Taught by Christopher Justice, Fall 2018.
Check out his website: https://christopherjustice.weebly.com

Introduction:

Technical writing is the art of effective communication, particularly of technical information. At their core, technical writers are translators. They convert the convoluted jargon of the engineer and scientist into a vocabulary familiar to a layman. In doing this, they strip a matter down to its key points and reveal only the substance relevant to the target audience.

Goals / Objectives:

Students will:

• gain familiarity with a variety of document formats including proposals, manuals, graphics, and press releases
• learn to analyze an audience to determine an appropriate style, tone, and presentation format
• learn to effectively critique their own writing and that of others
• develop teamwork skills

Assignments:

• ENGL393 Group Assignment – Sonic Warning
• ENGL393 Group Assignment – Wiki Entry
• ENGL393 Assignment – Grant Proposal
• ENGL393 Assignment – Press Release
• ENGL393 Assignment – Flyer
• ENGL393 Assignment – Instructions

Statement of Learning:

I learned…

• The meaning of discourse – the idea that the vagaries of each language fundamentally shape how a person thinks about the world
• A new definition for literacy – greater literacy is achieved by increasing the number of discourse communities one can effectively communicate within
• How to apply key elements of rhetoric to create a persuasive final product
• How to leverage technical writing techniques including varied sentence structure and diction to produce more potent arguments
• Every writing assignment will take at least three times as long as I think it will – of which the last nine-tenths is rewriting and editing.