ASSIGNMENT 4

EN360 Technical Communication

Directions: Be sure to save an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it to
Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences,
and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA
format. Your response should be four (4) double-spaced pages; refer to the "Assignment
Format" page located on the Course Home page for specific format requirements.
Part A: Written and Oral Communication Skills
Locate a website for an organization that hires graduates in your major. Besides technical
skills, what writing and communication skills does this organization seek in a job
candidate? Write a one-page essay on what they say directly on this subject. Include
reasons why each skill is important, and any additional written/spoken skills that you
believe would give a candidate a competitive advantage.
Part B: Effective Writing Teams
a. What types of projects require collaboration?
b. What are four primary attributes of an effective writing team? Provide an example
for each.
Part C: Internet Source Distortion/Misrepresentation
From media, personal experience, or the Internet, identify an example of each of the
following sources of distortion (faulty causal and/or statistical inference) for the
following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

A study with questionable sponsorship or motives

Reliance on insufficient evidence/hasty generalization
Unbalanced or biased presentation
Unexamined assumptions
Faulty causal reasoning

Part D: Checklist for Style - Local Newspaper

Using the Checklist for Style on the following page (also found in Chapter 11 of your
textbook), rewrite the following letter to a local newspaper.

In the absence of definitive studies regarding the optimum length of the

school day, I can only state my personal opinion based upon observations
based by me and upon teacher observations that have been conveyed to me.
Considering the length of the present school day, it is my opinion that the day
is excessive length-wise for most elementary pupils, certainly for almost all
of the primary children.
To find my answer to the problem requires consideration of two ways in
which the problem may be viewed. One way focuses upon the needs of the
children, while the other focuses upon logistics, transportation, scheduling,
and other limits imposed by the educational system. If it is necessary to
prioritize these two ideas, it would seem reasonable to give the first
consideration to the primary reason for the very existence of the system, i.e.,
to meet the educational needs of the children the system is trying to serve.

Grading Rubric
Please refer to the rubric on the next page for the grading criteria for this assignment.

This is the end of Assignment 4.