Georgia Institute of Technology Tech Communication Worksheet

explore one of the categories of business communication genres: (1) genres related to your personal identity (e.g. resumes, cover letters, other job materials),

Rather than produce these genres, the project examines how these genres work and why they are the way they are, using one of the following methods;

• Historical Comparison: Find a 30+ year-old example of your genre and compare it to a contemporary version. Select examples that let you say something interesting about the comparison.
• Technology Network: Map out the infrastructure of relationships involved in the production and implementation of your genre, including the entities (processes, technologies, objects, people, and so on) that make up the network.
• Interview a Practitioner: Contact someone who works in a field you’re interested in and who frequently engages with (writes or reads) your genre in a professional context. Interview them about their experiences and knowledge about your genre.
• Case Study: Find an interesting real-world situation/event (more than just an interesting example) involving your genre, provide an overview and context, and explain the relevance and implications.
• Propose an Innovation: Create a detailed proposal that would change how the genre functions and/or how it is used. The proposal should be targeted at a specific real-world “client” or audience.

The method you choose should be a central component of your project, but it is not an end unto itself. Your project should leverage the method you choose in service of a larger purpose that explores some interesting feature of the type of communication you’re writing about, and should make it clear what this all means and why it matters.

You can produce any type of document that allows you to meet your goals for the project—as long as it isn’t a generic assignment-style 12 point, double spaced document.