Writing 2111 Assignment #2: Persuasive Essay with Visual Background

Writing 2111 Assignment #2: Persuasive Essay with Visual
Background:
Sarah Noble, a fourth-year science student at Western University, has contacted you (one of her co-op peers) in the hopes of recruiting your help for the London Health Science Centre’s “Just Clean Your Hands” program. She voices her frustration about the scope of her task. “I have to address so many different audience types, and I can’t do it with a single message,” she says. “I think I’ve already got the doctors and nurses covered, but LHSC will need someone to address other hospital workers.” Sarah smiles at you. “I know that you’re a great professional communicator; could you write a persuasive message that targets Student Nurses and Volunteers in an attempt to increase their hand-washing compliance rates? Some of them still do not take hand-washing seriously enough (particularly when it comes to Moments 1 and 4). Maybe you could design a poster too – we could put that up in the LHSC halls.”
Assignment:
Using the information and exhibits from the “Just Clean Your Hands” case study, write a 900-word essay (MLA format) which persuades Student Nurses and Volunteers to increase their rate of hand-washing compliance. You must also include a 75-word memo of transmittal to Sarah Noble, telling her what you are sending her. Presumably, she will shape your essay into a pamphlet that will be included in welcome packages for new workers.
You will be graded on style, grammar, clarity, organization, and concision, but also on the persuasiveness of your argument. Consequently, you should consider these questions: which points from the case will be most convincing and most relevant to your target audience? How will you catch your audience’s attention? How will you structure your body paragraphs for logic, coherence, and readability? What tone should you adopt? How will you appeal to ethos, pathos, and/or logos? Which of the three should you emphasize?
You must also create two visuals to accompany your essay:
• Visual 1: Design a small promotional poster for the “Just Clean Your Hands” program. Your poster should include a memorable balance of text and image, adhering to the principles of good document design discussed in lecture. If you use any images that are not yours, you must provide the source under your poster.
• Visual 2: Using the info from the case study (or your own relevant research), create a graph which dynamically and memorably illustrates one of your main points. You must effectively integrate it into the body of your essay.
Resources: Locker/Findlay Chapters 4 & 9, lecture slides
Primary Audience: Student Nurses and Volunteers at LHSC
Assignment Format: essay (MLA format) with two visuals (graph and small promo poster) and memo of transmittal
Word Count: 900 (no less than 750, no more than 1000)
IMPORTANT NOTE: if you use ANY material from the case (or other sources), you MUST cite it properly: all direct quotations MUST be in quotation marks, followed by a citation; paraphrased passages must include a clear reference to the source.