{"id":150,"date":"2015-07-21T21:21:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/styleforstudents\/?post_type=chapter&p=150"},"modified":"2015-07-21T21:21:45","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:21:45","slug":"memos","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hccc-styleforstudents-1\/chapter\/memos\/","title":{"raw":"Memos","rendered":"Memos"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn many courses, you are asked to submit your writing in memo form, and in some cases your assignments are given to you as memos. This not only gives you practice in writing a professional document, it invites you to see your writing as purposeful and aimed at a particular audience. A detailed instructional memo about memo writing\u2014a \u201cmetamemo,\u201d if you will\u2014follows.\r\n\r\nClick here to download a pdf version of an instructional memo about memo writing.<\/a>\r\n\r\n \r\n
\r\n

Self-Study<\/h3>\r\nFor more information on memo writing, chase down these two websites:\r\n\r\nAdvice on writing memos from the Writing Center at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute<\/a>\r\n\r\nAdvice on memo writing from The Ohio University College of Business<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Memo<\/h2>\r\n

MYTHIC UNIVERSITY ONLINE\r\nmemo<\/p>\r\nDATE : \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 August 9, 2008\r\nTO :\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Users of Style for Students Online<\/em>\r\nFROM :\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Joe Schall\r\nSUBJECT :\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Writing Memos for your Classes\r\n\r\nThis memo provides you with tips on writing memos for your classes, with special attention to a memo\u2019s audience, format, organization, content, tone, and style. Because my advice comes in the form of a memo, you can use this document as a model for writing your own memos.\r\n

The Audience for a Memo<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIt is useful to begin by considering that a memo is essentially a one-on-one communication between writer and reader. Although a memo may be written to a group of people or with various audiences in mind, usually it is a highly goal-oriented communication between two people who need to share information. When you write a memo to a professor in the classroom setting, you are much like the employee who has been assigned to investigate a problem and report back to a supervisor. Therefore, you are expected to provide concrete information, even information that the supervisor might already know, in a form that clarifies ideas and puts them into context. Finally, a memo enjoys a broader context than an essay; hence, you might refer to other related memos as you write, or you might respond to specific requests made by the audience in your text, in effect, carrying on a professional conversation.\r\n

Typical Memo Format<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe overall format of a memo can be broken down into the heading, the body, and the closing notations. What follows is a brief description of each component.\r\n\r\nThe Heading<\/u>\r\nThe heading has two parts: part one includes two centered lines at the top of page 1, identifying the name of the company or institution on the first line, with the word \u201cmemorandum\u201d on the second line; part two includes the \u201cDATE,\u201d \u201cTO,\u201d \u201cFROM,\u201d and \u201cSUBJECT\u201d lines at the left margin, filled in appropriately.\r\n\r\nThe Body<\/u>\r\nThe body of the memo follows the Introduction, and it is usually presented in single-spaced paragraphs with a line skipped between each paragraph. The first lines of new paragraphs can appear at the left margin or they can be indented five spaces.\r\n\r\nThe Closing Notations<\/u>\r\nThe closing notations, used to identify such things as attachments, appear at the left margin two lines below the text of the final paragraph. By simply typing the word \u201cAttachment\u201d as a closing notation, you automatically refer the reader to any attachment, such as a map, a set of calculations, spreadsheets, or a References page.\r\n

How Memos are Organized<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe general organization of a memo mirrors that of an essay: an introduction, followed by body paragraphs, followed by a conclusion. However, the first paragraph of a memo is typically used as a forecasting device. Note how the opening paragraph of this memo defines the memo\u2019s function and reflects its organization. It is sensible to open memos for your classes in the same way, first directly stating the memo\u2019s purpose, then setting forth the organization and noting how the memo can be used.\r\n\r\nOrganization in the body of a memo is typically characterized by the use of section headings and short paragraphs. Paragraphs should not be too bulky\u2014five or six per page is usually ideal. On the sentence level, you should take full advantage of the same organizational tools that you employ when you write an essay: meaningful topic sentences; carefully selected transition words; focused section headings; indented blocks of cited text; a bulleted series of examples; powerful punctuation marks such as the colon, semicolon, and dash.\r\n

Selection and Citation of Content<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

A memo\u2019s content, of course, is guided by the assignment and the research required. It is important to remember as you present the content that selectivity and relevance matter greatly. Your job is to select and present the most pertinent, most current information available to you. Do not hesitate, of course, to let your memo\u2019s content be heavily informed by your research, but also provide your own interpretation and organization of this research.<\/p>\r\nAs in any essay, you must document the sources of your information so that your reader could find the original source of the information if desired. If your memo uses sources, provide the bibliographic information related to your sources on a References page as an attachment at the end of the memo\u2014just as I have in this memo.\r\n

A Memo\u2019s Tone and Style<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Memos for your classes require a highly informative and straightforward tone, but allow for a slightly informal style compared to essays. As in this memo, \u201cI\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d are handy because they provide a straightforward way of communicating, but you must be careful not to overuse these terms. Stylish prose is key to good memo writing, and you should not hesitate to use active, interpretive adverbs and verbs and concrete, carefully chosen adjectives and nouns.<\/p>\r\nA memo need not be written in a dry, dull fashion; rather, it should emulate the same stylistic standards that good prose has always embraced. These standards are summed up neatly in the popular style guide, The Elements Of Style, as follows:\r\n\r\nA sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary\r\nsentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines\r\nand a machine no unnecessary parts (Strunk and White 1979).\r\n\r\nAs this quote suggests, good prose can achieve elegance by its clarity, efficiency, and sense of purpose.\r\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe conclusion of a memo should not simply provide a summary of the memo\u2019s entire contents, but it should be a true conclusion\u2014that is, an articulated conviction arrived at on the basis of the evidence presented. The closing paragraph is the place to spell out the bottom line to the reader. Therefore, I close with my bottom line about writing memos for your classes:\r\n
\r\n