Sample Documents

This page helps you locate documents for one of two purposes:

1. If you’re searching for one of the documents from the appendices in Revising Professional Writing (RPW) to edit, they all appear below.
2. If you’re searching for one of the sample document pages mentioned at ProsWrite, you’ll find the entire list arranged by topic.

Leave a comment if something is missing . . . or wrong. And remember that we’ve created all of these document excerpts for instructional purposes.

RPW Appendices (all 11 documents as one PDF)

These documents include

1. Memo to Residents
2. Chris Montoya’s Job Application Letter
3. Brian Carter’s Job Application Letter
4. Brian Carter’s Resume
5. A Definition of Aphasia
6. Clinical Guidelines for Electrosurgery
7. Research Proposal on Poor Drainage at Hamlin Park
8. Executive Summary on ProWear Shoes
9. Improving Employee Training at Becker Foods
10. Security Methods for Ashley’s Clothing Store
11. Proposal to Study the Effect of the Garlic Mustard Plant

Putting it All Together

Genre Samples from The genre of business meeting minutes

1. Edited Meeting Minutes
2. Recorded Meeting Notes
3. Meeting Agenda

Genre Samples from multiple posts

1. Sales Letter
2. Email Request
3. Research Article
4. Business Proposal

Analyzing Rhetorical Context

Purpose from Amateurs don’t want to be beginners

1. Email Job Update

Audience from Pros don’t settle for platitudes about audience

1. Hazard Abatement Notice

Developing Content

Informative Prose from Pros know their audience can’t read minds

1. Original Business Plan for Investors
2. Revised Business Plan for Investors

Persuasive Prose from Amateurs equate persuasion with manipulation

1. Original Business Plan for Investors
2. Revised Business Plan for Investors

Graphics from Pros show and tell

1. Original Outsourcing Report
2. Revised Outsourcing Report

Organizing Content

Bottom Line Placement from Amateurs (and lawyers) beat around the bush

1. Original Email Job Update
2. Revised Email Job Update

Paragraph Unity from Amateurs think paragraphs are for babies

1. Original Health Plans Memo
2. Revised Health Plans Memo

Cohesion from Pros don’t worry about sentence variety

1. Original Letter to Suppliers
2. Revised Letter to Suppliers

Transitions from Amateurs suffer from directile dysfunction

1. Original Executive Summary for Impact Fee Study
2. Revised Executive Summary for Impact Fee Study

Format from Pros know readers are document users

1. Original Technology Consultant’s Report
2. Revised Technology Consultant’s Report

Managing Style

Conciseness from Pros take time to trim their prose

1. Original Non-profit Business Plan
2. Revised Non-profit Business Plan

Parallel Structure from Amateurs don’t know everyone reads like they do

1. Original Report on Economic Recovery from Disasters 
2. Revised Report on Economic Recovery from Disasters

Active/Passive Voice from Amateurs accept platitudes about passive voice

1. Original Applicant Rejection Letter
2. Revised Applicant Rejection Letter

Word Choice from Pros know jargon is not a four-letter word

1. Original Technology Consultant Report
2. Revised Technology Consultant Report

Tone from Pros control their attitude

1. Original Financial Services Email
2. Revised Financial Services Email

Mastering Mechanics

Punctuation (Comma Splices & Sentence Fragments) from Amateurs think standard English matters only in school

1. Original Internship Application Letter
2. Revised Internship Application Letter

Subject-verb Agreement from Pros master the etiquette of agreement

1. Original Internship Application Letter
2. Revised Internship Application Letter

Spelling

1. Original Internship Application Letter
2. Revised Internship Application Letter

Focusing on the Writing Process

Planning a Document from Pros plan message organization strategically

1. Original Solicitation (Sales) Letter

Revising a Document — is on my list

Testing a Document — is on my list, too