Coherence and Cohesion: On the Job

Cohesion and Coherence
Identify/Generate the principle
Time: 15 minutes

1. You are on the staff of __________________ . S/he is scheduled to give a speech to _________________, who are very interested in ______________________. It's your job to research the topic and write a brief about it. You know that your employer isn't a great intellect, and doesn't have much time to read the brief. The brief, then, must be clearly written in order for him/her to understand it (and in order for you to keep your job. [Brainstorm employers/audiences/topics in class, to ensure that students have picked topics in their fields that are specific enough for them to write about in a couple of pages. During the workshop, ask readers to write memos explaining why the brief was helpful/unhelpful.] (Adapted from an assignment by John Knapp.)
 
 
 
 
2. As in #1, fill in the blanks, focusing on an issue/event relevant to your theme, or ask the class to fill in the blanks.
 
You are on the public relations staff of ________________. There has been an embarrassing mishap, for which your employer is seen to be responsible. Basically, what happened was ___________________________________________________. The press is demanding a statement, and it's your job to write one that will obfuscate the facts enough to confuse everyone and make it seem as if your employer is not especially at fault. [Brainstorm employers/disasters in class. During the workshop, ask readers to pose as members of the press, asking questions in response to the memo, or to pose as the employer, explaining why the press release did/not succeed.]