English 420Y - Business Writing Online

The sample press releases were very helpful in writing my press release. In chapter 36, Concise sentencing, concise sentencing means making every word count. I learned that cutting empty words and phrases out is a good form of revision. Condensing phrases into single words and elimination redundancy is a good was to clean up one's work. In combining sentences I learned how to reformat sentences to work more smoothly. In chosing strong verbs I was amazed by the process of moving verbs to make them stronger. From the Purdue Owl, the goals were to use the most effective words.

After seeing the video in you tube and reading chapter 1, it is very important that when writing a letter to a customer one clearly understands the purpose, the context and response that those involved in the situation might face. In this specific scenario in which customers were under an unpleasant situation it is very important to understand the context, for not doing so might cause an unwanted negative customer response. In analyzing the rhetoric situation, I will describe the context of the situation as a very unfortunate one in which Jet Blue will be kind of asking for forgiveness.

I really liked this reading. It gave me a really good perspective on writing. I never thought of considering what kind of environment the reading will be in when they read the document. I have a major problem with find the right words to use while I am writing. I really liked the different aspects of context mentioned on page 8.It give me a much clearer idea of what all I should keep in mind while writing. These are things you know, but actually having a list makes it easier to remember and ensure that you kept the aspects in mind while writing. The most helpful part is the project checklist.

I found chapter 1 on writing and rhetoric in context to be very informative. I learned that "context shapes your motive for writing about and, thus, acting on the world". "As a writer yourself, you already know that one of the greatest challenges is to use the right word at the right time in the right place." I believe that this a great quote that every writer should live by. In regards to selecting the proper words for a given occasion, I agree with the greek concept meaning of timelessness and suiting the word for occasion, "kairos".

Chapter 1 of the text really helped but “context” in perspective for me as far as communicating goes. It did a great job explaining the concept and most of the examples helped me quite a bit to understand what the text was actually telling me. Most helpful I found were the pictures followed by questions, it helped me understand how context can change pretty quickly depending on many different factors. It’s someone one doesn’t always remember to think about when writing in today’s world.

After viewing the youtube video provided for us, I viewed several more videos and read some stories posted on the internet. The one I decided to use can be found at this link:

http://jetbluehostage.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-questions-for-neeleman.htm...

The video I chose was from a person on the plane who took footage along the way. It is what he called the 14 hour hostage. The URL for the video I chose is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnJeV-Gtas. The video goes from the beginning from when the passengers were boarding and you can see parts in betwee. You can tell from the video that many of the customers are agitated and concerned about what is going on even when they are boarding. Many passengers were treating the crisis much like a joke at first, then they became more serious as the number of hours become a two digit number.

I thought it was very interesting to watch the jetBlue’s customers reactions. This clip, which I provided the link for below, gives a great insight into what it was like to be on the plane for several hours. It was shot from a passenger in a seat and captures flight attendants dealing with disgruntled customers. From what I gathered, the staff seemed very confused and misinformed. Customers were most upset by the fact that they kept getting told different stories from the employees. I also found a letter that was written by a woman trapped on the tarmac for 10 hours.

I think a quote from page nine of Chapter 1 sums up the importance of writing in context, "When your writing is not attuned to context, you miss the opportunity to act on real people in real situations that matter." This qoute also seems to relate to the writings we have been doing this week. I found the section in the reading that discussed taking into account the readers context to be interesting. In writing the Jet Blue letter it will be important to consider the circumstances of the reader, so it will be effective.

The JetBlue customer video I found on youtube.com can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOo-tG9q2h0