English 3105: Technical
Writing for Engineering
Assignment: Audience
Vital Statistics
- Due Date:.
October 6, 2008.
- Drafts Due :
September 26, 2008. Bring 4 full drafts to class!
- Conferences:
September 29-October 3, 2008. You will be conferencing with me and three or four of your
classmates.
- Length: between
1500 and 2100 words.
- Research
Requirement: Minimal;
see below for details.
- Unusual
Requirements: You must include your article with the final drafts of
your paper. See below.
- Questions?
E-mail me, ask in class, or post to the discussion board.
Details
People communicate with different audiences differently. You know this from
your own experience. Most people don't speak the same way to their parents as
they do to their friends, nor do they speak the same way to their professional
colleagues and peers as they do to their strictly social acquaintances. This
assignment requires you to use this practically unconscious social practice and
the information in your textbook in your writing.
Here's the research part. Carefully
choose a news item pertinent to your major from a recent
professional journal in your field. When most people write, they have a
specific audience in mind, and these journals are no different: they cater to
professionals in your field. But often the information is relevant to other
audiences, hence your assignment.
Rewrite the article for three specific audiences:
- Your colleagues in your projected profession (i.e., nurses if you're in
the nursing program, teachers if you're an ed major, software engineers if
you're studying computer science).
- The clients of this profession (i.e., patients, students, the customers
of the software programs).
- A five-year old child. If you are an early childhood or elementary
education major whose client might well be a five-year old child, see me,
and we'll come up with another option.
Things to remember when writing this assignment:
- Choose your article carefully! The content must be appropriate
for and relevant to all three audiences. It also must be short enough to
re-write three times within the page limit, without taking the majority of
the paper to explain the very concept to a child.
- Keep to your purpose! Each re-writing of the article should focus
on its purpose. The purpose need not be the same for all three audiences; in
fact, it probably shouldn't be.
- Use different forms of technical writing as appropriate! You are
free to write memos, short proposals, business letters, or mock e-mails if
they are appropriate to your audience and purpose.
- Identify the audience of each section clearly and specifically!
Labeling your sections "Colleagues" and "Clients" tells your readers (your
classmates and me) nothing. Tell us exactly who your clients and colleagues
are.
- Document your information! All information from outside
sources--including the original article--must be documented to avoid a
failing grade. Credit your information in a way appropriate to your
audience, form, and purpose.
- Include a copy of the original article with your final draft!
Due Date: October 6,
2008.
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This page was created on December 31, 2001, and is
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