English Class – MEMORANDUM

The Case for a Full Bookshelf

row of books — Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

By Allison Underwood

It’s okay to keep your books.

Every time the end of a semester comes, I never know what to do with my books. As an English major myself, I’ve wrestled with this problem throughout my college career. I just spent months pouring into these texts, marking up their pages with my own thoughts as well as comments my professors have made. Throwing them away is not an option. It’s possible to sell them, but again—I just spent months in their pages.

This problem is particularly relevant to professional writing students. The books in that particular branch of English are such a valuable resource. I don’t think I’ll be rereading Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend from a past literature class anytime soon, but I’ve already looked at The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams a few times this semester for extracurricular design work.

Sure, I could have Googled what I was looking for, but that’s another reason professional writing textbooks are great to keep around. Even though books are essentially out of date the moment they print, books in the professional writing field will always have an edge over online resources. The first result on a Google search for “document design rules” is The 50 Most Important Rules of Document Design.

This article was a wall of text—even the section on the color wheel. By the time I scrolled down the long list, eyes blurring, trying to find the subtitle I needed, I could have flipped through Williams’ guide and seen an image related to my topic of interest.

That isn’t to say all webpages are walls of text, but students may be more likely to remember something learned from their book. I would rather look through an old textbook for the concept I vaguely remember than search online for an article that might not give me the same advice. I can look at my books to reference something a professor said about a certain topic. I can return to my original frame of mind when I first read the text. I can read my old insights and pen my new ones.

Keep your textbooks—they’ll always be useful, even if their use is taking up bookshelf space and helping you appear smarter.

The Introverted Tutor: Introversion as an Asset

The Introverted Tutor: Seeing Introversion as an Asset

By Nicola Larson

Even though the name of the class was Tutoring Writing, it still came as a shock when Dr. Wells announced that everyone would have to tutor in the University Writing Center. I have always seen my introverted personality as a handicap that I needed to overcome. This self-perception was only reinforced at the thought of tutoring other students in the UWC.

What I learned through this experience, however, was that my introverted personality correlates well with essential methods of tutoring.

In a tutoring session, it is invaluable to listen more and talk less. The introvert can more easily fulfill the role of the listener because he or she is likely to do this in everyday situations. It is easy to point out all of the mistakes in a student’s essay. What is more difficult is getting the student to open up and begin talking about the thought process that went into the writing of their paper.

An essential function of a tutor is to teach the student how to find their recurring mistakes and learn how to fix them in the future. The student will more easily be able to self-correct if the tutor acts as a guide to lead them through the mistakes rather than fixing them for the student.

One of the first things a tutor-in-training learns is that higher-order concerns should be addressed before lower-order concerns. An example of a higher-order concern would be the thesis of the paper. A lower-order concern would be issues such as spelling and punctuation.

An introvert who tends to put more thought in before speaking can process the overarching ideas of the paper before addressing the smaller issues. It can be very difficult to push grammatical errors aside to focus on the overall content and organization of an essay. However, this becomes a little easier for an introvert who is accustomed to analyzing more thoroughly before making a judgment.

Most students who go to the UWC feel nervous about their tutoring session. Exposing one’s written work to criticism can make anyone feel vulnerable, but an introvert will be able to mindfully approach each session in a way that caters to the insecurities of the student.

An introverted tutor has the ability to relate to these feelings of insecurity because it is likely he or she has felt the same way in the past. The tutor can steer the tutoring session in a positive direction by offering constructive feedback to the student in a way that is sensitive to the student’s apprehension.

Jessica Robbins is a tutor for UAB Student-Athlete Support Services. She also considers her personality more introverted than extroverted, yet it has not kept her from becoming a successful tutor for the last eight months. She had similar concerns as myself when she first began her tutoring job.

When I asked Jessica if she was intimidated when she first began tutoring student-athletes she responded, “Most definitely. I was scared that I would freeze up and explain something in a totally ineffective way to a student. I was also worried that because my students are athletes, they would be very overbearing and not take well to someone like me who tends to be more quiet and not as outgoing.”

Eight months later Jessica is much more confident in her tutoring abilities. She is able to acknowledge the fact that her introverted personality is actually very beneficial in tutoring sessions.

Jessica recognizes the importance of placing all of the focus on her student-athletes, admitting “It is easy for me to focus on them because as an introvert, I naturally do not like for the attention to be on me.”

The most difficult aspect of tutoring for Jessica is being assertive when the student-athlete is unresponsive. I can attest to the fact that being assertive is one of the things I have struggled with most throughout my life.

Those who are extroverted are likely more comfortable with being assertive, and there are obviously many other strengths that characterize an extrovert. However, tutoring sessions are great opportunities for introverts to practice honing those communication skills innate to extroverts.

The introvert is more than capable of being a successful tutor and possesses several attributes which offer significant value in tutoring sessions.

By emphasizing the positive qualities of introverts, I am hoping that all personality types, whether introverted, extroverted or somewhere in between, will be inspired to change the way they think about their own personality in relation to tutoring.

Busting a Writing Center Myth

The University Writing Center, courtesy of UAB Image Gallery

Busting a Writing Center Myth

By Anna Sims

The simple words “peer review” is enough to inspire dread in students. They come to class biting their nails. They pass their papers around with warnings and apologies. However, the fear of feedback is unnecessary.

The opportunity to have a fellow student critique your work before it gets to the professor is invaluable. At UAB, we have the University Writing Center that offers face-to-face tutoring to undergraduates and graduates.

Students can schedule sessions for 30 or 60 minutes and bring papers at any stage, from drafts to finished products. The center currently offers tutoring from English graduate students.

However, there exists a myth that the Writing Center is meant for freshman students struggling in English Composition, or visiting the Writing Center is an admission of failure.

According to the 2016 UWC newsletter, 35 percent of those who visited the Writing Center were upperclassmen, and an additional 23 percent were graduate students. This leaves only 42 percent of the breakdown to freshman clients. The highest percentage of clients by category, therefore, were upperclassmen students.

Making an appointment with the Writing Center does not indicate an acceptance of failure but rather an investment in success.

No matter your stage of the writing process, your major or your class standing, I see the following four points as the most important results of visiting the UWC.

Verbalizing Thoughts

By speaking your thoughts out of your head, you can untangle them. A great way to identify flaws with your argument is to explain your thoughts to another person. In that situation, you are forced to think about your peer’s immediate reaction to your thoughts, which helps you evaluate your argument more critically.

Also, by hearing your thoughts spoken out loud, you may draw connections that you had not realized when your argument sat stagnant on a map in your head. Verbalizing thoughts transforms them from the abstract to the real.

Having a graduate student who has previously been in your undergrad shoes listen, critique and support your ideas helps foster awareness of public reaction to your work.

Receiving Peer Feedback

The tutors at the Writing Center have been in your shoes; let them offer you wisdom that they wish they had been offered. Similarly to how you can identify flaws or links in your argument when you speak it aloud, peers can find flaws or links in your argument that you had not seen.

Seeking feedback means that the student wants to improve the final product. While there is a considerable number of freshman students who visit the Writing Center, this more reflects on those students’ desires to understand the writing process and how to succeed in a new writing environment.

Seeking feedback requires confidence. One student indicated that, “it was great to come and talk to someone about my ideas and get great tips, advice and comments.”

Collaboration

The workplace in which many Professional Writing students will find themselves will likely be a collaborative environment. Bouncing ideas off one another allows a company to produce quality content, products or services. Practicing collaboration by visiting the Writing Center provides students with a better idea of what they will encounter in the workplace.

Writing feels more personal than other schoolwork, so students may be afraid to have their work critiqued. However, the tutor wants the student to succeed. When teachers give grades for papers and deduct points for errors, it may seem like punishment for poor writing. This misconception is often carried over to tutor-student scenario, causing the student to feel that the tutor is picking apart their work and looking for failure. However, the entire process at the UWC is a collaborative effort that improves not one specific piece but the entire writing process of the student.

Increased Confidence

Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Identifying a need for guidance demonstrates self-awareness, investment in individual potential, intellectual confidence and maturity.

Visiting the Writing Center may feel like admitting defeat, but nobody is above asking for help. Being able to ask questions means that a student has evaluated his or her writing, identified pitfalls and has decided that the piece deserves to be carried out to its full potential. Understanding the strengths of the piece and knowing that the student has taken the necessary steps to improve weaknesses allows the student to turn it in with confidence in the result.

Alumna Spotlight Interview: Allison Underwood

By Natalie Pagan

Allison Underwood, a UAB graduate, sat down with me to discuss how the Professional Writing program can help students reach their career goals. Underwood currently works at Good Grit Magazine here in Birmingham, Alabama as a digital media coordinator. Good Grit focuses on an elegant and progressive reflection of southern heritage.

Underwood said, “I’ve lived here my whole life, but it wasn’t until I started working with Good Grit that I fell in love with the South. Good Grit brings the Southerner out of the box—there’s a place for everyone here!” This August will mark Underwood’s two years of employment at this magazine.

Underwood started off at Good Grit working as a paid intern before becoming a part-time staff member and currently the person in charge of running digital and social media. Some of the job activities include posting on social media sites such as Facebook, managing social profiles, emailing newsletters and creating graphics for profiles. Underwood mentioned having taken UAB’s Digital Media Capstone course, which brought about the unpaid internship. This allowed them to receive a job offer to be a part-time employee at Good Grit Magazine.

I asked about the experience that Underwood had prior to working at Good Grit. They gave credit to a professional writing background and how the degree has helped thus far. Underwood mentioned that they are thankful for having been introduced to the major early enough to pursue and finish the degree. Underwood went on to promote the degree by saying, “A person who chooses this major can do whatever they want with it.” Underwood listed technical writing, teaching, social media and coding as a few of the jobs that are relevant in the professional field.

The interviewee explained that in their particular job, there is not only writing involved, but coding, designing and editing documents. Although Underwood does not code for Good Grit Magazine, they have done some coding as a freelancer.

During the interview, Underwood explained that the required courses for their Bachelor’s degree provided an opportunity to gain the experience needed for the job at Good Grit Magazine.

Because the internship was geared primarily towards digital media, they were able to use what was learned throughout courses such as Developing Digital Documents to better analyze the material that was going to be distributed or posted onto the internet.

This course allowed them to learn how to compare different font choices, colors and proximities on different documents, making sure that the magazine is sent out looking its absolute best. This course allowed Underwood to become familiar with programs such as Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop which many magazine companies work with, including Good Grit.

Although these skills have helped Underwood reach a stellar career goal, Underwood admits that they have also made it difficult to not feel the need to analyze every document or advertisement they see. Underwood unabashedly stated, “I’ll look at a billboard and think about what I would change to fix it.”

As someone currently taking the Developing Digital Documents course, I had to agree with Underwood that nothing can possibly look the same once you’ve figured out all of the tricks of document design. The interviewee agreed and said that this was in fact the gift and the curse of learning all of these skills. “Once you know how to do it correctly, you notice that the rest of the world does not.”

The interviewee strongly encouraged current English majors to look into the professional writing program. Underwood is the proof that with the right experience and education, your dream job can be the one that you land and thrive at.

Days after interviewing Underwood, they have just obtained a new position at Good Grit Magazine. While keeping most of the same responsibilities, Underwood’s new position now includes managing interns, gift guides, developing campaigns for magazine subscriptions and curating sponsored content.

While still being actively involved in scheduling Facebook, Instagram and the email campaign, Underwood has begun delegating a lot of these responsibilities and tasks to interns to be able to focus on the bigger picture. Good Grit is always looking for hard-working students to fill internship roles.

On behalf of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, we wish Underwood the best of luck in continuing to further their career.

The Art of Professional Writing

The Art of Professional Writing

By Mallorie Turner

The term “professional writing” often invites a myriad of questions regarding what the field is about. You may imagine a person sitting at an ill-lit desk, penning legal documents for long periods of time. This was my exact perception of professional writing when I first applied for the concentration as an English major. As I declared my professional writing concentration, I could feel my identity as an artist start to regress. As infatuated as I was with the formalities of business writing, I couldn’t help but see this prospective career as a threat to my creative identity. I soon learned that there is more to this field than what I thought, both visually and rhetorically, and the artist in me still had a chance to strive.

The Ropes of Creating Documents

If you have been a student in one of UAB’s professional writing courses (specifically, Developing Digital Documents) you would know that students learn on the same publishing technologies that major businesses utilize. One of these is Adobe InDesign, which is used to create letterheads, business cards and other professional documents.

Those who have used this software can tell stories of its bugginess, not to mention the fear of misspelled words in the absence of a spellcheck function. While it might be a tedious digital environment, InDesign has always proven useful to the design-focused professional writer.

In a creative sense, InDesign gives the user free range to design a project from top to bottom—from formatting to color scheme. If someone were interested in designing a magazine using their school’s colors, they would have absolute control over the project’s end result. InDesign is a professional writer’s best friend in this regard. The author has creative control over how they would like their idea to be presented to the world in the same way an artist would.

The Importance of a Good Design

Imagine finding out that there is more to fonts than just fun lettering. Fonts have an emotive quality that sets the tone of a project’s design; professional writers have to make conscious decisions about the fonts they use within a document. These decisions tend to be more significant than whether Times New Roman or Papyrus is more fitting.

A font’s case, weight, width and style all factor into whether an audience will be receptive to the document. For example, the wispy elegance of a script font will not have the right impact for a business report in contrast to the stoicism of a sans serif font. In this way, typographic design is as important to a document as the actual content is.

Professional writing requires a person to master many tools and concepts in order for their work to be marketable. A painter would not be successful if he or she dabbled in realism yet was ignorant of the underlying structure of the human form. Likewise, if a professional writer has no grasp of rhetoric or basic document design, they will not survive in the corporate world. Though there is freedom for creativity in professional writing, there is a standard for marketable work.

The Art of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is an art in itself. Philosophers like Aristotle took pride in knowing the heuristics of persuasive diction. Students studying professional writing look to these philosophers to learn masterful rhetoric they use in business settings.

Visual Rhetoric, a professional writing elective, teaches students the importance of how words and images can create a persuasive message. Professional writers learn that a document is only impactful if it is well-prepared and has a rhetorically sound composition.

Conclusion

Taking professional writing classes has shown me that I am in a creatively stimulating field where both rhetorical and artistic skills are appreciated. As a writer, I actively search for more ways to influence readers with my words. Professional writing has given me new opportunities to do so when I create documents with visual appeal. With the support of the UAB English Department faculty, I know that I can make my mark in the job force with both my writing and design skills.

Professionals Have Standards

Student working on a computer, courtesy of UAB Image Gallery

By: Evan Harris

How to write and how not to write—those are the questions. When a person writes they need to do so with purpose and with a focus on how they want their message to be received.

In Fall of 2019, I am taking EH 340 Developing Digital Documents and EH 301 Read/Write/Research for English. Both of these classes have helped my writing style become more professional and focus-orientated.

Know your audience

When a person writes a professional document, one of the first things they have to consider is their audience. Whether you’re emailing a professor, writing a term paper or drafting an article for a publication, you should always know who your audience is and edit your content accordingly.

Font choice is another valuable consideration, as well as page design and format. This type of thinking is something I have learned in Dr. Bacha’s EH 340 class. I would seriously recommend this class to anyone. Developing Digital Documents nudges you to become creative and design publications in a way that both invites and holds the reader’s attention.

Know your focus

You should always know why you are writing. Professionals write to instruct, inform or persuade. These purposes will help guide the reader’s interpretation.

When you write, you should never assume your reader already knows what you’re taking about. You are the expert and must convey information to your audience, so emphasize your message. Your writing should have clarity; the reader must be able to understand what the document is about in the first thirty seconds.

Writing professionally is a skill everyone should acquire. You might be selected for an interview just because you chose the perfect font to make you stand out. If you you would like to improve your writing, I would definitely recommend the classes I listed above.

Professional Writing in Applications

By: Hannah Jurkiewicz

I recently took EH 315: Intro to Professional Writing and I found the skills required to write professionally translate outside of writing careers. Many scholarship and fellowship applications have word or character limits making it important to choose your words wisely.

Introductory professional writing courses provide students with the skills to write effective and clear documents, ensuring their readers will understand their purpose.

When applying for competitive scholarships, fellowships and grants these skills will be beneficial and may help to set your application apart.

The Seven Cs of Professional Writing will help you complete your scholarship application with ease.

What are the Seven Cs?

Clear
Coherent
Complete
Concise
Courteous
Concrete
Correct

When it comes to applications with word limits, it is important to emulate these seven characteristics.

Oftentimes, applications ask for personal essays and responses to questions to gain an understanding of you and your goals. You want to convey yourself in the most complete and clear way possible so your audience can see how you stand out and are the best recipient for the scholarship.

Begin by understanding the prompt for the application and start writing what comes to mind. Having an understanding of what you are being asked to write will help you provide the most correct response.

It might be helpful to begin by writing your narrative response with all the information you want to say. Then, through editing, you pick out what is most important to the story for the application. Editing down allows you to be more concise and concrete about what you want the reader to gain.

Continue to reflect on the prompt and narrow down the details you find most pertinent to your response. The editing process will also aid in creating a coherent and complete narrative for your audience.

"Through understanding and editing your responses multiple times, you will have a product you feel conveys you as best as possible."

Scholarships are highly competitive and require time and effort to apply to. Scholarship applications challenge candidates to be concise through limitations. These applications also require the applicant to have a concrete understanding of themselves and the ability to convey that well through writing.

The basis for professional writing and communication stems from the 7Cs, but these characteristics of communication will be helpful outside of the job market as you utilize them in your personal narratives and responses for scholarships.

Caret Software Review

By Jana Brown

What is Caret?

Caret is an HTML text editing software that I have been using for Dr. Bacha’s Digital Publishing EH 455 course.

The Caret logo

Chosen for its simplicity and convenience; Caret made html easy to jump into. For anyone who needs to learn basic HTML, Caret is a good option. The Caret logo can be seen to the right. For Chrome users, here is a link to download Caret via the
Chrome Web Store.

Pros

This image shows what happens when the software detects an issue with your code

One of the biggest perks of using this software is that it is free. Thus, it is accessible for anyone with internet access.

Usability is also a major plus. I’m not the most computer savvy individual, which is why I was shocked at the ease with which I began using the software without hiccups. An important aspect that makes it so user friendly is the feature that displays a red X next to any line of code where the software detects an issue. When you hover your cursor over this icon, a tooltip appears that alerts you to the problem with your code.

Cons

Line 37 can be found at the bottom of the image next to “disableBehaviors”

I would recommend this software to new coders. However, aspects of the software need to change in order to improve usability. I don’t like the default setting that autocompletes lines of code.

For example, when I type the opening paragraph tag, the software automatically inserts the closing tag after it. This feature shouldn’t be a default setting, and could lead to learned laziness when it comes to closing tags.

As the image above demonstrates, you can change this setting yourself in the user preferences page by changing “false” to “true” on line 37, beside the phrase disableBehaviors.

This brings me to the final issue I have with the software: Caret’s user preference page is difficult to navigate. I had to seek out online guides to help me find and fix the problem I had with the auto closing of tags.

Additionally, the online technical support guide is difficult to find when you search for it it online, and could use some streamlining. Click here for the Caret technical support guide.

Professional Writing in Small Businesses

By Camrie Latham

When telling people that you study Professional Writing, the most common reaction is confusion. Few people actually understand what it is, and even less know how to make it a career. Many people fail to realize that Professional Writing studies are applicable to any career field.

One such field is small business ownership. Although most degrees can aid one in owning a small business, professional writers have a special skill set that gives them an advantage. Professional Writing classes prepare students to write in both technical and corporate communication.

Presence

Businesses must have an enjoyable or respectable presence to attract customers and build a loyal following. Being able to create attractive flyers, an entertaining website, or even compose a relatable social media post can improve the image of the company and influence potential customers. Some Professional Writing courses address these subjects directly, teaching how to prioritize and influence the audience through writing.

Informing the Customer

Additionally, the customers should be kept in-the-know, so to speak, with what is happening with the company. The ability to create and maintain blogs, social media accounts, or digital newsletters goes a long way in this area. Providing information directly to consumers allows for a better connection between businesses and clients and prevents confusion.

Maintenance and Growth

Lastly, businesses use professional writing to maintain and grow their company. Creating memos, letters and reports maintains order within the business, while grant writing and online fundraising involve help the company grow. Learning to appeal to an audience is, again, crucial to be successful at either of these, and Professional Writing courses emphasize this.

To successfully run a cafe or shop, professional communication is vital. The company must have a likable public presence, customers need to be kept up-to date and the business must be able to communicate to both maintain itself internally and grow externally. Courses offered at UAB such as Developing Digital Documents, Business Writing, Digital Publishing, and Visual Rhetoric can provide students with a deeper understanding of what it means to communicate effectively and reach these goals.

These are only a few examples of how Professional Writing can apply to running a small business; the fundamentals of Professional Writing play a big role in a successful small start-up.

There’s More Than One Way to Become a Journalist

By Casey Marley

Reporting notes

I did not come to college with the intention of majoring in my native language. I knew I wanted to work with media, and I found journalism through working at and eventually becoming the editor of our campus newspaper. By learning the trade outside of the classroom, I found that my English classes were actually helping me more at my job than any other classes.

With hard work, your English degree can help you work towards your goal of becoming a journalist in ways you might not realize:

Core literature classes teach you how to examine and question.

By studying literature, you learn how to break apart and examine word choices, question an author’s motives, put pieces in context and simply ask questions. Not only will you start to see stories in daily life, but you learn how to question those in charge of your community—a curiosity that’s necessary to become a good journalist.

Those papers you write constantly will make you a great writer.

Journalists write constantly, so if you have an interest in journalism you need to have a command of the English language, the ability to produce multiple 500-word articles each day and an understanding of the editing process. By having professional rhetoricians and English scholars critique your work while in school, you become a skilled writer, the core component of any job in journalism.

The professional writing program gives you practical experience.

Do you want opportunities to become published and learn how to code? The Professional Writing program does just this. In “Writing for Popular Periodicals,” my final project required me to write an actual magazine article, which was later published. In “Digital Publishing,” UAB students learn how to apply their writing skills in an extremely marketable way: learning how to code HTML and CSS to build their own portfolio while building and managing the Memorandum website and newsletter.

Brandon Varner is the current Kaleidoscope Editor-in-Chief and Community Blogger for AL.com. The soon-to-graduate English major has proven that the Professional Writing program can prepare you for this career field.

“I think that I couldn’t have accomplished my goals without the professional writing program,” Brandon said. “The layout and design training I gained in the program has been invaluable in my time at Kscope, and through my position at Kscope I attracted attention from AL.com. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Dr. Bacha and the program at UAB.”

If journalism appeals to you as a Professional Writing student, you’ve come to the right place. The supporting community of faculty members and peers will help you in your career-discovery journey.