COMMUNITY WRITER’S INVENTORY


1) What kind of document are you producing?
I am producing a briefing statement that will be including in a packet distributed by the Ohio Environmental Council to state legislators.

2) What are the primary and secondary rhetorical purposes of the document?
Its purpose is to inform legislators about Ohio environmental organizations and what they are doing, to explain to them the importance of these projects and environmental concerns in general, and to provide recommendations for how the goals of these projects can be reached. Particularly, FLOW’s briefing statement will be about its storm water management project and how to improve water quality based on its initiative.

3) Who is the primary reader of the document? Is there a secondary audience?
The primarily reader will be Ohio legislators, or their assistants that read their documents. A secondary community would be Ohio citizens with a particular concern for environmental issues. To my knowledge, the packet will be distributed modestly and not to the general public.

4) Further characterize your primary readers, according to any of the following categories that you believe are relevant, or others you can think of: middle class, middle age, predominantly white and Christian, highly educated, English speakers, American roots, physically capable, legislators, ideally sympathetic to community concerns.

5) Characterize any secondary readers in the same way, and note any differences between primary and secondary readers.
Very similar to above, more concerned about environmental issues out of their own will, generally not caught up in legal system.

6) Describe the situation(s) in which your reader is most likely to encounter what you have written in its finished form.
Legislators will probably be provided with this packet along with the tons of papers they are given on a daily basis. I presume that the initial interaction with the packet will be through an assistant summing up its contents. If the legislator has a concern or a specific issue to address, she or he will look at it themselves. Environmentally-concerned community members will probably go out of their way to read it or read it as part of their work with a local environmental group.
The document will probably be made available to anyone who wants it, but still not widely distributed. It has a very focused intended demographic.

7) Where did you/do you need to go to get the information you needed/need? Most of the information was provided by my community partner mentor. The rest of it was available on their website. This information is meant for those interested in the specifics of water quality work and storm water management. I did not need to conduct interviews for this project, its layout was relatively straight forward.

8) What modes of development are necessary in your document? Where and why?
I need to define non-point source pollution and watershed. I will have to talk about FLOW and their storm water management program, as well as talking about what effects this project has on the environment and the local community. It is read like a fact sheet and allows no room for my own voice (which is fine for a first project). There is no explicit argument, but he implicit one is that we need to create a better storm water management system in Columbus because of if not we are losing rich reasources that aquatic life provides.

9) Describe the writing voice that works best for your document.
10) Very formal. My voice is almost nonexistent. It is supposed to read like a briefing paper. There is no story. What is important is to convey in the least amount of words the project and why it is important.

11) Describe the general form of the finished document. One-sided page; front and back of one page; double-fold brochure; margin-to-margin; columns; other? Headings and subheadings? introduction and conclusion? Complete sentences and paragraphs? Long or short paragraphs?

12) Describe the particulars of format. Large print/standard print/small print; various fonts in various places; questions and answers; bullet points; web page links; graphical elements/enhancements (Document design/lay-out? Print in color, black and white, gray scale? Photos or graphic images? Drawings? Tables or graphs?); other?




COMMUNITY WRITER’S STATEMENT
OF AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE

Try articulating your community writing task using the pattern of information that emerged from the Community Writer’s Inventory.

I am writing a legislative briefing paper for Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, whose mission is to My primary purpose in the document is inform and persuade legislators about FLOW’s storm water management project and its importance to the community, and my secondary purpose(s) is inform the local community about this project and its importance to my readers, who are legislators and community members with a particular concerns for environmental issues. Since my purpose and my audience will be encountering my writing in a formal setting (work or community meeting), my writing voice must be formal and concise. The form and format of the document, a 500-word factual document with background information and recommendations will also help make my points effectively. I need to research Guide to Ohio Streams (book), Background Conservation Manual (FLOW manual), and Watershed Action Plan (FLOW formal plan of action) to get the information I need to produce a credible and effective document, and I expect to develop and articulate my points using the following modes of development: listing background information on the project and proceeding to list recommendations for legislators in order to change the poor state of the storm water management system, in order to improve aquatic life and preserve the rich resources of the Olentangy River Watershed.