English 306: Introduction to Professional Writing

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As I am expecting this to be a rough draft, I have omitted no content but left some things to be fixed when I can go to the writing lab on Monday with suggestions from the instructor.

Interview Project - Progress Report – Matthew Mohamed

Again, necessary documents have been attached due to the nature of blog readability. It is highly recommended that this not be read via the blog.

Interview Account

The interview conducted with John Norberg was conducted in his office in Hovde Hall, Room 218, at 10:20 a.m. on Monday, March 31, and it lasted until roughly noon. Mr. Norberg received the questions he would be asked on Saturday, March 29, and felt that none of the questions were out of his comfort level or unanswerable upon the execution of the interview process.

Interview Project – John Norberg, Senior Writer, University Relations – Matthew Mohamed

The attachment is a .doc that is more clear in describing the process of thought in the outline, as html tags on digitalparlor and not entirely friendly.

As one of my life interests is creating speeches for political candidates and presidents, I felt that a great opportunity would be to talk to someone who literally does just that. Therefore, I asked Mr. Norberg if he might allow me an inside look into his life and views on professional writing.

Mapping Project - Project Assessment - Matthew Mohamed

Fitting the Rhetorical Situation

Mapping Project - Map Rough Draft - Matthew Mohamed
(Extra comments requested)

Subject

This map is a compact, tri-fold housing guide to five of the major apartment complexes in West Lafayette.

Description

Mapping Project - Progress Report - Matthew Mohamed

Primary Research

-Phone calls to each complex for interview of any necessary information will be held Friday, February 22.
-May implement a survey to determine whether floor space or cleanliness/aesthetics is a more important issue for one of the three main issues used on large map.

Secondary Research

-Data concerning prices, floor spaces, and sizes of available units have been collected.
-Generic information such as phone numbers, addresses, and distances from the Union has been collected and organized.

The purpose of any map, regardless of issue, is to document in a visually interpretive way a set of data, be it the position of buildings or the concentration of gases in the sun. In the case of buildings, a map usually represents the position of buildings on streets or just a geographical point, but it nevertheless gives idea to where they are. Two such maps, Alabama University’s 3-D map of its campus and Purdue University’s generic campus map are prime examples of how some maps that have similar roles can have vastly different approaches to design.

Residency at Purdue is an important issue for students after freshman year. Apartment complexes are a common choice for efficient and affordable housing, but each apartment claims that it is the one that the student wants most. Taking into mind the specific needs of students looking for a new home, this project will map out several important factors of multiple apartment complexes that are regularly advertised in the Exponent newspaper or are consistently major possibilities.

Professional Writing is something that started as a secondary consideration to me, since my original intention was to pursue Creative Writing as a long-neglected passion and interest. In my educational background I have been introduced to many different cultural and historical issues, and it is these as well as my love of writing and my strong foundation in the linguistics of English that drive me to reconsider Professional Writing as a primary interest. I believe I have an understanding of rhetoric due to my experiences in philosophy and many theology and history classes.