ENGL 104 Unit 2 – Individual Project

Review the following videos for help submitting your Individual Project:

• Submitting Assignments on the CTU Mobile App
• Submitting Assignments in the CTU Virtual Campus

Assignment Details

Everything that you write has a goal and an audience. Your message and the way that you write that message will change depending on the audience and your goal. This is why it is important to carefully plan messages before writing them. When you plan your message, you ask yourself questions about your audience, your goal, and the situation.

Imagine that you just received the following e-mail from the CEO of the organization that you work for:

Team,

Thank you for your hard work and dedication as we have navigated the difficulties of this past year. As you know, the vast majority of our team has been working from home for many months now. This has not been without its challenges, but there have also been some distinct benefits to our remote work arrangements.

As the situation in the world looks to be improving, we are now considering whether or not to bring the team back to the office or continue to allow working from home. I am very much interested in your feedback. What’s working with the current arrangement? What’s not working? If given the choice, would you want to come back to the office or continue working from home?

Please reply to this message with your feedback.

Thanks for all that you do!

[CEO Signature Block]

Using the template provided, answer the following questions to help you think through how you would respond to the CEO’s e-mail. (Note that you are not actually writing a response to the e-mail. The goal of this assignment is to answer the questions below to help you think through how you would respond.)

• Who is your audience?
• What is your goal in this e-mail?

  

• What are the pros and cons of working from home?
• What are the pros and cons of working in the office?
• What are 2 reasons for your choice (to work from home or work in the office)?
• What writing choices will you use to get your point across to your audience? (For example, some choices to consider might include: What greeting would you use to begin your e-mail? Do you think using numbering or bullet points to organize your e-mail would help? How will you close your e-mail?)

Submit your completed assignment under Unit 2 Individual Project by uploading an MS Word document with the questions and your answers or by typing your answers to the questions directly in the assignment Submission area. To help with your assignment submission, you may use the optional Unit 2 Individual Project Template, which already includes the questions listed above.

Need an example?

Review the following example of what your Unit 2 Individual Project should look like:

• Unit 2 Individual Project Example With Template

Individual Project Rubric

The Individual Project (IP) Grading Rubric is a scoring tool that represents the performance expectations for the IP. This Individual Project Grading Rubric is divided into components that provide a clear description of what should be included within each component of the IP. It is the road map that can help you in the development of your IP.

ENGL 104
Unit 2 Individual Project Template
Name: __SAMPLE_______________________
Date: __________________________
After reading the assignment description for this Individual Project in the Virtual Classroom, answer the
questions below to help you think through how you would respond to the e–mail from your
organization’s CEO. Once you have typed your answers to the questions, save this file on your computer
and submit it in the “Unit 2 Individual Project” assignment area of the Virtual Classroom.
As a reminder, the e–mail from the CEO is as follows:
Team,
Thank you for your hard work and dedication as we have navigated the difficulties of this past year.
As you know, the vast majority of our team has been working from home for many months now.
This has not been without its challenges, but there have also been some distinct benefits to our
remote work arrangements.
As the situation in the world looks to be improving, we are now considering the possibility of
bringing the team back to the office or continuing to allow working from home. I am very much
interested in your feedback. What’s working with the current arrangement? What’s not working? If
given the choice, would you want to come back to the office or continue working from home?
Please reply to this message with your feedback.
Thanks for all that you do!
[CEO Signature Block]
In thinking about how you would plan your response, answer the following questions:
 Who is your audience?
My audience is the CEO of my company.
 What is your goal in this e–mail?
My goal is to state my preference on working from home and to make a good argument to the CEO so
that they are convinced that my choice is the best one. In addition, I want to show that I have put a lot
of thought into my recommendation.
 What are the pros and cons of working from home?
Some pros to working from home are employees having the flexibility to balance their work and family
obligations, the company saving money on office space, and the employees saving gas money because
they do not have to drive to the office every day. Some disadvantages to working from home are a lack
of real social interactions with coworkers, distractions and interruptions by other people in the house,
and an occasionally unstable Internet as well as other tech issues that are harder to resolve from home.

 What are the pros and cons of working in the office?
The pros to working in the office include an ability to more easily separate work and home, easier
collaboration with coworkers, and in many cases, a more professional environment to work in. The cons
of working in the office include having to commute to work and the gas money that requires, the fact
that you may get exposed to sickness from other people, and the distraction of coworkers.
 What are 2 reasons for your choice (to work from home or work in the office)?
For me, the most important reason why I want to continue working from home is the fact that I do not
have to commute. I do not like driving, especially in bad weather, so not having to drive to the office
each day is a big plus. Another reason why I want to work from home is I get more done at home
without the distraction of coworkers.
 What writing choices will you use to get your point across to your audience? (For example, some
choices to consider might include: What greeting would you use to begin your e–mail? Do you think
using numbering or bullet points to organize your e–mail would help? How will you close your e–
mail?)
This e–mail is going to my company’s CEO, so I will need make sure that it is professional. I will start with
a greeting. Chief executive officers are also very busy, so it will be important to keep my e–mail brief. I
may even use bullet points instead of long paragraphs to list my reasons for wanting to work from
home.

Expectation	Points Possible	Points Earned	Comments
Audience: The audience is correctly identified.	10
Purpose: The goal of the e-mail is clearly stated.	20
Working From Home Details: Assignment includes advantages and disadvantages of working from home.	15
Working From the Office Details: Assignment includes advantages and disadvantages of working in the office.	15
Reasoning: Assignment clearly states a preferred choice (to work from home or in the office) and lists two reasons for that choice.	30
Writing Choices: Assignment includes a list or discussion of stylistic, format, or other writing choices to consider in writing a response to the CEO’s e-mail.	25
Professional Language: Assignment contains accurate grammar, spelling, and punctuation with few or no errors.	10
Total Points	125
Total Points Earned