Exercises in Formal Writing: The Narrative

Outcomes addressed in this activity:

Unit Outcomes:

Discover writing as a process.

Relate how writing is important for the workplace and your career.

Prepare short narrative essays using formal writing skills.

Discover where to seek help with writing issues.

Apply various document formatting skills.

Course Outcome:

IT513-1: Illustrate information technology ideas with professional language and attribution.

Purpose

This Assignment will provide your professor with a basis to evaluate your formal writing abilities as well as aptitude in organizing ideas. Complete the Unit 1 Reading before beginning work.

Assignment Instructions and Requirements

For all parts of this Assignment:

Do not research; write from your current knowledge and critical thinking skills.

Your writing must follow the rules for formal writing style as explained in this unit’s reading.

Part 1: Writing a Narrative from a List

Your topic will be of your choice and focused on something technological. It must be one of the following:

An ordered list describing a simple process such as cycling your modem or performing a few tasks using common software.

An ordered list is one in which the order of actions must be followed (a numbered list).

An unordered list describing activities, considerations, or specially-related concepts such as describing a hardware component or making recommendations for buying a new smart phone.

An unordered list is one in which the items are truly related, but there is no need to specify specific order (a bulleted list).

First, write your list:

Provide a numbered or bulleted list (as appropriate for your topic).

Use short phrases, not full sentences.

Ensure that there are 6–8 items in your list.

Then, under the list, write a paragraph:

Using the list as your guide, write 200–250 words to explain your process or list in prose (paragraph form).

Start with a topic sentence and then provide details about each item on the list, in the order you presented them in that list. Do not write a conclusion.

Write with sentence structure variety, not “First,” “Second,” etc.

Part 2: Short Narrative Essay

The topic must be your career objectives. Include in your essay what you want to do and how you intend to get there. Also include how you will mitigate problems such as a broken computer or lost internet, and how you intend to balance work and family demands.

Do not research for this paragraph; write from what you already know.

Write 250–300 words for this part of the assignment.

There should be at least three paragraphs:

Your introduction paragraph must explain your essay’s topic and give a brief overview.

The paragraph(s) following provide details. Do not write “transition” sentences (more will be explained later in the course).

The final paragraph must not include any new ideas – provide instead a short summary.

Your work for this section must be presented in paragraph form, without lists, tables, or images.

Formatting Requirements

While full APA formatting is not required, the following must be applied. See the Unit Reading to understand how these should be accomplished and make note that the use of a ready-made template is not allowed. Make sure your assignment has the following formatting features:

1″ margins on all sides.

Paragraphs properly double-spaced (the list for part 1 may be single-spaced).

The first lines of paragraphs indented ½” using the indent tool.

All font the same size and style: Times New Roman size 12.

A centered, non-bold, sentence case descriptive subheading for each of the two main parts.

Directions for Submitting Your Assignment

Name your Word® document with the following convention: IT513-Unit1-LastName-FirstName (using your own name).

Make sure you read all instructions carefully and review the rubric before submitting to the Dropbox for Unit 1.

Reminders

Proofread your work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and formality.

Ensure that your work is not copied from sources. Copying does not prove an understanding of the material, and plagiarism will not be tolerated. In accordance with the University’s Academic Integrity policy, your assignment will be automatically submitted to TurnItIn.