October 24, 2006; HW#1; Reading Reflection

from "mycomplab" [course website] --"Workplace Literacy", Ch.2: Stating and Analyzing the Problem; Ch. 3: Identifying the Document's Readers, Purposes, and Constraints

The 5 steps to a well-written problem statement:

• what exactly is the problem that makes me want to scream in: a)frustration, or b) anger? (Or punch someone's lights out, depending on the situation!LOL!!)
• in the workplace environment, the problem needs to gain credibility and action-promotion by how has this problemaffected not just myself but also for the company I work for , as well as others within the company [fellow employees, supervisors,etc] and outside the company [customers, especially].
• a full explanation as to the why should people care about this certain problem

• there needs to be a balance of the ideal -- description of what a ideal situation may be WITH reality -- what is the situation, now: in the text, the author had the 'ideal situation' as the "A" part that connected to the "B" part, reality portion of this "equation".

Also, from the text, the "2 Methods of Analyzing a Problem" [for me, personally, this is the more 'fun' part!]--
Begin with questions,

1. the usual "who, where, when, why, what", along with "in what ways", and "to what extent" questions
2. to 'unpack' a problem--

• Write out a phrase summing up what the problem is, in the middle of a sheet of paper, encircle this as in a bubble;
  
• above that central bubble/phrase, add 5 to 6 more bubbles, to represent possible causes of the problem-- draw arrows leading to the central bubble/phrase;
• next, create more bubbles above that 1st set, to represent causes of the causes, draw arrows to the originating causes;
• below, the central bubble/phrase, do the same, but these bubbles represent the negative effects of the problem
• contine make another set of bubbles, to represent negative effects of the negative effects
• Lastly, carefully, consider all the created "bubbles" to identify potential solutions

I believe that this specific techique would certainly help me out to clarify my writing any type of problem-solving, speifically in writing proposals.
Also, the information from Chapter # from "Workplace Literacy"--
Within the environment of any workplace, I will need to consider 3 components as I write and they are

• the document's many readers--how is this helpful, clear, accurate, easy-to-read/understand/navigate, is it convincing? The restrictions of a document, such as deadlines, politics [ususally only, but not exclusively, within the working environment], budgetary concerns can be overwhelming; however, after carefully "mulling-over" a document can be produced thats valuable as well as "perfect-for-the-job".
  

• levels of audience--primary [for brevity purposes, I'll use the initial. 'P']those that will use the document in a functional, direct manner, in their workplace or in daily life; secondary [I'll use the initial. 'S'] same as in P, but for reasons less so; tertiary [I'll use 'T'] those that have contact with the document but consider its contents irrelevent to their jobs or lives.

For any (and probably all) my future writing, Whether it is for academic, social, or career-related purposes, I need to be mindful of this "hierarchy" of readership.