Date:2-5-17

To: Traci Grant

From: Caleb Norman
Re: Business Writing Project

The purpose of this memo is to explain the effort, formatting, and thought that went into my business writing
project. The documents include my resume, business letter, and this memo itself.

Contrast
In both my resume and cover letter, I choose to use a separate, larger font type for the title, contact info, and
any other pieces within the body of each document that outlined a particular section. The body paragraphs and
normal sentences used a smaller type-font that was easier to read and did not stand out as much for the
reader. In this manner, the reader could outline the separate pieces of writing as they read, instead of allowing
the entire document to blur together.

Repetition
I chose a common formatting theme with both the resume and cover letter. By placing the heading with my
name and contact information at the top of both the resume and cover letter, I ensured that the reader was
never confused whose application they were reading, or how to reach out to them. Additionally, I chose to
create a three sided red box that contained the text in each document, and used the left-aligned text as a
visual representation for the fourth line in the rectangle.

Audience
Naturally, the letters are directed at a future employer, but their uses are not limited to the final job I will occupy
for the rest of my life. The cover letter can be used in an in between job outside of the engineering career. Its
preferred audience starts near the top of the totem pole, and rises to the top. The resume, however, sets itself
apart in terms of applicability because it is the first document an employer will ask for in the hiring process, no
matter the required experience or salary. Thus, I formatted it to include all my acquired skills that would be
helpful in a starter minimum wage job, all the way to my eventual permanent occupation as an engineer. The
resumes audience is essentially any possible future employer.

Proximity
The cover letters spacing needed to be compact to effectively convey the information to its reader. As long as
it was a complete summary, the briefer its content, the better. In contrast, the resume used a single page in the
completely opposite manner. Although it did not have a significantly higher word count than the cover letter, the
space on the page was filled out considerably more. By using indented bullet points, partial sentences instead
of whole paragraphs, and much more variance in font size (small vs large, normal vs bold), the reader is given
the impression from the first glance that I have an extensive list of credentials and experience.

Alignment
Both letters were aligned left, flush with the edges of the three-sided rectangle mentioned earlier. This gave the
documents the appearance of a complete box by utilizing the left-aligned writing as a fourth side. Besides
having an official appearance, this design element points the readers eyes directly to the content between the
lines, instead of wasting time wandering all over the page.

Word Choice
A professional word selection was necessary in both documents, and without the use of slang or conjunctions
of words. The cover letter used full sentences, while much of the resume was composed of bullet points, and
had just one complete sentence. Thus, short but normally formed sentences were necessary in the former,
while words that did not reference a subject were carefully selected for the resume.

Order/Relevance
In the cover letter, the order of topics discussed are as follows: education, why I have a desire for the job, and
my anticipated projects within the work field. In the resume, I first listed my anticipations for a career, second,
my education, and finally, work experience. Based on the purposes of each letter, I felt that they were ordered
appropriately.

Threshold Concepts: Writing, Action, Deliveration

Because I feel genuinely confident that using my current cover and resume letters for job application would be
effective, I believe I upheld the threshold concepts as needed.

If there are any further questions, or comments on how these documents should be edited, you can email me
at any time at calebnsoccer@gmail.com