TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

In many college courses, students and professors ponder subjects that are often abstract and philosophical.  As academics, we are concerned with ideas, theories, and philosophies more than concrete, real objects.

In contrast, much writing done in a professional context has to do with physical objects:  tools, supplies, equipment, buildings, machines, etc.  So it is important to investigate how to connect language with objects, how to put into words the physical world around us.

Thus, technical writers are very concerned with objective description – defining, quantifying and explaining the physical world within which technical people work.  Unlike the poet who will tell you how “breathtaking” a star formation is, a technical writer will tell you the location and position of each star, its relative brightness, and its distance from the earth.  This type of description seems to involve a different set of skills than are taught in most English courses.

CHOOSING AN OBJECT

For this assignment, choose an object that would be useful to a person “on the job” in your field (or your area of professional interest).  You may want to use a tool or a piece of equipment.  Here is a suggested list:

• cable/DSL router
• alternating saber saw
• photovoltaic panel
• carbon monoxide detector
• Segway HT
• blood pressure monitor
• portable defibrillator

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read and utilize Chapters 11 & 12 for this assignment.

ASSIGNMENT

Locate two different product descriptions of an item used in your field.  Select one from a proprietary website (its function is to sell), such as Amazon.com or Yahoo Shopping; select the other from a technical/instructional or consumer advocate site (its function is to advocate for the consumer/user, such as http://www.howstuffworks.com/.

Using the model for technical description in chapter 12, prepare a memo report with appropriate subheadings (Chapter 10) in which you evaluate those technical descriptions.  How useful are the descriptions for the first-time user of the object? How are the descriptions biased or subjective in explaining the essential details?  What use has been made of visuals? Give recommendations for improving the descriptions.  Include at least one illustration.

In your discussion, identify one term that should be defined for an audience without technical knowledge, and prepare a parenthetical, sentence and paragraph definition of the term, as Chapter 12 (257-267) illustrates.

You can focus on an audience of designers in the technical writing department of a company that manufactures the object in these descriptions.  Be sure to focus on describing the object rather than telling how it works.

SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT

Create this assignment in a memo format, directed to the above noted technical writing department.  Refer to Chapter 10 as a guide.  I suggest you use a Word template to make it easy.  The completed memo should be 2-3 computer-generated pages in length (in order to effectively incorporate appropriate heading material, include an illustration, allow for visually appealing “white space,” and provide adequate content).