The following section presents excerpts from an Executive Summary of a Final Technical Report on a new conference registration system created by a software development team in Qatar. The developers believe that the innovative features of their new system make it superior to its competitors. However, their clients (the Qatar National Convention Center) did not find the Executive Summary and Report convincing enough. In the challenges that follow, try to consider the options presented so that the developers can make the most effective case for their audience.

Directions: Identify and improve text that can make the report more effective, in terms of its coherence, concision, and correctness.

Challenge 3:Using Correctness

Your Goal

Use punctuation to create breaks between information

Punctuation Types

Comma (,)

1. Creates pauses in your messages, separating ideas and sentences

Example: As you are going through this activity, you will see how correctness markers are used.

2. Identifies information within a sentence which needs to be offset

Example: Some response options may work for audiences who pay attention to different aspects of your text. Other options, however, work well for different audiences.

Semi Colon (;)

1. Connects related information but making sure each piece is separate.

Example: This activity focuses on correctness ; other activities focus on different skills.

2. Enhances the distinction between the ideas in two sentences when it is placed before transitions ("however," therefore," for example" etc.)

Example: Three types of punctuation are shown here ;however, only one is most appropriate for this activity.

Colon (:)

1. Introduces a series

Example: This guide presents the following information about Correctness: different purposes of punctuation, examples, and feedback on the activity's response options.

2. Calls attention to an idea by explaining it further

Example: After the Coherence and Concision activities, there was one last skill to look at:: Correctness.

Note about the Colon:Different from the colon, the dash ("-") signals a more causal afterthought.

Example: The activities took a few minutes to get through- much less time than anticipated.

Comments on Response Options

Problem Text

The system is designed for the following users, conference managers, the respective contact from each participating school, and the System Admin.

Option A

“users: conference managers”

This is the most effective punctuation marker if we intend to introduce the idea of a series of users. This would help an audience who may want to notice the types of users mentioned.

Option B

“users, the conference managers”

For this type of report, a comma is the most informal punctuation marker. However, it could be appropriate for a less formal report or an email.

Option C

“users; conference managers”

The semicolon is the strongest punctuation marker, but it causes a disconnects between the pieces of information. This could still work well, though, for an audience whose main focus is not the types of users mentioned.