Alex Harvey

November 27, 2018

English 202D

Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Company Profile: The X agency is a government organization that focuses on troop support as
well as reviewing laws and policies. There are a variety of X agency bases but the one I will
focus on is the Philadelphia Agency. The goal of the X agency is to provide the troops with as
many supplies and as much information as they will need. The agency will also maintain a kind
hearted, professional work environment.

Key People: Contracting Officers, Government Analysts, Government Directors, Auditors,

Team Supervisors, and Department Heads/Chiefs.

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #1:

● Exigence: Need definition of government policy, urgent affair due to the loss of lives.
● Writer: Contracting Officer (person given entrance to administer, renew, or terminate
contracts) from the 51st Green Platoon
● Primary/ Intended Audience: Government Senior Analyst from the X Agency
● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Enemy Contracting Officer from Militant Army
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: To see if policy prohibits the use of a certain artillery deemed to
dangerous in certain areas. Somewhat unrealistic due to the constraints.
● Context/ Background Info: Ally outpost in war zone is struck, leaving many wounded or
dead, leading to contracting officer looking to counterattack. The contracting officer
knows that the artillery he wants to use is very dangerous and can harm the surrounding
citizens. He looks to the senior analyst for approval to still use the artillery given the
caution it.

Textual Genre #1: Email requesting breakdown of policy

To: Senior Analyst Pink

From: Contracting Officer Yellow
Subject: Request for Implementation of Policy
Date: 06/ 07/ 2012

Hello Senior Analyst Pink,

This is Contracting Officer Yellow from the 51st Green Platoon and this is an urgent request. My
outpost in Fort Sunshine has been attacked by enemy militia. We lost 36 lives, with 15 others
wounded from a bomb attack during the night. This act of war will not go unpunished and in
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

retaliation we wish to obtain the B-1 fighter jet in order to avenge our soldiers. We have the
militia’s location which is in a 5 miles radius of a small city in Bulgaria, population of around
5,000 citizens. I understand that this artillery is known to cause heavy damage, and I look to you
to confirm that our policies allow such machinery in inhabited areas?

Best regards,
Corporate Officer Yellow
COyellow@nxa.gov

Metacognitive Moves from Textual Genre #1: An Email Requesting the Breakdown of a

Policy

My interviewee told me that her agency conducts many throughout the workday/workweek. She

also said that not only do analysts have to conduct many of these emails, but other job positions

too. This is what led me to making this scenario where a contracting officer had to get in touch

with a government analyst. I started out by giving my interviewee a pseudonym and making her

the primary audience in this case because she normally would be. When I began the email, I

stated “This is an urgent request” instead of formally introducing myself because I wanted to

evoke some sort of sympathy and emotion from my reader (as the Contracting Officer). I then

put in some numbers to emphasize the situation at hand, which is what a Contracting Officer

would most likely do in such a situation in order to allow the intended audience to fully

understand the magnitude of the situation. Next I went ahead and created a fictional fighter jet,

one that would cause a lot of damage but would also be known for being very effective. After

that I had to include the surrounding areas which were possible to be hit if we lead out an attack,

which is important information for the government analyst to know when reading over the

policy. I left off with a request for a breakdown of a policy regarding the use of the jet. Finally in

my salutation I made sure to include a government email, which I incorporated in all of my

textual genres.
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #2:

● Exigence: To define government policy due to emergency situation. The emergency
situation being the loss of soldier’s lives and others being wounded.
● Writer: Government Senior Analyst Pink from the X Agency
● Primary/ Intended Audience: Contracting Officer Yellow from 51st Green Platoon
● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Enemy Contracting Officer from Militant Army
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: To define the policy requested in order to provide the contracting
officer with the best information possible so they can make the right decision
● Context/ Background Info: A Contracting Officer is looking for possible counterattacks
through government policies from enemy attack on ally base/outpost. The senior analyst
has the policy information and is lead to make the decision on whether or not the artillery
is to be used.

Textual Genre #2: Email answering request for breakdown of policy

To: Contracting Officer Yellow

From: Senior Analyst Pink
Subject: Answer to Request for Implementation of Policy
Date: 06/07/2012

Good Afternoon, Contracting Officer Yellow.

I am deeply saddened to hear about the events that occurred at Fort Sunshine, and I wish to
express my deepest condolences.

Fort Sunshine was an outpost that we hear at Agency X have supplied to before, so this news has
greatly affected everyone hear at the base. I regret to inform you however that the B-1 fighter jet
is currently on the banned list for warfare. We acknowledge that the B-1 fighter jet has a high
damage radius, able to cause damage of up to 10 miles. I therefore cannot allow for the use of the
jet because of the militia’s close vicinity to the neighboring city.

We do have good news to relay to you. The G-37 fighter jet is a suitable replacement and can
send it out to you as soon as possible. The G-37 fighter jet comes with built in machine guns,
which will be less catastrophic than the B-1 fighter jet’s rockets. If you wish to use the G-37
instead we can have it shipped out to you.

Once again we are sorry for the loss and hope that we were able to benefit you in anyway.

Thank you for your understanding and have a safe day.

Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Sincerely,
Senior Analyst Pink
SApink@nxa.gov

Metacognitive Moves from Textual Genre #2: Email Answering Request for the Breakdown of

a Policy

I figured that I would base a response from the first textual genre in this one. This is more of

what my interviewee would be saying, which I feel more comfortable with giving my view on

what they would say. She told me that she is breaking down policies every day, most of them

consisting of an officer or director requesting for it to be defined. I also looked back to the

“Response” chapter in the book, starting on p. 257 which gave me some good advice in making

my textual genre. There were some key things in this chapter that I made sure to incorporate,

firstly making sure not to give false information since this was an informative response. I used

some key words from the chapter such as thanks, inform, and acknowledge. I also tried to mix in

words like understanding, condolences, and as soon as possible. I felt these would be good words

to use in such a tragic situation, showing sympathy towards the Contracting Officer and the base.

I also implemented some empathy stating that the Agency has worked with this specific outpost

before and that the loss of some of our soldiers had a great effect on everyone back home. I tried

my best to ease into relaying the bad information about the fighter jet. In this scenario the fighter

jet was not to be used in such a close radius to the small city. I then went on to provide the

Contracting Officer with some good news, telling him that we (X Agency) could lend him a

different fighter jet which was less likely to damage the neighboring city. I also gave this new

“G-37” fighter jet some nice features to try and persuade the Contracting Officer into using it.

This way I can seem as more helpful to him and give him some sense of hope and togetherness.
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #3:

● Exigence: Input on Organization Project that must be responded to in a given time frame,
if not it will be counted against the team. This can result in demotions, cease to
promotions, or worst case possible firings of employees.
● Writer: Team Supervisor/ Director for the Department
● Primary/ Intended Audience: Analysts within the department team
● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Supervisor's superiors/ higher ups (a.k.a. Department
Chief)
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: Account for team's timeliness and capabilities when presented
with a given scenario. This is a very realistic goal when writing such a textual genre in
this Government Agency.
● Context/ Background Info: The supervisor must be in a report to their higher ups,
showcasing that the team is capable of getting in important information in a timely
manner. This is a procedure that is done every month and each scenario that the director
puts the team through is different. For this scenario they are to provide input on an ally
agencies’ secret project.

Textual Genre #3: Informational Email

To: All Team Analysts

From: Director Smith
Subject: Monthly Check-In
Date: 03/31/2018

Good Morning to all GS-13 Analysts,

This is Director Smith contacting you all about our monthly war report. Last month we had a
94% proficiency rate, which was our high for the year. I think we can do better and would like to
show the chief that our department is efficient and dependable. The assessment for the month is
to put our input on a project being worked on by the X agency in Baltimore. They want us to
look at possible defects in their mission and what their rate of success would be. This is a secret
project that they are giving us insight on so I want this to be treated very importantly. You will
be graded on how descriptive your ideas are and how much of your input is implemented into
their plan.

The project overview is in the pdf I have attached at the bottom of this email. Your responses
must be in by 4:00 p.m. today, no later!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and if you have any questions you know where to
find me.
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Sincerely,
Director Smith
DASmith@nxa.gov

Pdf.osdnafi

Metacognitive Moves from Textual Genre #3: Informational Email

This textual genre was one specifically pointed out by my interviewee. She told me that this was

a specific scenario that they go through monthly, not in this exact manner, but very similar. She

goes through WAR reports which is jargon for a progress report. I wanted to make it more

understandable to the audience and so I tried not to use any agency jargon. In this textual genre,

there normally would be a good amount of jargon, especially according to my interviewee. She

says that there is jargon for almost anything in her work place, even the communication sources

that they use. This email was sent out to all the analysts in a certain operation level. By that I

mean that there are different levels of analysts and the higher numbered groups are more

essential to major situations. They have more input and are promoted based on performance just

like most other jobs. Sending the email was the Director of this level, who oversees all of their

activities and relays the information to his/her higher ups. I started the email off with a very

straight-forward sentence because if the analysts are doing this every month then they are

expecting such an email. That is also why I decided to give the email somewhat of a lighter tone

while also making it seem very important. I also incorporated the proficiency rate of the team, to

show them where they are at while also giving them the notion that there’s room for

improvement. My interviewee tells me that a lot of times the Agency will communicate with

another base in a different area. For this I chose to integrate an “X Agency” base located in

Baltimore to allow an interaction with another base. I did not include the details of the project in
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

the email text, instead putting it into a fake pdf where the analysts can oversee it. This

government agency has a lot of classified information, and that includes inside of emails this

way, putting the project information in a pdf will offer a little bit of safety in case the email is

retrieved by a hacker. Finally I added in a deadline to show the team that this is still a very

important email, and that all of their inputs are not only mandatory but crucial to the agencies

growth. One last thing I added in was that I appreciated everyone on the team and wished them

to have a good day, in order to maintain that trust and friendship which should lead to continued

success.

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #4

● Exigence: The need for a financial audit, urgent due to possible false asset calculations.
● Writer: Auditor outside of X Agency
● Primary/ Intended Audience: X Agency; specifically the Chief Financial Advisor Mr.
Beckham
● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Taxpayers/ Stockholders who prospect the organization
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: To ensure financial stewardship and accountability of federal
government. A very realistic goal, not just with the federal government, but with most
businesses.
● Context/ Background Info: The auditor is concerned about a miscalculation in the number
of assets the agency purchased. He wants clarity from this mix-up in order for him to
relay the information to the taxpayers.

Textual Genre #4: Audit Request

To: CFA Jordan Beckham

From: Phil Philermon
Subject: Audit Request
Date: 03/01/2017

Dear Financial Advisor Beckham of X Agency,

We received no response on our last audit request detailing the agency's financial transactions
from December 1, 2016-February 28, 2017. This was a precautionary audit request due to the
fact that reports are out of a miscalculation of assets being purchased and wanted to make sure
that all financial statements were correct. Please note that we are in need of all your purchases
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

through this time period and acquisitions. If we do not receive the information by March 31,
2017 then we will admit an administrative subpoena, or the audit will be estimated.

If there are any additional questions or concerns please contact the information below.

Sincerely,

Phil Philermon
Auditor
PHILermon@gmail.com
(276)4569020

Metacognitive Moves from Textual Genre #4: Audit Request

I was looking to change things up a little and found myself doing a textual genre where the writer

is not a part of or directly linked with the X Agency. This is when I came up with the audit

request which, according to my interviewee, will come from somebody outside of the

organization. Audit requests were a little tricky for me to understand so I went out and googled

what they may look like. Most of my searches were around the same and that’s where my text

took inspiration. Dating was very key in most of these request which I made sure to stand out in

the email. I made sure to carefully date the email so it looked like the audit request was coming

at the first of the month, rather than getting it mid-way through, which would seem odd. I also

know the X Agency makes a lot of purchases, whether it be for equipment, materials, or artillery

for the soldiers. This is why I made the scenario where there was a mistake with the total amount

of assets being purchased. Another common theme with these audit requests were that the audit

would be estimated or the agency/company would be ordered a subpoena if they were not given

the information in an orderly time period. I took some notes from

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/commas/ which you suggested, specifically looking

at the “XYZ” portion of the text. This was deeper thinking that allowed me to effectively split up

my comments. I wanted to break down each part, from the subpoena, to the audit estimation, and
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

even the deadline, very carefully to show they are separate elements. I also remembered from

class when we went over leaving open doors with people, not wanting to evoke a false tone.

That’s where I left the statement saying if there were any further questions to contact the

information below. I added in a cell phone number in my salutation to seem more available if

there were any concerns.

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #5:

● Exigence: Agency needs to let go of an employee due to before unknown information.
● Writer: Director/ Supervisor from X Agency
● Primary/ Intended Audience: Analyst from X Agency
● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Higher Ups to Director/Supervisor (a.k.a. Department
Chiefs)
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: To let go of an employee in the best tone possible, although for a
very serious reason.
● Context/ Background Info: Employee in this case had a criminal record history that the
agency was not aware about before hiring them. After looking back at employee files,
they discovered the records and made the decision to let the person go.

Textual Genre #5: Firing an employee

To: Suzan Witherspoon:

From: Kelly Foottoe
Subject: URGENT EMAIL
Date: 04/26/2015

Dear Mrs. Witherspoon,

You have been an essential part of our agency for 13 years. You jumped from a GS-8 to a GS-11
within just 5 years which was a great accomplishment on your behalf. Your transition from an
assistant administrator to a senior analyst was swimmingly. Your war reports for the past 1 ½
have been excellent at 90% proficiency.

I regret to inform you however that your contract has been terminated. We were overlooking the
department’s background history for criminal records and we found that you were imprisoned for
3 years due to a domestic assault. We feel that it is in our best interest to disable you from the
group. We do not condone domestic violence here at X agency and hope you can understand our
concern.
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Kelly Foottoe
DAKellyFT@nxa.gov
(214)8971124

Metacognitive Moves from Textual Genre #5: Firing an Employee

Firstly, the subject line of the email was put in to emphasize that the reader has to open this

email. This was a textual genre that was thought of in our conference, and I really felt like this

could issue a lot of information. When looking to fire someone or relay a negative message, I

chose to look back at our books. I saw that the use of strong words can be really effective, so I

put in words like terminated, disabled, and condone. The scenario I chose was quite different

from the ones offered in the book because it was not a situation where somebody was tardy,

misbehaving while working, or anything like that. I wanted to create a unique scenario which

would be seen as against company rules, but was not known to the agency beforehand. Domestic

violence is a very bad situation and I felt that was one the agency should handle as soon as

notified. It is somewhat of a difficult chose to make in that scenario, and in this one I decided to

uphold the company image by letting go of the employee. I tried to ease into the bad news as

well by running off the employee’s accolades/accomplishments. I felt that this also prepared the

employee for something like this to happen. I also think the message I tried to convey was very

firm and to the point, not trying to sugarcoat the situation. I tried “closing on respectful tone”,

said on Chapter 9 in Thill and Bovee, by stating that I wish the employee well in her future

endeavors.

Rhetorical Situation Behind Textual Genre #6

● Exigence: To relocate an employee in order to create a position.
● Writer: Department Advisor for X Agency
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

● Primary/ Intended Audience: Employee being relocated from X Agency

● Secondary/ Peripheral Audience: Relocated department
● Author's Purpose/ Goal: To let the employee know that they are being located to another
base.
● Context/ Background Info: A department is in need of a new analyst, and another
department is overloaded with analysts. This will cause the one department to place one
of their analysts in another department to help them fill a need.

Textual Genre #6: Employee Relocation

To: Rick Rickson

From: Stan Stanley
Subject: IMPORTANT EMAIL
Date: 10/09/2016

Hello Senior Analyst Rickson,

I hope you are having a wonderful day thus far; this is your Department Advisor Stan Stanley.
Since you have been with X agency you have been an incremental part of this department’s
success. You have been one of the best employees working with our troops and you have also
been an office gem. We have a very important change we have to inform you about.

We know how much you have wanted to work with the big guys and now is your opportunity.
You are being relocated to the Hexagon in Washington, D.C. I know this seems drastic and
sudden but you are not required to appear for another 4 weeks. You will start out as a Senior
Analyst but from what I am told they will want to shift you around because of your versatility.

We have appreciated your time here at X agency and believe you will be very successful in your
new position. Thank you for all the work you put in, we wish you the best of luck and if you
have any questions you know where to find us.

Sincerely,
Department Director Stanley
DDStanley@nxa.gov
(313)9023456

Metacognitive Moves for Textual Genre #6: Employee Relocation

Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

This textual genre piggybacks off the last one, but would be seen as less of a negative situation

that firing an employee. In this case, a relocation could be seen in one of two ways. One it could

be seen as we no longer need you, you’re almost like dead weight to us. Another way of looking

at it though is a fresh start/new opportunity to shine in another agency. I decided to make the

relocation in a more positive tone, this way the new change will feel more comfortable to the

employee. Once again I tried to catch the reader’s attention with the subject line, only this time I

replaced URGENT with IMPORTANT because I wanted it to seem more positive. Then I started

off the email by wishing he was having a wonderful day, a nice gesture to spell the theme of the

email. I tried integrating positive words like wonderful, incremental, and appreciate. I also gave

him a time where he had to be present at his new job, this way he can talk to his family, get his

leaving situation in order,etc. Then I added in some more adjectives to describe how well he

worked, like saying that he was very versatile, anything I could do to make him feel alright with

the situation. Looking back at chapter 3 in the Thill and Bovee book, there is an emphasis on just

thanking the person which, “Hearing a sincere thank you can do wonders for morale.” It is

something simple but I wanted the employee to feel that they will be missed and show how much

they meant to us at the agency. I left off with a note that said “if you have any questions you

know where to find us.” kind of showing a strong relationship between employee and company.

Rubric for 202D Final Project

Rubric for Did Not Meet Met Expectations Exceeded

Rhetorical Expectations Expectations
Situations

Company Profile
Have you provided
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

relevant background
information to help
bring your
organization to life?
What’s the name of
this
organization/compan
y?
What’s their field,
industry, or “line of
work”?
Where are they
located? Who is their
clientele?

Exigence
What prompted the
writer’s need to
communicate?
What’s the urgency
behind the need to
enact this
particular genre?

Writer
Who is the writer?
What’s their name,
what
organization/compan
y are they affiliated
with,
and what’s their
role/position?

Audience (Primary
and Peripheral)
Who is the
intended/primary
audience for this
genre? What’s their
name, what
organization/compan
y are they affiliated
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

with,
and what’s their
position/role?
Additionally, what
other
peripheral/secondary
audiences might play
a role in how we can
understand this
genre? Might other
people be
interested in the
message that’s being
communicated?
Could the writer have
additional
people in mind
beyond the specific
person(s) that
they’ve contacted?

Purpose
What’s the writer’s
goal? Is it realistic?
Have
they identified a
concrete, actionable
outcome that
they’re hoping to
achieve?

Context /
Background Info
What additional
information is
necessary to make the
most sense of this
rhetorical situation?
Do the writer and
their audience have a
“history” of sorts? Is
there an upcoming
deadline? Has a
company’s policy or
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

personnel recently
gone through
changes? Is there a
current “hot topic”
that’s circulating
throughout the news
cycle that makes this
communication more
urgent?

Notes and Score

(X/5)

Rubric for Textual Did Not Meet Met Expectations Exceeded

Genres Expectations Expectations

Genre Identification
Did you (accurately)
name/identify each
unique
genre that you
enacted?

Alignment with the

Rhetorical
Situation
Does the genre that
you created/enacted
accurately reflect the
rhetorical situation
(for each
genre) that you laid
out?

Genre-Specific
Conventions
To what extent did
each textual genre
include its
most important
conventions?
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Remember: when we
think of
“conventions,” we
think of the unique
characteristics,
features, patterns, or
ingredients of
a particular genre.
(e.g. a specific subject
or an e-
signature line for an
email)

Rhetorical
Strategies
Has the writer used
various rhetorical
strategies to persuade
their reader/audience
in the most effective
way possible? From
jargon (technical
terminology), to
particular details
(e.g. the specific
amount of $ due for a
claim; timelines for a
call to action), to
communication with
internal vs. external
audiences, have you
(the student) brought
each genre “to life”
in realistic ways with
your language-based
decisions?

Organization/Struct
ure
Is the writer’s
communication
organized/structured
in a clear and logical
manner? Does the
organizational
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

strategy best
support the writer’s
goals of each
particular
genre?

Mechanics +
Punctuation
Have you
demonstrated a
control of mechanics
and punctuation? Are
you using complete
sentences (unless
intentionally avoiding
them for
stylistic reasons)?

Notes and Score

(X/15)

Rubric for
“Metacognitive
Moves” Reflection

Focus on “Moves”
What writerly
decisions did you
make in this
project? Did you
identify numerous,
consequential
“moves” that you
made for this project?
Did you articulate
what you did and why
you did it? (Or didn’t
do it?) do that
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

Examples of
“Moves”
Is your analysis of
your moves
connected to your
language? Have you
quoted yourself to
provide
concrete examples?

Learning and
Insights
The whole point of
engaging in a
metcaognitive
reflection (like this) is
to better understand
what
you’re learning and to
communicate that
with
others. What insights
are you gaining about
written
communication?
About language?
About
rhetorical situations?
About genre? About
organizational
structures?

Interview
Think back to your
interview.
How/when/where/why
did you draw from
insights
that came out of your
interview? Indicate
how your
interview informed
this 202d project.

Connection to
Assigned Readings
Per the syllabus, did
Alex Harvey
November 27, 2018
English 202D

you make specific

connections to our
assigned course
readings? What
ideas, concepts, or
strategies informed
your
project? I’d like to see
you paraphrase and
“quote” at least 5
different times from at
least 3
different
readings/chapters.!

Notes and Score

(X/15)