English 301 Technical Writing (Winter 2018)

Kai Corley-Jory

December 6th, 2018

Unit 2:3 – Reflection Blog

This is a reflection on the work I have accomplished and the processes I used and learned during this units extent. In unit 3, the primary assignments were that of learning to write with the “you-attitude”, producing a draft of a formal report, and peer reviewing a draft of a peers formal report.

Starting with writing in the “you-attitude”. I still have a lot to learn using this technique in writing. I am struggling to find the line between being direct and helpful when stating recommendations or comments without sounding or having a condescending tone in my writing. I am generally a very blunt person and everything I say I like to get straight to the point of the matter. This style comes across very rude and condescending at times when used for peer-reviews or reports in writing. I have started to try and use the “you-attitude”, but I think it will take a lot more practice for me to master it. The more I am forced to write in this style and the more that mistakes can be pointed out to me through peer review, the better I will become at using it.

The biggest assignment during this unit for me was by far the draft of the formal report. As forewarned by my instructor I chose a fairly complex and in-depth topic for my report, “Tungsten in Canada: A Feasibility Study for Re-opening the Cantung Mine”. Though it is a complex topic, I think I did it justice the way I wrote about it. The topic itself is interesting to me because it is a place and a problem I had personally wondered about ever before considering writing a formal report on it. It definitely took me longer than I had first thought to draft the report, but I also wish I had more time to go into more intricate detail on a few of the topics as well. Overall I am happy with the draft, and can’t wait to look over and edit it again myself after looking at recommendations from my peers. My main fear with this report and having someone peer review it that has no background in the mining industry or geology is that the terminology used may be specific to those two fields, but we shall find out soon.

Lastly was the process of peer reviewing a draft of a colleagues report. Reviewing someone else’s work is always easier for me than reviewing my own. I really enjoy peer reviewing because not only do I get to help my colleagues by recommending changes, I also pick up little things that I can incorporate into my own works. Reviewing Graham Drope’s report draft was very easy, as he quite easily understands how to write with the “you-attitude” and was very focused with the goal of his report, rarely straying from the main topic. Even though the subject matter of his report was of no interest to me it was still enjoyable to read because of his style and organization. Overall I enjoyed the review process and think it will help me better organize my reports and use the “you-attitude” in the future.

Attached is a copy of the first draft of my formal Report:

301 Kai Corley-Jory Report Draft 1.0

Kai Corley-Jory

November 12th, 2018

Unit 2:3 – Reflection Blog

This blog is a reflection on the work I have accomplished and the processes I used and learned during this units extent. In unit 2:3, the primary assignments were that of progress and outlines of format reports, and work on setting up a professional networking profile on LinkedIn.

Let’s start with the LinkedIn profile. This assignment gave me a great opportunity to update my LinkedIn profile for all of the experiences and work that I had done in the past year. Having the assignment to create the profile, and take a more professional approach help me turn out what I think is a great final product. Unlike previous times updating my profile, I tried to use a professional but friendly tone and was aware of how I was portraying myself to my colleagues and of course potential employers. The fact, that we had the chance to get direct feedback on our profile from our peers is invaluable. The peer review processing has quickly become a favorite to me in terms of editing and learning tools to use when writing. Overall, I really enjoyed updating my profile and I’m not sure when I would have gotten around to it if it weren’t for this assignment.

During this unit, there was also extensive work on planning and preparing for data collection that we will be using in our formal reports. I’m generally not one to think ahead so much on reports or projects, I like to start, research and finish then prepare for editing in a very short time frame. Having already been thinking about the report for about a month, I find myself continually thinking about it and adjusting and changing ideas as I go over it in my head. I’m interested to see how this will affect my final version of my report. All the assignments, like creating a report outline or progress report of the report itself, again force you to go over the concepts you want to cover. This repetition has allowed me to sort through my initial ideas and pick the ones that will be the most important. Though my particular report is a bit different in style from most of the members of my writing group, or other examples I have seen in this course, I feel confident that I can produce well-rounded report, mostly because the topic is something I have quite a bit of prior knowledge about, but still have a lot to learn as well.

So far I have really enjoyed the peer-review process, and I like to see all the writing styles that my colleagues have. Some of their work has inspired me, but more in a technical manner. Sometimes I like the way they have a layout for their page or the way they have worded a particular argument. I would say I am picking up small writing nuances every time I review their work, whether I’m entirely aware of it or not. I think my colleagues have become accomplished writers in their own right, and I look forward to reading more of their work in the future.

Link to Peer Review of Report Proposal :

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a/2018/10/18/peer-review-of-research-proposal-kai-corley-jory/

Link to Revised Report Proposal: 301 Kai Corley-Jory Report Proposal – Only Cantung

(This assignment is currently being posted here in lieu of having a working team forum and will be posted there as soon as possible)

Dear team members,

The objective of this assignment is to define what an “End-Member Phase” is on a binary phase diagram and show how it relates to the subject of geology. I will be writing these definitions directed at an audience of board members or investors who may not have a lot of background geologic knowledge. The situation I have put myself in is that of writing a report about mineral formation and mineral properties, specifically to relate it to conditions of rock formation. In this report, these definitions and examples would be used to thoroughly explain “End-Member Phases”.

Thank you for taking the time to read and review my first work on definitions,

Kai Corley-Jory

Parenthetical Definition:

Forsterite and Fayalite are the two end-member phases (most pure extremes) of olivine.

Sentence Definition:

End-Member Phases are mineral formulas that showcase the most extreme versions of a mineral that has many possible configurations.

Extended Definition:

End Members of a Mineral Phase Diagram

Sentence Definition: End Member phases are mineral formulas that showcase the most extreme versions of a mineral that has many possible configurations. Etymology: The term “End-Member” is derived from the words “end”, which in reference to mineral phases means “The initial or the terminal point.”, and “member”, which means “A part of a whole.”

Description & Analysis: Many minerals do not have a static formula, and thus require complex phase diagrams to explain their constituents under different conditions of formation. End-Member phases showcase the extreme possibilities of mineral configuration. A binary phase diagram for the mineral Olivine (Fe, Mg)₂SiO₄ and its two end-members, Forsterite Mg₂SiO₄ and Fayalite Fe₂SiO₄ are shown in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1: Binary Phase Diagram for Olivine

History: Phase Diagrams are commonly used by scientists for the prediction of composition and state phase of substances (minerals) over a range of different conditions, commonly temperature and pressure. Figure 1 depicts a phase diagram for olivine with the variable conditions being temperature, in degrees Celsius, and the Magnesium to Iron content represented by the End Members, of a produced mineral at a constant pressure.

How it is used: End-Member phases are used in conjunction with phase diagrams to calculate possible percentages of mineral constituents that form in any one system. This principle is a useful tool for geologists and can be used in to back out the conditions of formation of rocks with a certain composition of minerals.

Bibliography:

“Endmember.” Ship Ahoy – Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endmember.

“End.” Ship Ahoy – Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org/wiki/end#English.

“Member.” Ship Ahoy – Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org/wiki/member#English.

“Binary Phase Diagrams.” Examples, 10 Nov. 2016, serc.carleton.edu/research_education/equilibria/binary_diagrams.html.

To: Shakti Ramkumar

Hello Shakti,

My name is Kai Corley-Jory, and I really relate to the educational path you’ve taken during your five years of study. I too switched from a more engineering focused degree to one more important to me personally. And I also like the fact that you have previous experience with technical writing.

I’m not sure if you’ve read my Letter of Application yet, if not I have attached it and would like for you to skim through it and consider me for a position on your writing team.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kai Corley-Jory

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To: Fiona Ho

Hello Fiona,

My name is Kai Corley-Jory, and from your Letter of Application, I can tell you have the skill-set and real-world experience I would be looking for in a writing teammate.

If you haven’t already, I would like for you to review my application, which I have attached and let me know if you would like to work together in the future.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kai Corley-Jory

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To: Lansi Chu

Hello Lansi,

My name is Kai Corley-Jory, and you have a very impressive Letter of Application. I particularly would be interested in learning from your co-op and professional communication experience. I believe our writing philosophies are fairly similar, and I would like to make a team of writers where each person has something to offer and perhaps teach the rest.

If you haven’t already, I would like for you to read my application, which I have attached, and see if I would be the type of teammate you would like to work with.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kai Corley-Jory

MEMORANDUM

To: Erika Paterson

From: Kai Corley-Jory, <kai.corleyjory@gmail.com>

Date: September 20, 2018

Subject: Letter of Application

Hello Erika, I am writing this memo to inform you that I have posted my letter of application.

Here I will briefly describe my letter of application.

• Introduction, including skills related to my degree. e.g. resourcefulness & creativity
• Description of previous technical writing experience at Langara College, from writing a scientific paper
• Explanation and expectation of what I would offer to a writing team and what I would expect from my team-mates

I hope this quick memo sufficiently covers the basics of my letter of application. If you need any additional information or have a follow-up question do not hesitate to contact me by email.

Thank you for taking the time to read this memo, and I look forward to working with you in the future.

301 Kai Corley-Jory Application letter

To whom it may concern,

My name is Kai Corley-Jory, and I am a fourth-year geology student. Being a geology student has given me countless opportunities to interact with the outdoors, and pursue my interests. I have always been a resourceful, and efficient person in everything I do. During my degree, I have had to become even more resourceful and creative because when you’re out in the field the only resources you have are what you have in your bag. Partially because of this I am always able to come up with a lot of plausible ideas for solutions to problems whether they are physical or on paper. Being able to think on my feet, and react quickly to situations are just some of what geology has helped me to focus on, but they aren’t my only skills.

Before I transferred to U.B.C. I attended Langara College, and it was here that I earned experience writing technical papers. The project that I am most proud of is one that that two friends and I worked on in a course designed around programming microcontrollers (small circuit board that allows for several input and output signals). We worked on a project using lasers and light sensors to communicate through a computer interface. We ended up being able to send text messages and emojis using lasers at speeds comparable to dial-up internet. For this project we were required to write a technical paper to describe how it functioned, and our paper ended up being published in a digital library online so people could re-create our project. Here is a link to the publication http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7746087/.

Additionally, I am able to work with anyone, but I would prefer to work with those who would like to get to know me as much as I would like to get to know them. I’m from a small town and I like knowing the people I work with. Although I don’t like to be in charge of anything, I do find that when I’m placed in a situation where I have to lead I can dictate very effectively. This being said I am always up for a good debate and have no problems changing my view on a subject, given that there is sufficient evidence for me too. I look forward to reading your application letters and hope mine was informative.

Sincerely,

Kai Corley-Jory

Fourth-year Geology Student, U.B.C.

Email: kai.corleyjory@gmail.com

301 Kai Corley-Jory Application letter