Textbook Focus Section

The following material is intended to help you in learning the important material in English 303.  It is not intended to replace your reading of the textbook; rather, it is intended to tell you the terms, concepts, and areas on which you need to focus in your reading.  Important terms, concepts, ideas, and sections are highlighted in red text.  Use the following list to go to the appropriate week.  Use the Back Button on your Web browser or the link at the bottom of each section to return to this list. 
Week One:  Chapters 1, 5, and 6

Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
Chapter 5: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose Chapter 6: Communicating Persuasively
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Week Two: Chapters 7 and 8

Chapter 7: Researching Your Subject

The homework questions cover much of the information in Chapter 7.

Chapter 8: Organizing Your Information

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Week Three: Chapters 17 and 13

Chapter 17:  Writing Proposals

Important terms and concepts:

Note:  The textbook points out that the sponsoring agency may supply the proposal format and content areas;  In this class, the format will be specified; it is given in the section on English 303 Proposal Form in the Table of Contents; examples of these proposals are given under Two Examples of Proposal in the Table of Contents.

The 303 proposal will be an Internal Research Proposal that will follow the format specified on the English 303 web site.

Chapter 13:  Designing the Document

This chapter emphasizes document design for various types of technical communication.

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Week Four: Chapters 17, 13, and 3

Chapter 17: Proposals -- covered under Week Three.

Chapter 13: Designing the Document

Chapter 3: Understanding the Writing Process


Chapter 14: Creating Graphics

Follow the suggestions there and in the English 303 web site concerning graphics.  You are to do your graphics as instructed on the web site, which also gives examples of how you are to place, number, and title graphics.

The following areas of Chapter 14 are important:

Chapter 12: Drafting and Revising Front and Back Matter Chapter 19:  Writing Formal Reports Markel:  "Appendix:  Reference Handbook," pp. 591-661

This section of the textbook discusses Documentation of source material, telling what should be documented and giving various documentation styles.  See also the section on this web site telling you how to document your Long Report; this information is given under   Discussion of Researching the Long Report.

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Week Six: Chapters 9 and 20

Chapter 9:  Drafting and Revising Definitions and Descriptions

Definitions:

Descriptions:

The rest of Chapter 9 is devoted to writing Descriptions, beginning on page 204; because you will be writing some kind of description for your second paper and as part of the Final Examination, this information is important. There is also a lengthy discussion of this type of writing in the 303 Internet material, listed under Description of Processes and Instructions in the Table of Contents. Note these areas:

Chapter 20: Writing Instructions and Manuals: Use this information along with the 303 Internet material to prepare for writing Descriptions of General Processes, Descriptions of Specific Processes, and Instructions.
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Week 7: Chapters 3, 10, and 11

Chapter 3: Understanding the Writing Process

Chapter 10: Drafting and Revising Coherent Documents Chapter 11: Drafting and Revising Effective Sentences

Note these areas in Structuring Effective Sentences:

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Week Eight: Chapters 3, 9, 12, and 19

Review these chapters for help in drafting and revising the Long Report:

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Week Nine: Chapters 2, 4, 21, and 16

Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations

Chapter 2 defines Ethics as "the study of the principles of conduct that apply to an individual or a group"(p. 17).

After an introduction to Ethics, the text explains Legal Obligations, discussing these areas:

Chapter 4: Writing Collaboratively

Collaboration in the classroom and in the workplace is presently being emphasized; the textbook gives a thorough discussion of both the advantages and the disadvantages of collaboration on pp. 53-55.   It goes on the discuss Conducting Meetings of groups (pp. 55+), including how to conduct efficient fact-to-face meetings within a collaborative group (p. 60), how to communicate diplomatically (pp. 60-61), considerations for Gender and Collaboration (pp. 66-67), and Collaborating Across Cultures (p. 84).

Chapter 21:  Creating Web Sites

Chapter 21 takes up an area probably already familiar to the technical communication student: Creating Web Sites.  It disusses several topics of importance:

Chapter 16: Preparing Job-Application Materials

READ THIS CHAPTER THOROUGHLY; FOCUS ON THE ADVICE AND EXAMPLES IT GIVES ABOUT APPLICATION LETTERS AND RESUMES.

The Chronological Resume:

The Analytical Resume differs primarily in that it includes a detailed section on Skills and Abilities.
The Job-Application Letter (beginning on page 470), is composed of four elements:
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Week Ten: Chapters 9 and 20

Review these Chapters for the Final Examination: