ENG 115: Final Exam
Directions: Carefully read through the entire document. There are two separate parts to this exam. Each part is worth 5 points. Part 1 asks you to
Learning to Write in an Organization
The Situation
You have accepted a technical-communication internship at the Washington, DC headquarters of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA, the statistical and analytical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, provides data and information on energy sources. The EIA publishes reports, Web products, press releases, databases, and maps. Publications are issued weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, and as needed or upon request.
As an intern, you will work closely with Merilee Summerfield, a technical publications editor. “Our Web site is the primary communication channel for the EIA,” Merilee explains. “We’ve just launched the first phase of a comprehensive site redesign that will affect the way we write Web content. Using a uniform style throughout our site tells users that the EIA has high standards for our content and our data.” She has asked you to develop Web content and to help scientists as they write various EIA documents.
When writing Web content, EIA writers follow recommendations from The Energy Information Administration’s Web Editorial Style Guide. The guide specifies details of the writing style required by the EIA, including rules for punctuation, word usage, tone, and hypertext links. The guide also contains direction on matters related to EIA work specifically, such as editorial voice, capitalization of frequently used words and terms, abbreviation of units of measure, and notes.
The Challenge
Learning to write in a new organization involves a learning curve. You will experience part of this learning curve when you are asked to quickly learn about the EIA and what represents consistent, correct, readable Web content within that organization. You will also have to grapple with unfamiliar content. As you study model documents, consider their audience and purpose, become knowledgeable about their contents, and familiarize yourself with the EIA’s Web Editorial Style Guide (attached below), you will learn how to adapt your writing to meet the specific needs of an organization.
Your Job
During your first week as an EIA intern, you will need to learn about EIA publications and Web editorial guidelines. As a new intern, you are asked to do the following:
- Study a preface to a technical report to learn the characteristics of the organization’s reports.
- Learn about appropriate content and level of detail for an energy report.
- Use the organization’s style guide to answer writing-related questions posed by analysts.
Part 1 Learn about an Organization’s Reports
First, Merilee would like you to learn about EIA, and, in particular, what EIA writers want to accomplish with their energy publications. She suggests that you start by reading “Our Work” under the heading “About EIA” on the EIA site and explore other links on the site such as “Mission and Overview” (Figures 5.3 and 5.4 below).
To introduce you to EIA publications, Merilee asks you to study a preface (Document 5.5) and write a two-page memo in which you do the following:
- describe the preface’s audience and purpose;
- evaluate how well the preface explains the subject, purpose, background, and scope of the report;
- describe and evaluate the preface’s organizational structure; and
- discuss the preface’s level of formality and voice (active or passive).
FIGURE 5.3
Mission and Overview” Page of the EIA Web Site
FIGURE 5.4
“EIA Offices” Page of the EIA Web Site
At the EIA, we label some of our introductory sections as prefaces and place them in the front matter of the report. Note lowercase Roman numeral pagination (e.g., ix and x). Other organizations place introductions in the body of the report.
We provide our readers with a concise, one-sentence description of our report.
An overview of how data are grouped in the report.
A statement of methods used to make projections.
A statement of types of energy not included in this report.
Because this “disclaimer” is so important, we placed it in a shaded box.
Document 5.5
Document 5.5: Preface from International Energy Outlook 2010
Beginning at the bottom of page ix, we include a detailed advance organizer in these three paragraphs.
This last paragraph includes more discussion methods. Do you think ending the preface with a paragraph on methods is effective?
Part 2 Compare and Evaluate Report Designs
To help you better understand how the communication medium will affect the way the content is presented, Merilee asks you to take a closer look at three different designs for the organization’s annual International Energy Outlook (IEO) report Documents 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8). Respond to her questions in a memo. Note: The questions are scattered throughout the next three pages. For your convenience, I have consolidated them at the end of this document.
DOCUMENT 5.6
Web Page of Most Recent International Energy Outlook Report
What navigation aids are available on this page to help readers quickly find the content they seek?
What types of readers might use the hyperlinks to data tables and the Interactive Table Viewer?
In what ways are these links to related content useful to readers?
DOCUMENT 5.7
Web Page of Archived International Energy Outlook 2010
This page displays an archived IEO report. In what ways does this page display content and related resources differently from the page displaying the most recent report (Document 5.6)?
DOCUMENT 5.8
Highlights Page from Printed Version of Archived International Energy Outlook 2010
What navigation aids are not available in a printed report?
How has the writer designed this page to be printed and read?
What interactive features are not available in a printed report?
Part 2 Questions for Comparison and Evaluation of 3 different documents:
Questions about document 5.6:
- What navigation aids are available on this page to help readers quickly find the content they seek?
- What types of readers might use the hyperlinks to data tables and the Interactive Table Viewer?
- In what ways are these links to related content useful to readers?
Questions about 5.7:
- This page displays an archived IEO In what ways does this page display content and related resources differently from the page displaying the most recent report (Document 5.6)?
Questions about 5.8:
- What navigation aids are not available in a printed report?
- How has the writer designed this page to be printed and read?
- What interactive features are not available in a printed report?
Directions: Write a memo to Merilee Summerfield in which you compare and evaluate the designs of these three different pages. Make sure that you have responded to all of the questions Merilee has posed throughout (these are listed below each document). Your memo must follow the memo format introduced at the beginning of this course. It must follow the rules of capitalization and punctuation, and it must be carefully proofread and spell checked prior to submission to me.
