as see what I might
have originally missed.

7. +
Style & Clarity

What?
 This was an eye opener of
conventions of standard
English. My mind was
refreshed on how to write
with the 5 Cs.
 There are a lot of extra
things (buzzwords,
affectation, abstract
language, clichés, etc.) that
we add to our writing that
our unnecessary and take
away from the coherence,
unity, and conciseness of
our documents.
 This chapter also taught me
how to use the “you”
viewpoint as well as proper
business writing style.

How?
 Writing Assignment 2, the
memo for One Book, One
Campus, allowed me to
created a memo that was
to the point and put the
terms from Chapter 10 into
action.
 I was able to use a
business writing style,
proper transitions, parallel
structure, sentence variety,
tone, transition, word
choice, as well as the
“you” viewpoint.

8. +
Design & Visuals

What?
 The main thing I learned from
this chapter/section of the
course was how important
the appearance of a
document is. Nonverbally, it
communicates a lot to the
audience (Ex. a crowded,
busy document is not
receiver oriented and will
look unprofessional).
 I learned a lot about
effective visuals, text, tables,
layout, as well as design
elements. It is essential to
combine all of these things in
a way that will meet your
audience’s interests and will
communicate your intended
purpose.

How?
 Analysis Assignments 2 and 3
helped me link the content
to real world application.
Both of these analyses
included looking at the
effectiveness of the content,
layout, and design for the
intended audience.
 I also saw an example of a
poorly designed website
and used these concepts to
suggest improvements. This is
something that can be
done to help out at a
company that I might work
for in the future.

9. +
This is one of those courses that I can
honestly say I will use every day for the
rest of my life.

Significance of
Learning

What I learned thus far is significant.
Everything builds upon what I learned in
the previous week. (Using the 5 Cs while
writing a memo for example). It is all
connected and relevant information.

Communication studies is my bread
and butter, and learning the proper
way to interact through business writing
is a skill I will use no matter what field I
go into. This course has improved my
understanding of the corporate world.

One of the first things this course taught
me was the difference between
academic and professional writing.
These two areas are a huge part of my
life, and it is important that I am
learning to distinguish between these
types of writing.
Why does it all matter?

10. +
My Future

How I will use this learning in my
remaining academic career:
 I can use these tools in my future
courses for writing assignments, as
well as interactions with others.
 When I go to graduate school, the
experience will be more
professional. It is important that I
have these concepts to draw from.

How I will use this learning in my future
career:
 As a Communication major, I plan to
work in a position that will require me
to be interacting with many people
( a wide audience).
 In the corporate/academic world, I
will have to interact in a professional
manner.
 I will use these writing processes,
formats, and styles in every
document that I write.
 This course has given me the tools to
know how to draft a document but
also to be able to do it effectively.

11. +
My Goals

I have always been a wordy
person whether I communicate
verbally or through writing.

I want to be able to improve
myself so that I can communicate
my ideas without
overcomplicating them. This is
crucial because I have an interest
in becoming a professor one day.

My knowledge gained from this
course so far has given me the
opportunity to analyze my own
communication style and realize
when I need to be more clear,
concise, complete, correct, as well
as courteous.

12. +
Works Cited

Images in order of appearance:

http://openclipart.org/detail/147367/stack-of-books-by-gka

http://openclipart.org/detail/190967/graduation-cap-bywilliamtheaker-190967

http://openclipart.org/detail/152875/hand-shake-by-worker

http://openclipart.org/detail/185200/computer-monitor-byousia-185200

13. +
Thank you!
I am excited to widen my knowledge of professional writing as
the semester continues.