Purpose Statement

I propose to develop a study that will critically analyze the written communication styles of members of the millennial generation and determine the conclusions readers reach about these young writers based on the style choices they make.

Reader Analysis Worksheet

1. Primary Readers: my thesis committee (yet to be determined)
Motives: To advise me as I write a thesis that will be a credit to them and to the MAPC program at Clemson. They want to teach me to do research and ensure that the scope is narrow enough that I can complete it and graduate in a timely fashion.
Values: At this point, I'm not sure who my primary readers are so I cannot be sure of their values. They will likely be members of the English department who have studied rhetoric and technical communication. They probably want my work to have a solid rhetorical framework.
Attitudes: Since I have the opportunity to choose my committee, I hope they will have positive attitudes towards my research. They should be excited about my topic.
Emotions: My readers may be frustrated if they feel the scope of my topic is too broad, but they should help me to narrow it down. Again, I hope they will be enthusiastic about the thesis.

2. Secondary Readers: Dr. Summer Taylor (chair of the MAPC program). Perhaps Dr. Lee Morrissey (chair of the English department) or the Dean of CAAH. I'm not sure how high in the chain of command this will go.

Chapter 2 Discussion

How can we as proposal writers use rhetoric to convince our audience that the subject we want to study is important for the current situation? It may be the case that what we want to study is not largely recognized as important by society, at least not yet. It is our job to convince others of our topic's importance.

Executive Summary

Since the beginning of the new millennium, a new generation of people, known as millennials, has begun entering the work force. These young people, born after 1980, have grown up with advanced technology that allows them to communicate in new and different ways. While the opportunity to communicate instantaneously on a global level is advantageous, it also promotes a level of informality. Young people are used to typing abbreviated words and acronyms through text and instant messages, largely ignoring grammatical conventions. This form of communication is largely incomprehensible to older generations.

I am interested in studying written and verbal communication skills in members of the millennial generation and evaluating their levels of professionalism. I would also like to have members of previous generations evaluate samples of communication, in print and voice recordings, and express their opinions of the authors. This study will determine if millennials are entering the work force without adequate preparation in presenting themselves professionally. It will also offer suggestions to improve the education of young people so that they learn to distinguish between communication styles needed for professional versus informal communication.

Ideas for proposal

1. I'm thinking of writing my master's thesis on the way my generation (millennial students) takes longer to grow up. This phenomenon has many different names in our society including adultlescence and the Quarter Life Crisis (as opposed to the midlife crisis). But how can I relate it to communication? Communication in this generation tends to be more informal than employers might like. Sometimes it is even inappropriate, such as pictures that appear on facebook and other social networking sites. Our generation may focus on emotions (pathos) rather than logic (logos) or character (pathos). The use of the word "like" is an example of this. Young people don't recount others' exact words or actions, but they describe what the situation felt "like" to them.

2. I'm also interested in copyediting and how much it matters to audiences. This could be a study showing subjects documents with different types of errors in them. The subjects would be asked how many errors they notice and how they react to the documents. I could focus on either comprehension of documents or the audience's view of the author's ethos.

3. I might also decide to think about grant writing. I have developed a relationship with the head of the international programs department at Clemson University. I could discuss ideas for programs he would like to be funded and write a grant proposal for them.