Overview

A communication issue is a problem that can have any number of causes and any number of consequences.Unfortunately, all professional fields suffer from communication problems, many of which have led to catastrophic results in the past.For this project, you will identify one communication issue that is currently prevalent in your field.You will research it thoroughly to discover the causes, involved parties, consequences, and (potential) solutions.Then you will write a paper in which you argue why this issue is important.To put it stupidly, you will answer the question, “What’s the big deal?”

To make this argument, you will need to accomplish the following things in your paper:

• Clearly define the issue—what is going on? Who is involved?What are the causes?What are the consequences? Why is it still a problem? What (if anything) is being done to resolve it?
• Provide a real-life example of this issue in order to show your audience that this problem is not atypical or hypothetical.*
• Present evidence and expert insight from professional and scholarly sources
• Argue for why we should care about this problem—this should be the main focus of your essay.Make a detailed case for why this communication issue matters, not just to professionals in the field, but others, perhaps everybody.

Learning Objectives (you should be able to…)

•conduct Library database research and evaluate sources with moderate guidance

•synthesize sources effectively to support an argument

•use class readings to help identify and define your “communication issue”

•apply this definition in your discussion of your field

Multimodal Case Study Component*

At some point in your essay, you will need to present a case study that illustrates this issue.A basic definition of “case study” is a record of what happened, which means that your case study will be an in-depth description of a real-life instance in which people experienced the communication problem.The case study should not be a personal anecdote but a well-documented instance in which professionals and perhaps others made this communication error and suffered the consequences.

Additionally, you will present the case study in a multimodal fashion.You could include a brief series of photographs that visually represent the example.You could include a brief video that examines a specific instance in which your communication issue occurred.Or you could make a video yourself.You can use any combination of modes to create any kind of multimodal experience.Think about which modes would be most appropriate in relation to the topic.We will discuss and look at examples of multimodal case studies in class.

Annotated Works Cited

For this assignment, your works cited should be annotated.Use the Purdue Owl webpage dedicated to the topic as your guide and see the supplementary assignment sheet for specific details.