Critical Writing
development of rationale and justifications
August 4, 2017Compare Eastern thinking with Western thinking. Discuss the similarities and the differences.
August 4, 2017Critical Writing
Project description
the book for these assignments are:
– HANDBK OF TECH WRITING By ALRED
– TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION By LANNON
1# first assignment: Definition Writing
Instructions: For the Definition Assignment, complete the General Project on page 449. It asks you to pick a professional or major subject situation and target audience, and prepare an expanded definition (good size paragraph) designed for this audience’s level of technical understanding.
All occupations and disciplines have technical jargon words. Choose one that the target audience would want to know. Use at least FOUR expansion strategies but NOT a visual to define the word or term. Cite at least ONE reference source.
2# Second Assignment: Specification writing
Instructions:Most of you work in an office or lab, or sit in a classroom or lecture hall. Your assignment is to complete #3 on page 481.
Assume you work for an architectural firm hired to duplicate an existing office, lab or classroom. Put the name of the firm at the top, then name the location of the office, lab, classroom, hall and building being duplicated.
Use the architectural spec sheet as a guide to complete an interior spec sheet of an office, lab, classroom, or lecture hall. DO NOT include any exterior dimensions or material. Emphasize interior wall, floor and ceiling size in length, width and square feet; type of ceiling; type of floor covering (include the brand), window dimensions and name brand; door dimension and type; type of lighting; furnituredesks, chairs, tables, podiums, etc.; electrical equipmentprojectors, computers, etc.
Again, the object of this exercise is detail, detail and detail.
3# third assignment: Negative Adjustment Claim
Instructions: After reading the chapter pages on claim letters and adjustments, please complete the consumer affairs letter writing assignment on page 401. It is listed under TEAM, but of course do it independently.
Write a properly-formatted business letter from Gannon Speakers, Inc. to customer Brian Maxwell. The situation is fully explained and Maxwell’s address is given. The only thing you might want to add is a letterhead for Gannon Speakers at the top center of the page.
Otherwise, write an effective reply to Brian Maxwell. Use the positive-bad news-positive format. Remember to sweeten the pot a little bit with a repair discount, or product coupons, or a freebie of some sort. The important thing is to be tactful and not point fingers too much at Maxwell, though he is completely at fault.
4# assignment: Effective Visual Aids
Instructions: The following assignment is based on Chapter 12: Designing Visual Information, pages 248-277. The chapter illustrates and explains how to use tables, graphs, charts, diagrams, photographs, maps, etc., although our immediate concern is just tables, graphs and pie charts.
After you read the chapter, do the following assignment:
Locate one line graph, one bar graph, and one pie chart. Send them to me with their reference source (publication, web) and under EACH ONE a paragraph evaluating its effectiveness or drawbacks; for instance, are they properly titled, correctly labeled, easy to read, colorful. Are axes labeled with proper units, do pie charts add up to 100%. Are they from valid reference sources?
