Technical Writing Schedule

English 3105 and 3107: Technical Writing

Schedule, Spring 2009

This schedule is not set in stone. Things happen. Class topics and due dates may need to be rearranged. I will post the changes here as they occur.

Latest Update: 1/7/2009

Date	Topics	Work Due
January 15-16, 2009	Introduction. Syllabus and policies.	None.
January 19-23, 2009 Monday, January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. No classes! Friday, January 23: Add / Drop Ends	Technical writing. Basic concepts of technical writing. Workplace Communication. Usability, Accessibility, and Purpose. Correspondence, Memos, and E-mail.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 1, 3, and 20. Assignments Due: Re-write of e-mail p. 17 (in-class writing). Online exercise p. 94 (in-class writing).
January 26-30, 2009	Resumes. Audience. Introduction of the Audience Assignment. Usability.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 2, 4, and 5 Swift, "A Modest Proposal" Assignments Due: Resume (in-class writing). Bring a magazine advertisement for an analysis of Audience.
February 2-6, 2009	More on audience. Finding an appropriate article. Style. Organization.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 6, 7, and 8. Assignments Due: Exercise 1 and 2, p. 224. Exercise 1b p. 226. Exercises 2, 4, 5, 6 p. 277.
February 9-13, 2009	Page design and visual elements. Revision.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 12, 13, and 15. Assignments Due: Flyer design (in-class writing). Exercise 1 p. 393 (in class writing / discussion) Drafts of the Audience Assignment due Friday, February 13.
February 16-20, 2009	Conferences!	Readings: Anderson, Chapter 14. Assignments Due: Comments on your colleagues' drafts due at your conference.
February 23-27, 2009	Instructions. The audience of instructions. Elements of instructions. Getting web space. Creating web pages.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 23. Assignments Due: Bring in two sets of instructions for Monday, February 23. Evaluation of a set of instructions (in-class writing), Wednesday, February 25. Audience Assignment due Friday, February 27.
March 2-6, 2009 Official Midterm Week	Topics: More on instructions. Writing Workshop.	Readings: Anderson, Chapter 15. Assignments Due: Anderson, Exercise 2, p. 436 (in-class writing), Monday March 2.
March 9-13, 2009	SPRING BREAK!	Enjoy yourself!
March 16-20, 2009	Proposals. Presentations. Grants. Introduction of the Proposal Assignment and choosing of groups.	Readings: Anderson, Chapters 22, 16, and 17. Assignments Due: Instructions due Friday, March 20.
March 23-27, 2009	Workshops! Students are allowed to work on their presentations and proposals during class time.	Readings: None. Assignments Due: Memo describing division of labor, due Monday March 23, 2009. Work on Proposal / Presentation projects. Keep group work journal. Bring your laptops to class.
March 30-April 3, 2009 Tuesday, March 31: Last day to withdraw.	Presentations! Groups will be presenting their proposals beginning on MONDAY.	Readings: None. Assignments Due: Presentations due beginning on Monday. Proposal due on the day of the presentation. Evaluation of a presentation / proposal (due Monday, April 6).
April 6-10, 2009 Friday, April 10: Good Friday. NO CLASS!	Research. Reports. Citation. MLA and APA citation styles. Plagiarism. Front and end matter. I will be out of town from April 9-11 for the Shakespeare Association Conference.	Readings: Anderson, Appendix A and Chapter 11. Anderson, Chapters 6 and 21. Review the following documentation sites: A Guide for Writing Ressearch Papers Based on MLA Documentation, and A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Styles Recommended by The American Psychological Association. Assignments Due: Evaluation of a presentation, due Monday, April 6. Proposal for Report Assignment due Monday, April 13.
April 13-17, 2009	Reports	Assignments Due: Evaluation of a report (in-class writing), Wednesday April 15. Drafts of the Report due Friday, April 17.
April 20-24, 2009	Conferences!	Readings: None. Assignments Due: Comments on your colleagues' drafts.
April 27-30, 2009 April 30, 2009: Last Day of Class.	Conferences! (Monday) Last minute business. (Wednesday)	Readings: None. Assignments Due: Continue to work on your reports.
May 1-8, 2009 Final Exams!	I will be out of town from May 6-10 for the International Medieval Congress.	Assignments Due: Report due Monday, May 4 at 12 noon.

This original version of this page was created on December 30, 2001 for English 249s at the University of Connecticut. Modified for English 3107 at Tennessee State University, January 9, 2008. Modified again for English 3105, August 20, 2008. Latest update: January 15, 2009.