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20

Markel Chapter 20 explains the importance of extreme detail and clarity while writing instructions. It almost seems like some of the detail called for in the chapter should just be common sense. The first example he gives is of an employer offering free education for employees, and they go into specifications about what an employee is, what education is, etc. To me I would expect that unless there is some unusual stipulation marked within the paperwork, the employer wouldn’t have the freedom to suggest otherwise. This is almost more of a legal contract than an instruction manual though. I found the information for the instruction manuals, details about using graphics and being concise rather than longwinded to ring true, and certainly seemed important.

This chapter brings to mind purchasing a bathroom cabinet, including 3 sides, a heavy mirrored door, and many shelves from Ikea recently. The instructions stuck to many of the suggestions for success that were noted in Markel chapter 20, but the big difference was that the Ikea cabinet instructions were almost completely visual. I don’t typically do well with these kinds of assembly products so I ended up being the assistant while my boyfriend put it together.

17

The information in chapter 17 is clear and concise, and the descriptions of each type of informational report seem to be important and well made. I found it hard to remember the content of the chapter and the specific differences between the form types, but I think having this book around as a reference for if these situations come up in my work or school career would be very useful.

I haven’t had to write any reports like the ones suggested in this chapter but as biology major I could definitely see it happening in the future. I could see myself doing research projects in the field, or being a part of some ongoing research where I would need to send in progress reports, or field reports. I’m definitely glad I read up on the etiquette and functionality necessary for making these reports properly.

1984

This isn’t the first time I’ve read 1984. My high school had an Orwellian themed year in which we read several books by George Orwell and did community projects and art themed around the concepts he conveyed in his most famous work. I felt like I took more from this reading than I did from reading the book in high school. I noticed more ties to our current government and society. I noticed intricacies that I’d missed the first time around. Some of the more minor injustices seemed more punctuated to me now than the first time I read it, like the quality of their food, and their inability to speak with any openness to others. The big standout parts to me are still the control of knowledge and minute monitoring of every moment of citizen’s lives.

I see connections between the way the news media chooses what they will show people and what they won’t, and the control of history in 1984. It’s all the same in concept. Control what people know, and you control the entire population’s perception of reality. Before there was live footage of war activity Americans supported their government’s decisions in this area with very little discretion. Video then became more widely available and when footage of peoples loved ones started being broadcast on television screens in peoples’ homes, there was outrage, panic, and real protesting was born. Not only can news media control what we see, but how we view it. Today there is a lot of controversy over which news outlet is the most fair and unbiased, but every piece of news can’t be reported, so the act of picking the most important pieces falls onto an individual or group of individuals, and that in itself begins to flavor the political sway of the news. There was a study recently with findings that suggested Fox news watchers were less informed about the subject matter presented on Fox news than people who watched no news at all. It’s sad. It isn’t government control necessarily, but it is control.

16

In a similar way to chapter 17 I think the process for writing proposals is well laid out and easy to understand, but difficult to hang onto due to the detail and specifics of it all. I like the step-by-step overview, and the proposal methods. I became intrigued when we got to research proposals. This is something I could use! Persuasion is absolutely integral to any sort of proposal, so I’m glad they thought to cover that portion. Without acknowledging and clearly laying out why someone should want to accept your proposal, they may not mentally venture to think of the reasons themselves.

I haven’t had need to write a proposal myself, but just like with chapter 17 it is something that I could absolutely see myself doing in the future because I’m majoring in biology. I could see myself coming back to this book on a regular basis in the future.

19

This chapter gives you a lot of wiggle room. It sets some formal ground rules, such as ranking things, classifying things as acceptable or unacceptable, and coming up with a conclusion, but besides that the means for finding good recommendations for the person or company you are writing to will vary as much as the subject matter. Without knowing what the obstacles of a certain situation are making it nearly impossible to pin down a clear “do this, do that” answer. I feel like you could potentially give very bad advice to someone, but do it clearly and in a proper format following the suggestions here.

This chapter reminds me very much of the Personal Development Program (PDP) my workplace has each of the employees completing. It’s a yearly personal improvement plan where we lay out different aspects of our workplace that we think are important, and also look at client survey results from the past year, and we select thing that need to be improved to make employees and clients happier. The format is completely different, but a lot of the methods are the same. We formulate recommendations for ourselves based on what we think we are capable of doing to work towards these improvements and we document them along the way. It’s a source of constant dread for me, as I find coming up with these personal suggestions incredibly stressful. They don’t come as naturally when applying them to myself as they would if I were giving suggestions to someone else. I almost wish I could turn in some sort of request for help in specific areas and have my manager write me a recommendation report instead.

6

This chapter is exciting and useful for me! I do research papers! All the time, for school! Specifying the difference between academic and workplace papers seems to be a good starting point, I’ve certainly never used a research paper format for anything at work, but I see potential for that to happen sometime in the future. The methods and suggestions in the book are quite similar to what I do already, but with clearer guidelines. I liked the thought put into evaluating the information that you’ve taken in, and of course appropriate citing is important too.

I’ve used both primary and secondary research in my classes at WSU. It would have been useful to have such clear step-by-step instructions at hand when I was doing them. I will definitely keep this book around for my future research. We’ve also been talking about how to report information ethically in my bioethics class. Presenting information gives you the power to spin it if you aren’t very careful.

15

This chapter is all about preparing materials for job applications. The information on resumes, hard copy or digital format, is very interesting and pertinent to my life. I think a resume is something everyone should keep up to date and perfect continuously so that when you need it, it’s waiting and ready for you and there aren’t any last minute mistakes. I’ve recently put in my resume for a few different jobs and I wish I’d read this chapter first! Some of the information reinforced some good habits I already had, but some of it covered things I feel I should have known, they seem intuitive but unless someone lays it out for you it’s not always easy to see. For example, I’ve never sent a thank you note to a potential employer! It seems like a great idea, but the most I’ve done is call to basically remind them that I exist and am still interested. I’ll be keeping this chapter tagged and ready for use in the future.

I am updating my resume using the information in this chapter, and I’ll keep it so that I can perfect it in the future. I have been doing almost endless revision to my resume, updating or at least checking on it once every couple of months, even when steadily employed. I’ve received interviews and been hired for jobs before that I believe I was not the most qualified for, simply because my resume looked professional and I interviewed well. I know I’m a great employee, and I tell prospective employers, and ask them to call my past managers and ask them what they think, because I know they still love me! I try my best to keep good relationships even if I need to leave a job, and it has really served me well.

11

Website design isn’t something I have ever thought I’d need to delve into. I liked the CRAP analysis and how that helps keep these 4 aspects of design and usability in perspective, and make it easy to assess. I’ve definitely found myself frustrated with website design in the past, and I kind of wish I could email a copy of this book to some that I frequent that are so hard to read or find information on.

I haven’t had much experience designing websites, but when working for the Phoenix Inn Suites I designed several forms for us to use for our own record keeping, for guest use, and for logs. I was the go-to person for this because I could find my way around Excel and I was a little bit artsy. I really had no personal experience with layout design, I just did what looked right to me. Now I see that a lot of what I thought “just looked right” was really me adhering to the rules and suggestions given in this chapter, I just didn’t know it yet!