To: Dr.

Kevin Brooks From: Stephanie Schulz Date: 15 December 2011 Subject: Explanatory Memo The purpose of this memo is to explain choices I made in the writing of my Personal Fact Sheet. I will address the selection of specific content, the omission of content, and the design choices I made. Why did I include specific content? When selecting content for my Personal Fact Sheet, I tried to consider what had the most relevance. To determine relevance, I reflected on what information I used multiple times over the semester, and which concepts I carried over into other classes. Many of my selections pertain to the writing process. Before this semester, I never consciously thought about how the writing process affects my work. Once we started discussing writing methods, especially those of invention and revision, I noticed a difference in my writing, across the board. Therefore, since the information on writing processes was the most obviously beneficial to me, I gave those techniques the majority of my fact sheet. After considering the writing process, I included a couple ideas from each other category (elements of style, theory concepts, and new media) that really stuck with me. I chose personal styles of element, because I worked to incorporate myself into my writing for the class. For theory, I chose literacy and discourse because they go hand in hand, and they were an overarching theme for the semester. While my elements of style are personal, I wanted to remind myself that it is important to consider the audience and the outside world as well. Hunting and gathering was included simply because I like the concept. Because I had already stressed the importance of the writing process (in my fact sheet, in my mystery project), I wanted to restate the similarities and differences between old and new media composition. Also, I included a list of online new media resources because I was introduced to a lot of new sources this semester. I didnt want to forget all of them. Why did I leave other possible content out? My main reason for leaving other content out was that I didnt find it relevant to my future as a writer. Some of the concepts that werent new to me are so ingrained in my mind that Ill never forget them, and so dont need a reminder. The main theory concepts I left out either confused me, or didnt help my writing. I consciously chose not to discuss many concepts of new media. This wasnt because I didnt learn anything or because I do not plan to use them in the future. I left out many of the concepts of new media because theyre intimidating. Im not really ready to tackle most of the new medias we discussed. That is the reason I simply listed many of the new media resources: I want to go back to them at a later date and work on incorporating them into my writing process. Right now, however, they are not the most important things that I learned this semester.

Why did I make the specific design choices I made? I like the familiarity of traditional organization. Sure, creativity is wonderful, and I love having the freedom to compose a project in any way I like. However, the purpose of the Personal Fact Sheet is to be a quick and easy reference to jog my memory. The best way for me to recall information is to use a familiar format, and to group information into categories. Hence, four categories with bullet point lists. Its not very exciting, but it is an effecting design choice, since I am my own main audience.