Introduction to Memos

[syllabus] [calendar]

The purpose of today's lecture and activity is to introduce you to some of the rhetorical principles of writing a memo, a type of document that we will be using a lot throughout the course of hte semester.

Before Class

• Read over the template of a memo and the three and Buddy McCormick memos. Start thinking 

about how you would evaluate each memo based upon the principles of rhetoric.
• Write an introductory memo using memo writing techniques. Send the memo to the instructor as 
an email attatchment before class.

During Class

• You will be placed into a group of three/four in which you will be assigned one of the three Buddy McCormick memos.
• In these groups, reread the memo that you assigned and address the following prompts
  
  
  1. Apply the rhetorical principles to the memo by identifying the writer, the audience,the purpose, and the situation.
  2. Explain why this version of the memo is effective or ineffective by drawing specific examples from the actual memo.
  3. Describe how you would revise the memo to make it more effective.
     
     
• Get together with the group who is looking at the same memo and compare/share your answers.
• We will discuss your answers as a class.