• Register to use the class forum: Within the first week of the term, you should register for the class forum system. Go to the main page of the forums and choose the "Register" button. Once you have registered, you can log in again either by going to the main page of the forums and logging in at the bottom of the main page in the "Login" box or by posting a message — when the system will prompt you to login. For more information on using the forums, see the Forum Instructions built into this site (if you have already registered as a forum user from last semester, you need not register again; if you have forgotten your username and password, contact Barclay Barrios via e-mail at barclay.barrios@rutgers.edu). You can also get to our forum directly by using the Go to Class Forum link in the main menu above.

• Review this Web site: familiarize yourself with the various sections of our Web site.

• Pick up the readings for the course from Judy Karwowski in Murray Hall Room 108, available by Wednesday, january 21. Readings include:
  — "Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing" by Chris Anson and L. Lee Forsberg from Written Communication.
  — "Strong Cultures: The New Old Rule for Business Success" from Corporate Cultures by Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy.
  — Short readings about internships
  — Three sample student papers from previous semesters.

• Questions? Check out the FAQs section of this site. And contact the Internship Director if you need a letter for your employer guaranteeing credit or if you have any other questions:

  Barclay Bariros
  barclay.barrios@rutgers.edu
  (732) 445-2106
  Lucy Stone Hall, B Wing, Room 104C

Reading: Find a Web site or an article on the web about writing internships or internships in general. Be sure to include the URL in your posting.

First forum posting: Tell us about where you are working or where you worked this summer. How do your experiences compare to those described in the readings? What do/did you do on the job day to day? What sort of communication do/did you witness? What sort of writing tasks (if any) do/did you perform? Tell us an anecdote or relate an incident that happened on the job that taught you something about internships and/or about the place of writing in the workplace.

Respond to someone else's posting in this forum by Feb 18.

Reading: "Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing" by Chris Anson and L. Lee Forsberg from Written Communication.

Second Forum Posting: After reading "Moving Beyond the Academic Community," think about how you experienced the difference between writing in school and writing at work. English majors, especially, might talk about how writing in your literature courses differed from the writing you are doing on the job — and the skills you have been able to transfer from the literature class to the workplace. Those who have taken Business and Technical Writing courses might talk about how well those classes prepared you for workplace writing — what skills did you learn? how is writing on the job different from writing in class? Begin by telling us what you are doing for your internship and in what ways writing will figure in your work, and how that work compares to what you have done in your classes.

PLEASE NOTE: Those of you who took the Writing Internship last semester and who are continuing this term should tell us about how their job has changed or evolved over the past year.... I would also like those who took the Writing Internship last semester to write about the sort of transitions they feel they have made over the past months. How do your experiences compare to the "transitional stages" described by Anson and Forsberg?

Respond to someone else's posting in this forum by Mar 03.

Reading: "Strong Cultures: The New Old Rule for Business Success" by Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy.

Third Forum Posting: In their article on the "cultures of business," Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy discuss how business organizations embody their norms, beliefs, and ideals to create shared understandings that are not always communicated directly from person to person but are implied or suggested by the way others act, speak, and write. These shared assumptions can be found in the stories people tell, the heroes or models they hold up, the rituals they engage in, and the slogans or favorite sayings they repeat. In other words, much of what we learn about how to act at work is communicated indirectly. Though some cultures are more "strongly" expressed than others, all organizations form cultures so that the organization can function smoothly without a lot of time consuming explanations. And there can be little doubt that these cultures shape the type of communication — especially the type of writing — that goes on in the workplace.

What is/was the "writing culture" of your work environment like? To answer this question, I suggest you analyze one or two anecdotes about writing from your workplace. Use your story to help you explain the larger culture.

Along the way, you might consider some of these questions: How do people learn to write for the company or organization you are working for, or which you worked for this summer? That is, how are the community standards of what makes "good writing" communicated in the workplace? If you are doing or you have done a lot of writing yourself in the workplace, think about the directions and feedback you received about your writing. How were directions communicated to you? Who communicated them (was it always your supervisor)? What form did directions take? What was taken for granted or assumed and remained unsaid about "good writing"? Basically, how did you learn (or did you ever learn?) the writing norms and expectations of your work environment? In trying to answer some of these questions, tell us about something that happened to you as you were learning how to write at work — or observing the writing of others — and what you make of it, especially in light of Deal and Kennedy's article.

Respond to someone else's posting in this forum by Mar 17.

Reading: Find and read an article about your company or organization or about your industry (see complete instructions below).

Fourth Forum Posting: Find and read a journalistic analysis of your organization or of your organization's industry, written by someone from outside of your company. Give us the complete citation or URL (for an online article). This should be a substantial piece of writing, from a major newspaper, an important online source, a trade journal, or a book. Use the resources of the Rutgers Libraries to help you, especially those resources listed in one of the library's subject research guides to Business, Newspapers, and Business News. Or begin your research on the web with Google. Likely your supervisor or others at your organization can suggest a recent article, but you would definitely benefit from finding one yourself since it will give you a chance to choose from several available. For those working for the Chair of the English Department: you might read any article about the current state of English studies, perhaps in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Pedagogy (see especially Richard Miller's exchange with George Levine), College English, or Profession.

For this forum entry: Discuss your experiences at the organization in light of what you have learned from the news analysis. What does your reading contribute to your knowledge of what your company or organization does or what is going on in their industry? How does your reading expand your view of what you have been doing in the organization, and how your work contributes to their overall interests and goals?

PLEASE NOTE: Those students who took the Writing Internship last semester should find a different article than the one they wrote about last term.

Respond to someone else's posting in this forum by Mar 31.

Reading: Read the three sample papers from previous semesters. (Note: these students agreed to allow fellow students to read their work, some anonymously and some not) -- and write a draft of your own paper.

Draft: Meet with Barclay Barrios during next two weeks (Mar 29 to Apr 09) to discuss the draft of your final paper.

Draft due by our meeting. Write at least 5 pages toward your final paper, typed, to discuss during our meeting. Be sure to refer to at least one reading from the term and to discuss some of your experiences. If possible, please send this draft in advance of our actual meeting so I can have detailed feedback ready for you.

Reading: If you have not done so already, read the sample papers from previous semesters.

Fifth and Final Forum Posting: Tell us what you are going to write about for the final paper. What will you focus on? What reading or readings did you find most useful for thinking about your topic? What workplace examples or anecdotes will you discuss in your paper?

Respond to someone else's posting in this forum by Apr 14.

Your final paper is due.
Please submit it in one of the following ways:

• By e-mail in Word, WordPerfect, or PDF format
• Put a copy in my box in Murray Hall.
• Submit it in person to me in Lucy Stone Hall, B Wing, Room 104C.

I would actually prefer an electronic submission by e-mail so that I have a copy of your paper on disk for future reference.

Final Paper Assignment:

Remember that the final paper is a chance to reflect critically upon your internship experience and to make it meaningful for yourself and others. Though you have probably been learning a lot about workplace writing during this semester, the final paper asks you to return to the "liberal arts" essay format that you learned in school and to reflect on what you have learned in a critical and focused way. Think of it, though, as a chance to make some sense of your experience, so that when you go on the job market and someone asks you "What did you learn from that internship?" you will have a very cogent and intelligent answer.

What have you learned? What have you learned about writing at work? Or what have you learned about the specific industry in which you worked? Or what have you learned about yourself and about the skills you will need to develop in order to succeed in future jobs?

Since every internship experience is different, every final paper will have its own unique focus. What issue stood out most prominently for you? Or what insight seemed most important? We will talk individually about your topic, but use this forum posting to think through your basic idea as you begin to write your draft. Try most of all to find a focus that you can sustain for the whole essay.

Papers must be from 8 to 10 pages (double spaced), they should make reference to at least one of the readings (to help you establish a frame for discussion), and they should discuss at least one specific case of workplace writing that you either participated in or observed (to help illustrate your theme). Be as specific as possible in your examples, and be sure to analyze and not just narrate your experience.

All interns should be assured that your paper will never be read by anyone other than your teacher without your specific permission. In order to help future interns in crafting their final papers, I may ask if I can share your final paper with them. You have every right to decline or to put restrictions (such as anonymity) on the way the paper is presented.