Clear Writing through Critical Thinking
November 3 - 5, 2008 Instructor: Susan Janney Washington, DC $765 December 1 - 3, 2008 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 January 7 - 9, 2009 Instructor: Alison Kahn Washington, DC $765 February 9 - 11, 2009 Instructor: Catherine Williams Washington, DC $765 February 18 - 20, 2009 Instructor: Patricia Wright Las Vegas, NV $765 March 9 - 11, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 April 1 - 3, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 April 14 - 16, 2009 Instructor: Frank Pope Dallas, TX $765 April 20 - 22, 2009 Instructor: Argelis Lewis San Francisco, CA $765 April 27 - 29, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 April 29 - May 1, 2009 St. Louis, MO $765 May 6 - 8, 2009 Instructor: Alison Kahn Washington, DC $765 May 27 - 29, 2009 Instructor: Bethany Brown Washington, DC $765 June 1 - 3, 2009 Baltimore, MD $765 June 15 - 17, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 June 22 - 24, 2009 Instructor: Alison Kahn Washington, DC $765 June 29 - July 1, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 July 8 - 10, 2009 Kansas City, MO $765 July 22 - 24, 2009 Instructor: Argelis Lewis Seattle, WA $765 July 27 - 29, 2009 Instructor: Frank Pope San Antonio, TX $765 August 3 - 5, 2009 Instructor: Stephen Shurtz Washington, DC $765 August 5 - 7, 2009 Instructor: Martha Warner Westminster, CO $765 August 17 - 19, 2009 Atlanta, GA $765 August 24 - 26, 2009 Washington, DC $765 September 9 - 11, 2009 Instructor: Terri Greenberg Philadelphia, PA $765 September 21 - 23, 2009 Chicago, IL $765 September 23 - 25, 2009 Instructor: Catherine Williams Washington, DC $765
Overview:
Communicate better by improving the clarity of your business writing. Enhance your ability to organize information, anticipate questions, draw sound conclusions and logically communicate your message.
This course is recommended for those who analyze information and write business documents and is an elective for the Certificate of Accomplishment in Personal Property Management .
Additional courses for auditors are Writing Audit Reports by Objectives (AUDT8511G) , Written Communications for Auditors (AUDT8611G) and Writing Value-Added Audit Reports (AUDT8521G) .
Writers who want to improve the clarity of their business documents.
Writing For Results (WRIT7110D) or Letter Writing Workshop (WRIT7002N) .
Distance Education Option: Clear Writing through Critical Thinking (GS Online) (WRIT7100A) . View Course Selection Guides .
Strengthen your reasoning skills Think more clearly Analyze information more effectively Examine ideas from different points of view Establish a logical framework for any piece of writing Organize and develop ideas for maximum effect Construct clear and persuasive arguments Overcome any weaknesses in writing related to reasoning, structure and logic
Syllabus -- Clear Writing Through Critical Thinking,
WRIT7100D, Grad. School, USDA
Day one of three:
How to Think Clearly
Overview and Goals
What Is Critical Thinking?
Characteristics of a Good Thinker
How We Think: Taking Inventory
The Thinking Part of Writing
The Problems That All Writers Must Solve
The Three Stages of Writing
How to Generate Ideas
A Logical Sequence of Ideas
How to Link Sentences How to Write Well
Deciding What to Say
Analyzing Bad Writing
Basic Structure
How Much Detail?
The Writer's Options
A Logical Sequence of Ideas
Asking the Right Questions
What the Reader Needs to Know
Order, Linking, and Emphasis
Day two of three
How to Organize Information
Writing Exercises
Breaking Bad Habits
Outlines
Paragraph Structure
Categorizing Ideas
Establishing Logical Connections: Linking Devices
How to Emphasize the Main Points
Topic Sentences
Presenting Complex Information: Report Writing How to Develop Ideas
Reverse Outlines
Comprehension Skills
Examining Basic Structure
Eight Ways to Develop an Idea
What to Put First
Developing Ideas from One Paragraph to the Next
Sentence Logic
Common Thinking Flaws
Thinking and Writing
Day three of three
How to Draw Conclusions
How We Draw Conclusions
What Can Go Wrong?
What Questions to Ask
Missing Information and Other Problems
Assumptions: Four Types
Identifying Unwarranted Assumptions
Fallacies
Induction and Deduction How to Construct an Argument
Identifying Arguments
What Is an Argument?
The Rational and the Non-Rational
Reason and Emotion (Logic and Manipulation)
Evaluating an Argument
Persuading the Reader
Course Summary
The Next Step
