WRITING A PAPER FOR VICTOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR "REAL LIFE" i.e. A BRIEFING ON A SITUATION, ETC.

     
1. LEAD (+) A CATCHY, STRONG, OR INTRIGUING BEGINNING
 

PURPOSE: GETS YOUR AUDIENCE'S (my) ATTEN. & INTEREST

2. CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE SITUATION OR PATTERN, WITH A CONCRETE EXAMPLE
 

[STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OR OBJECTIVE, IN ENOUGH SPECIFIC DETAIL THAT THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THE PROBLEM, ISSUE, OR WHAT IS BEING TALKED ABOUT.]

[CRITIQUE OF WHAT PARTICIPANT(S) IN THE SITUATION ARE DOING THAT DOESN'T WORK] ("Deconstuction, critical thinking, identification of rigid responses that might impair flexibility.)

   
4. THEMES SUMMARY OF THE CENTRAL ELEMENTS IN THE SITUATION (from dialogical phenomenology)
     

5. PRESENTATION OF CONCEPTS FROM YOUR READING THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE SITUATION DESCRIBE ABOVE.

  (This tells me that you did the reading, and something about how thoroughly you did it.).
    A. PROVIDES A STATEMENT OF RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, SOURCES OF AWARENESS, AND "LENSES" THROUGH WHICH THE SITUATION CAN BE VIEWED.
    B. THIS SHOWS TH YOU HAVE STUDIED AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE AND PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THE SITUATION IN ENOUGH DEPTH AND DETAIL TO BE CREDIBLE TO THOSE YOU'RE BRIEFING.
     
6. APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPTS YOU'VE STUDIED TO SPECIFIC POINTS AND ISSUES OF THE SITUATION OUTLINED ABOVE.
    A. YOU'RE USEING THE KNOWLEGE YOU'VE GAINED TO ILLUMINATE WHAT'S HAPPING IN THE SITUATION, AND
    B. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SUGGST POSSIBLE PATHS OF ACTION FOR SUCCEEDING, WINNING, CHANGING THE DYNAMICS OF WHAT'S HAPPENING, ETC.
     

7. "GENERAL EXCELLENCE" - THOUGHTFULNESS AND CREATIVITY. LOOKING AT THE SITUATION IN AN ORIGINAL WAY. FINDING BREAKTHROUGH INSIGHTS RATHER THAN ONLY APPLYING PRINCIPLES MECHANICALLY. USING YOUR UNIQUE LIFE EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES TO OFFER INSIGHTS THAT OTHERS DON'T HAVE.

8. DRAWING ON IDEAS AND APPROACHES FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES.

HERE YOU'RE GOING BYOND THE "CONVENTIONAL WISDOM" THAT CONFINE THE THINKING OF MOST PEOPLE IN YOUR OPERATING UNIT (such as this class) IN ORDER TO CONSULT INPUT FROM SOURCES THAT OTHERS MAY NOT, IN ORDER TO FIND GREATER FLEXIBILITY AND CREATIVITY IN WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT THE SITUATION.

 
9. ENDING WITH PUNCH. (Recency effect). MAKE YOUR ENDING STRONG, PROVOCATIVE, OR MEMORABLE, NOT WIMPY. The last thing you say is what the reader will be left with to think about.
 
10. (SUMMARY OF YOUR MAIN POINTS--IDEALLY, BEFORE THE ENDING WITH PUNSH. Useful in many situations and for some pofessors, but not for me unless it's done with bullet -point precision and brevity and done well enough to deserve excellence points.