two, one-page memos

to write two, one-page memos. The first one-page memo is to convince ProfessorRoe, a non-coffee drinker, to patronize Starbucks. The second one-page memo is to convince Sybil Yang, acoffee addict, not to patronize Starbucks.

This is not a sales pitch or a marketing piece. You are writing from the perspective of a hospitality businessanalyst. The memos should: Not read like a brochure, Not be written as if you work for Starbucks or one of its competitors, Have an objective, professional, factual tone, Provide at least two reasons per position, and Include evidentiary support for the reasons argued.

HTM531- Hospitality Services Management Roe & Yang

Printed: January 29, 2013 c:\users\susan j\documents\a current\sfsu\services management\2013 spring\assignments\130128 hw packet

HW1: INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT: DETACHED ARGUMENTATION
(50 POINTS) – DUE THURSDAY 1/31/13 @210PM UPLOADED TO ILEARN

Assignment Description
Much of business writing exists to inform and argue. The focus of this assignment is practice your business
argumentation skills. You are to write two, one-page memos. The first one-page memo is to convince Professor
Roe, a non-coffee drinker, to patronize Starbucks. The second one-page memo is to convince Sybil Yang, a
coffee addict, not to patronize Starbucks.

This is not a sales pitch or a marketing piece. You are writing from the perspective of a hospitality business
analyst. The memos should:

 Not read like a brochure,
 Not be written as if you work for Starbucks or one of its competitors,
 Have an objective, professional, factual tone,
 Provide at least two reasons per position, and
 Include evidentiary support for the reasons argued.

You are to integrate primary and secondary research about Starbucks and other similar establishments,
information you have learned about Professor Roe and Sybil from the first day’s question and answer session to
help build and support your arguments.

Grading Rubric
Objectiveness of Perspective (20%)
Were the arguments made from an objective, neutral, business perspective?

Rhetoric & Evidentiary Support (20%)
Are the arguments logical, clearly structured, and clearly presented to the reader? Is the evidence used to support
the arguments(s) relevant, insightful, or creative?

Writing Proficiency – Competency of Argument (50%)
Content is considered the substantive information you include in your report – it reflects the quality of what
you’ve included in your writing. We look for well-formed, insightful commentary, observation, analysis of the
situation at hand. Key questions we will be asking when we grade your memos are:

 Are your reasons clearly and easily identified?
ie. Does the reader know exactly why you (don’t) want (Sybil) Dr. Roe to patronize Starbucks?

 Are the logic and evidence used to argue the reasons thoughtful, relevant, and convincing?
ie. Do the reasons make sense, are they believable? Would Sybil or Dr. Roe be convinced? Is the
advocacy believable?

Writing Proficiency – Spelling, Grammar, Presentation (10%)

 Is the writing professional?
ie. Were the ‘guidelines & specifications’ met?

HTM531- Hospitality Services Management Roe & Yang

Printed: January 29, 2013 c:\users\susan j\documents\a current\sfsu\services management\2013 spring\assignments\130128 hw packet

GUIDELINES & SPECIFICATIONS FOR ALL WRITTEN WORK
HTM531

The following is a set of requirements on how all written work for the course should be submitted. A portion of
the grade for all written work in this course is based on how well you follow these guidelines and specification.

Format:

 1.5 line-spaced, in a professional, serif-ed font of readable size. Font size should be 12 point Times New
Roman or Cambria font.

 NO cover page except with the final report.
 You must have page numbers in the footer of each page.
 Your SFSU ID# must be in the header1 of the document. If it is a group assignment, the SFSU ID#s of

all group members must be listed in the header.
 Do NOT include your name on the assignment.
 The document has a consistent typography throughout.

Documentation and Citation:
If and when you quote a source, cite a fact, describe a procedure, theory or framework that is not widely known,
understood, or verifiable by a lay audience, you must cite your references or sources. In this class we use the
APA citation style. If you are unfamiliar with APA citation and reference guidelines, please visit Purdue’s OWL
resource. Some helpful links are:

 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ (for in-text quotations)
 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/ (for citations)

You may also want to visit the LAC or CARP centers to get face-to-face guidance on APA usage. Integrate in-
text references as appropriate to APA guidelines, and include the full citation in a separate reference section at
the end of your written work. The reference section of your document does not count against the page-count
limit.

If you quote or draw verbatim from a source, you must reference that source properly. All written work
submitted this semester will be check through Turn-It-In. Quotes, excerpts, or any other non-original work must
be cited if they are to be included in your work. Without proper citation, we may consider the work plagiarized
and in violation of University academic integrity policies.

Professionalism:

 The writing is free of misspellings.
 The writing is free of grammatical errors.
 The writing is free of errors in capitalization and punctuation.
 Do not use clichés or colloquialisms.
 Never write in the second person.
 Avoid writing the first person.
 All pictures, figures, diagrams, etc., are labeled and numbered in a consistent manner, and referenced

and discussed in the text.

1 If you are unsure what a header or footer is, or how to edit the contents of headers and footers, there are many tutorials on the subject depending on the word processing

program you use. As an example, the hearer is the area above the line at the top of this page, the footer is the area under the line at the bottom of this page. Just Google it.