English 353 Final Exam
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
This Final Exam is open note and open book. Please fully answer all prompts and questions without
consulting other individuals in nor outside our class. Upload all questions and responses in a single Word
document to the “Final Exam” assignment on Scholar no later than Tuesday, April 28th at 6p ET.
ENGL 353 Final Exam
1. In 2-5 sentences, name one thing that’s the same and one thing that’s different between academic
and professional writing. Explain why these differences exist and/or are important.
One of the main differences between academic and professional writing is the format. In school you
typically write essays, research papers, reports, etc. to prove your knowledge to the professor. Academic
writing is typically formal and uses concise language while using long, full sentences. In the workplace
you may write emails, policies, employee evaluations etc. to help perform the job or complete a task
within the workplace. This style of writing is more laid back but still professional. Writings in the
workplace needs to be quick and easy to read through to clearly relay a message, information, or
instructions. In the workplace people tend to be busy and don’t have the time to read through long
papers full of text so it’s best to keep it short. A similarity between the two writings is they both require
good writing and organizational skills. Arguments need to be supported by reliable sources and all
information in the writing needs to be placed in a way that it makes sense.
2. In 2-5 sentences, answer whether exigence in workplace writing is typically intrinsic or extrinsic? Why?
Given an example to help illustrate your response.
Exigence is the issue, situation, or problem that urges someone to write. Typically, in workplace writing
exigence is extrinsic as the reason for writing typically involves work factors such as pay, promotions, and
avoiding punishment. An example of this is a report and presentation must be completed in the
workplace. If they do well on the report, they get a bonus, which is what is motivating them to write.
3. In 2-5 sentences, answer the following questions: what is one specific or unique thing you know about
the discourse community you’ll join when you enter the workplace in your career field? How do you
know about this aspect of your discourse community? How will knowing this information help you when
you start your first job?
The discourse community I plan to enter is the healthcare field. I have learned that communication is
extremely important in this field as they all communicate with their own language such as slang for
medical terms. Most of this language is picked up while working in the field, as it can vary from hospital
to hospital. Another important aspect is the writing that this field focuses on. The writing is focused on
the patients and their needs. This requires you to know how to properly document in patients charts and
other medical files. I have learned these two requirements from doing research but also working in this
field already. Since I have the experience and knowledge, I will be at more of an advantage when I start
my first job.
,English 353 Final Exam
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
4. As you’ve continually learned in this class, all aspects of any piece of writing are heavily influenced by
the audience. For instance, imagine that you have been tasked with writing a list of the best aspects of
working at your most recent workplace. (If you’ve never had a paid job, use a club, a volunteer
experience, or our ENGL 353 class as your “workplace.”) For each scenario below, write a list of the top
three benefits of working at the workplace. Then, in a single, brief paragraph, explain the similarities or
differences between your lists, with special attention to why you ranked each positive aspect the way
you did for the scenario / audience in question.
Scenario #1: In the near future, your boss wants to run a story on your company’s blog about all
the benefits of working at XYZ Company. To help generate initial ideas for the blog, your boss
askes all employees to generate a ranked list of at least their top 3 favorite aspects of working for
XYZ.
- Three 12s a week, every other weekend off (work life balance)
- Co-workers are always willing to help, friendly environment
- Rotate between 6 offices, not stuck in the same office every day (variety)
Scenario #2: There’s a job opening at XYZ Company, where you work. Your best friend is
considering applying for the job. To help them know if the company itself (not just the job)
would be a good fit for them, they want to know what your top 3 (or more) favorite aspects are
about working for XYZ.
- Discounted price/visit write off when we are the patient
- Three 12’s a week (work life balance)
- MED Pay
The main similarities between both scenarios is the work life balance. This is appropriate for
both audiences in question since most people tend to care about how flexible the work
schedules are. This would appeal to my best friend because she is a college student, which
means she’ll like the idea of having two weekends off a month. For the blog, I mentioned
coworkers are always willing to help which gives off the feeling of a friendly work environment.
This is typically something people look for in a job, as no one wants to work in a place where the
coworkers are mean. I placed rotate between 6 offices for the blog post because this is
something that would make the blog stand out, since most people typically just work in one
office unlike us who work in 6 different ones. It creates a sense of variety and this may be
something people are looking for in a job. For my best friend, I placed discounted price when we
are patients because she tends to go to the doctor a lot and this may be something that would
stand out to her. She could be seen for free since the visits get written off by our company. I also
included MED Pay, which is an extra $300 included in our paychecks if we have insurance though
someone else (meaning not through the company so like a parent or a spouse). This would
appeal to her because she has insurance though her parents so she would be getting an extra
$300 every check. Like stated before she’s a college student and any extra money helps.
, English 353 Final Exam
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
5. Each organization—even within the same career field—likely has its own writing style guidelines.
Review the Style Guide for Business Writing by Michael Thomsett (from our 1/23 class period, accessible
on Trible Library online). Choose three style conventions or rules that will be most applicable for your
future career field. For each, explain in 2-3 sentences what the writing convention is and why / how it
will be applicable to specific writing tasks or projects you’ll likely complete in your future career field.
Data Analysis- Data analysis is the process of collecting and organizing data in a simple way so a
conclusion can be drawn from it. In my career field, I believe I will be using this to make better business
decisions. Since I plan to become a Healthcare Administrator, I can use this to look at past data (such as
revenue from patients being seen) and see how we need to proceed in the future to keep revenue up.
Proposal- A proposal is formal written plan or suggestion. As a healthcare administrator an example of
when I may be likely to use proposals are for hiring more staff. I may have to produce a proposal to
higher management with hopes to convince them to hire more staff throughout the hospital.
Reports- A report is a document that presents information in a specific format for a certain audience.
Reports are used heavily throughout the healthcare field. This is applicable because I could be asked to
write a report on clinical data, patient statistics, overall hospital statistics, etc to present to higher
management.
6. Because most professionals are constantly busy, concision is a writing skill that traverses all career
fields. Please review the sentences below. Choose one of them, and revise to make the sentence as
concise as possible. You must make at least one revision to your chosen sentence, and that revision must
make the sentence shorter and/or clearer. It is also permissible to revise the passage into two separate
sentences if doing so clarifies the information.
Sentence #1: On the discussion boards, students are expected to post answers to questions,
comments about the learning materials, and responses to their classmates’ comments, as
directed in each class period’s instructions on Scholar.
Sentence #2: It is very important to participate during all scheduled class periods in order to gain
the knowledge and skills this course teaches; this statement is more important than ever now
that our class has transitioned to an asynchronous online format.
Sentence #3: Any student who violates this Honor Code on an assignment will receive a zero on
the assignment and—depending on the extent of the transgression—may fail the course.
Sentence #2- Since our class has transitioned to an asynchronous format, it’s extremely
important to participate in all scheduled class periods to gain the knowledge and skills from
this course.
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
This Final Exam is open note and open book. Please fully answer all prompts and questions without
consulting other individuals in nor outside our class. Upload all questions and responses in a single Word
document to the “Final Exam” assignment on Scholar no later than Tuesday, April 28th at 6p ET.
ENGL 353 Final Exam
1. In 2-5 sentences, name one thing that’s the same and one thing that’s different between academic
and professional writing. Explain why these differences exist and/or are important.
One of the main differences between academic and professional writing is the format. In school you
typically write essays, research papers, reports, etc. to prove your knowledge to the professor. Academic
writing is typically formal and uses concise language while using long, full sentences. In the workplace
you may write emails, policies, employee evaluations etc. to help perform the job or complete a task
within the workplace. This style of writing is more laid back but still professional. Writings in the
workplace needs to be quick and easy to read through to clearly relay a message, information, or
instructions. In the workplace people tend to be busy and don’t have the time to read through long
papers full of text so it’s best to keep it short. A similarity between the two writings is they both require
good writing and organizational skills. Arguments need to be supported by reliable sources and all
information in the writing needs to be placed in a way that it makes sense.
2. In 2-5 sentences, answer whether exigence in workplace writing is typically intrinsic or extrinsic? Why?
Given an example to help illustrate your response.
Exigence is the issue, situation, or problem that urges someone to write. Typically, in workplace writing
exigence is extrinsic as the reason for writing typically involves work factors such as pay, promotions, and
avoiding punishment. An example of this is a report and presentation must be completed in the
workplace. If they do well on the report, they get a bonus, which is what is motivating them to write.
3. In 2-5 sentences, answer the following questions: what is one specific or unique thing you know about
the discourse community you’ll join when you enter the workplace in your career field? How do you
know about this aspect of your discourse community? How will knowing this information help you when
you start your first job?
The discourse community I plan to enter is the healthcare field. I have learned that communication is
extremely important in this field as they all communicate with their own language such as slang for
medical terms. Most of this language is picked up while working in the field, as it can vary from hospital
to hospital. Another important aspect is the writing that this field focuses on. The writing is focused on
the patients and their needs. This requires you to know how to properly document in patients charts and
other medical files. I have learned these two requirements from doing research but also working in this
field already. Since I have the experience and knowledge, I will be at more of an advantage when I start
my first job.
,English 353 Final Exam
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
4. As you’ve continually learned in this class, all aspects of any piece of writing are heavily influenced by
the audience. For instance, imagine that you have been tasked with writing a list of the best aspects of
working at your most recent workplace. (If you’ve never had a paid job, use a club, a volunteer
experience, or our ENGL 353 class as your “workplace.”) For each scenario below, write a list of the top
three benefits of working at the workplace. Then, in a single, brief paragraph, explain the similarities or
differences between your lists, with special attention to why you ranked each positive aspect the way
you did for the scenario / audience in question.
Scenario #1: In the near future, your boss wants to run a story on your company’s blog about all
the benefits of working at XYZ Company. To help generate initial ideas for the blog, your boss
askes all employees to generate a ranked list of at least their top 3 favorite aspects of working for
XYZ.
- Three 12s a week, every other weekend off (work life balance)
- Co-workers are always willing to help, friendly environment
- Rotate between 6 offices, not stuck in the same office every day (variety)
Scenario #2: There’s a job opening at XYZ Company, where you work. Your best friend is
considering applying for the job. To help them know if the company itself (not just the job)
would be a good fit for them, they want to know what your top 3 (or more) favorite aspects are
about working for XYZ.
- Discounted price/visit write off when we are the patient
- Three 12’s a week (work life balance)
- MED Pay
The main similarities between both scenarios is the work life balance. This is appropriate for
both audiences in question since most people tend to care about how flexible the work
schedules are. This would appeal to my best friend because she is a college student, which
means she’ll like the idea of having two weekends off a month. For the blog, I mentioned
coworkers are always willing to help which gives off the feeling of a friendly work environment.
This is typically something people look for in a job, as no one wants to work in a place where the
coworkers are mean. I placed rotate between 6 offices for the blog post because this is
something that would make the blog stand out, since most people typically just work in one
office unlike us who work in 6 different ones. It creates a sense of variety and this may be
something people are looking for in a job. For my best friend, I placed discounted price when we
are patients because she tends to go to the doctor a lot and this may be something that would
stand out to her. She could be seen for free since the visits get written off by our company. I also
included MED Pay, which is an extra $300 included in our paychecks if we have insurance though
someone else (meaning not through the company so like a parent or a spouse). This would
appeal to her because she has insurance though her parents so she would be getting an extra
$300 every check. Like stated before she’s a college student and any extra money helps.
, English 353 Final Exam
Spring 2020
V.L. Garton-Gundling
5. Each organization—even within the same career field—likely has its own writing style guidelines.
Review the Style Guide for Business Writing by Michael Thomsett (from our 1/23 class period, accessible
on Trible Library online). Choose three style conventions or rules that will be most applicable for your
future career field. For each, explain in 2-3 sentences what the writing convention is and why / how it
will be applicable to specific writing tasks or projects you’ll likely complete in your future career field.
Data Analysis- Data analysis is the process of collecting and organizing data in a simple way so a
conclusion can be drawn from it. In my career field, I believe I will be using this to make better business
decisions. Since I plan to become a Healthcare Administrator, I can use this to look at past data (such as
revenue from patients being seen) and see how we need to proceed in the future to keep revenue up.
Proposal- A proposal is formal written plan or suggestion. As a healthcare administrator an example of
when I may be likely to use proposals are for hiring more staff. I may have to produce a proposal to
higher management with hopes to convince them to hire more staff throughout the hospital.
Reports- A report is a document that presents information in a specific format for a certain audience.
Reports are used heavily throughout the healthcare field. This is applicable because I could be asked to
write a report on clinical data, patient statistics, overall hospital statistics, etc to present to higher
management.
6. Because most professionals are constantly busy, concision is a writing skill that traverses all career
fields. Please review the sentences below. Choose one of them, and revise to make the sentence as
concise as possible. You must make at least one revision to your chosen sentence, and that revision must
make the sentence shorter and/or clearer. It is also permissible to revise the passage into two separate
sentences if doing so clarifies the information.
Sentence #1: On the discussion boards, students are expected to post answers to questions,
comments about the learning materials, and responses to their classmates’ comments, as
directed in each class period’s instructions on Scholar.
Sentence #2: It is very important to participate during all scheduled class periods in order to gain
the knowledge and skills this course teaches; this statement is more important than ever now
that our class has transitioned to an asynchronous online format.
Sentence #3: Any student who violates this Honor Code on an assignment will receive a zero on
the assignment and—depending on the extent of the transgression—may fail the course.
Sentence #2- Since our class has transitioned to an asynchronous format, it’s extremely
important to participate in all scheduled class periods to gain the knowledge and skills from
this course.
