Written Communication

Written Communication For the first exercise I will choose a research paper myself and a team member had written for previous class. The Topic of the research paper was “Lotus rental car” the research topic was chosen from a list of topics assigned to us. The sources we used for the research were simple, credible, reliable, and found/gathered throughout use of research on the Internet. We found good information to back up our thesis and referenced it accordingly. The basis of the thesis was simple: ecofriendly cars will help improve Lotus rental car revenue as they are more fuel efficient. My team member found information to support how money could be saved by using fuel friendly vehicles, and I found information to show how current combustion engines were wasteful and more costly and, we simply put it together. We essentially split the organization of the project in half. I believe the result came out quite well, we did not have a method to organize, and my team and I just put it together and turned it in and were pleased with the final grade. I could not say I would change the approach as it was one of the first research papers I had written, and I was pleased with the final grade and result I received from doing the assignment. Perhaps there is one thing I would change and that would be to find more sources to add to back up my thesis. It was a learning experience and I will perfect my skills in researching and writing gradually. When selecting an important topic to research appropriate for an audience there are several things to consider. The audience is always looking for what is in it for them, so no matter what the topic is, always try to make the presentation/paper seem like it is beneficial to the listener/reader. If my intended audience believes my message does not apply to them then they may lose interest and be less inclined to pay attention. By adapting ones communication skills to that of the needs of the listener, the listener will provide a much more compelling answer the question of “what is in it for me?” Source credibility is always important as it supports your research. Good source credibility equates to a more reliable paper and the more credible your sources, the more proof you have to support your research. Good source credibility is especially important in a professional audience as they will want to know who, what, when, where, how, and why of it all, the credibility of your sources and references you add helps answer all these questions. The organizing strategies outlined in Research Matters cover the basics of the writing process. These strategies include but are not limited to grouping your ideas, arranging your ideas and categorizing them from general ideas to specific ideas. Part of doing this is considering your projects overall shapes, for example the outline of your paper is typically essay style, having an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs to support your thesis stated in your introductory paragraph and the conclusion restating the thesis and a brief overview of everything the reader has just read. These strategies are all extremely useful and I plan to use several of them in my own writing. For example choosing organizational strategies seams quite useful as that is where I find most of my problems.