Writing 393
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ProjectDiscussions.docxWRTG 393: Advanced Technical Writing.
Projects
Writing Assignment #1
Set of Instructions for a Website Summary of the Assignment:
• Task: In this assignment, you will write a set of instructions that explain how to accomplish a task on a website.
• Length: There is no minimum or maximum word count. However, your instructions must have 6 or more steps. More information on the number of steps is provided below.
• Graphics: You must include at least one graphic for each step.
· at least 6 graphics should be integrated into your set of instructions.
· all graphics should be screen captures of the website you are demonstrating.
· all graphics should be labeled.
• The first step of the set of instructions should start at the url of the website. o Do not start the instructions by telling the user to turn on his or her computer or to open up a particular web browser. You should assume the user knows that he or she needs to have a computer, needs to turn it on, and needs to use a web browser. You should start by directing the user to start at the url of the website on which the task is going to take place.
For this assignment, it is acceptable to write a set of instructions on how to accomplish a task on a mobile device. An example of this approach would be a set of instructions on how to download an app to borrow library books.
Brief Description and Strategies to Follow:
Please keep in mind the following principles when writing this assignment:
• You must provide instructions on how to accomplish a task on a website.
Some examples of topics are the following. (Keep in mind that you may select your own topic. These are just examples to help you consider various topics.)
· how to check your balance in your checking account online
· how to perform a function in your class in LEO
· how to find and borrow a book on your local public library’s website
· how to pay a fee on the website for the Motor Vehicle Association in Maryland (or the equivalent for your state)
· how to change your credit card information on Amazon’s website
• You must have at least 6 steps.
• Each step is to be numbered and is to begin with an imperative verb, as the resources in the class indicate.
• Every step will include a picture or graphic to help the reader follow the instructions. Sections to Include in Your Set of Instructions: The set of instructions will include the following sections:
• Title Page
• Overview or Introduction with background information about why a user would want to accomplish the task you are describing.
• Instructions
· Number all of the main steps, as the resources for the class indicate.
· provide a graphic for steps of the instructions that need a graphic
▪ all graphics will be screen captures of the website.
▪ all graphics should be labeled.
Writing Assignment #2
Comparing and Contrasting Two Websites
Task:
In this assignment, you will write an essay in which you compare and contrast two websites for their use of proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast.
• Length: 800-1100 words
• Graphics: You must include at least eight graphics in order to provide support for your claims in the essay
· at least two graphics for proximity
· at least two graphics for alignment
· at least two graphics for repetition
· at least two graphics for contrast
Brief Description and Strategies to Follow:
You must select two websites of the same topic or genre. In other words, you can select two banking websites, two shopping websites, two newspapers online, two health provider websites, or something of this nature.
Possibilities include the following:
• The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal
• eBay and Craigslist
• Major League Baseball (mlb.com) and the National Football League (nfl.com)
You will write at least six paragraphs:
• An introductory paragraph
• A paragraph on proximity
• A paragraph on alignment
• A paragraph on repetition
• A paragraph on contrast
• A concluding paragraph
Again, each paragraph will incorporate at least two graphics in order to show how each of the four areas compares and contrasts between the two websites.
Writing Assignment #3
Instructions – Writing a Recipe
Task:
· In this assignment, you will write a set of instructions for Alice, a friend of yours. The scenario for this situation is described below.
· Length: There is no minimum or maximum word count. However, your instructions must have 15 or more steps.
This does not mean that you need 15 main steps. Some steps can be nested under other steps. More information on this strategy is given in the resources provided in the class on writing steps for instructions.
Graphics: You should include at least 7 original graphics.
Graphics should not be borrowed from other sources. All graphics should be original.
If your situation precludes you from obtaining original graphics for the recipe, you may borrow photos from websites and cite them. Please inform your instructor if this is your situation.
All graphics should be labeled.
The Scenario
Your friend, Alice, has contacted you for help.
Alice lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is engaged to be married in two months. Her fiancé, Tony, lives in New York City.
Tony’s parents live in Salem, Oregon, and have never met Alice.
Next week, Tony’s parents are coming to Minneapolis for a work-related meeting. Alice has arranged to have Tony’s parents over to her apartment for dinner while Tony’s parents are in Minneapolis.
When Tony’s parents visit Alice in Minneapolis, Tony will not be there. The dinner will be only the three of them—Alice, Tony’s father, and Tony’s mother.
Alice is a bit nervous about the visit. She wants to impress her future in-laws with a dinner she will cook. However, Alice does not typically cook. She usually goes out for food when she needs to have a meal.
Alice has asked you for help. She would like you to write a recipe that she can follow, a recipe for a dish that she would feel confident serving Tony’s parents during their visit.
Brief Description and Strategies to Follow:
You must include the following:
• A brief introduction to Alice about why she would want to make this dish for her fiancé’s parents.
• A list of ingredients.
Remember, this is a meal for three people. You want your instructions to be specific for approximately three people.
Note that Alice does not typically cook. She might not understand what certain terms mean (e.g., the difference between tablespoon and teaspoon, the meaning of au gratin, etc.).
A list of equipment needed.
• The instructions
· Number all the main steps, as the resources for the class indicate.
· Provide a graphic for steps of the instructions that need a graphic
· Remember that Alice does not typically cook. She might not understand what certain terms mean (e.g., broiling, baking, roasting, al dente, sauté, etc.)
• Warnings or statements of caution integrated throughout the set of instructions. o Remember that Alice does not typically cook. She might not know basic safety tips involved in using an oven, handling a chopping knife, etc.
Writing Assignment #4
White Paper for an External Audience
Summary of the Assignment:
• Task: In this paper, you will write a document that provides information that an external audience can use to inform a decision.
We have read various white papers in the class this semester. White papers can be any one of the following types:
· technical papers
· business benefit papers
· advocacy papers
· hybrid technical/business papers
• Length: 1200-1600 words
• Graphics: at least three graphics, two of which have to be original
• Format in Citing and Listing Sources: APA
• Number and Sources: at least five sources, at least one of which has to be obtained through OneSearch
Brief Description of the White Paper:
In preparing for this assignment, you will want to review the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIgJTQiv7wQ
You may take any of the following approaches:
• a general white paper to an external audience – written to individuals in a particular industry or field of study, but not an organization you are a part of. The white paper could address a problem you are attempting to solve in the organization or to inform an external audience about a relevant trend.
• a white paper promoting a new product or service to potential customers. This is an example of a white paper to an external audience, but it features different rhetorical considerations than the typical white paper written to an external audience does.
Please note: You will not be writing a white paper to your boss or to superiors in the company for which you work. For WRTG 393, we ask for a white paper to an external audience.
Strategies to Consider for the White Paper:
Please follow these guidelines:
• write to a reasonably focused and identified audience
A white paper to an external audience can have a broad audience or a narrow audience.
▪ For example, if you do not work for a hair salon and you write a white paper promoting a new billing system for hair salons, the audience will probably be the various hair salons in your neighborhood.
A white paper that promotes a product or service to potential customers could have a fairly broad audience.
▪ For example, a white paper promoting a new taxi service in your neighborhood has, theoretically, all residents in the neighborhood as a potential audience.
• integrate thorough research
• do not directly tell the audience what action it should take. Rather, offer background information that the audience can use to make a decision. The Purdue OWL video mentions this principle. This is one reason the video refers to the white paper as a backgrounder report.
How to Organize the White Paper:
Please include the following sections in your white paper:
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Previous Approaches
• New Findings
• Conclusion
• References
In the Executive Summary, summarize your research and your purpose. The executive summary should be a stand-alone document. It should be written in such a way that a busy executive could read the executive summary and know exactly what the paper is about without reading the rest of the paper.
In the Introduction, you lay the groundwork for your readers for the details that will be introduced in the white paper. If you need to define any terms, you will do so here. You might share an anecdote or illustration to describe why this topic is important.
In the Previous Approaches section, you will describe the approaches or strategies that have been previously used or are currently used on the topic. For example, if your white paper is being written to advertise a new taxi service in your area, you might review what transportation services are provided now. You could show the challenges or problems that the current services involve. In this section of the white paper, your use of sources will be very important. You should integrate research to show that the problems you have identified exist.
In the New Findings section, you present perhaps the most important information in the paper. In this section, you will describe the findings of your research and relate these findings to the purpose of your report. You will not only provide data and research, but you will also explain the data and research and why it is relevant to your report’s topic. For example, if your white paper is being written to advertise a new taxi service in your area, you might review what transportation services are provided now and show why the new taxi service fills a need that the current set of transportation services does not fill or solves a problem that the current set of transportation services does not solve. You will provide data and evidence for why the new taxi service has promise in solving the problems you have identified. In this section of the white paper, your use of sources will be very important as well. You should integrate research to show that the problems you have identified will be solved by your new approach.
In the Conclusion section, you review what your research shows in light of the previous approaches used. You will not tell the audience what steps to take next. However, you will summarize what your findings articulate.
In the References, you will list your sources that you cited in the paper. You will list them in APA format. Please note that the lectures on white papers that you have viewed and examples of white papers you may have read may not have used APA format. You will be using APA format in this assignment. You are required to have at least five sources for your paper. In addition, at least one of them is to have been acquired through UMGC Library OneSearch. Primary sources will be very beneficial for the paper. For example, if your white paper is being written to advertise a new taxi service in your area, you might interview some local residents about the problems they have with the current transportation services in the area. The information in such interviews would be persuasive research to integrate into your white paper.
Length of the Paper: Your white paper should be 1200-1600 words in length. Again, you are required to use at least five sources.
Graphics: Your white paper should incorporate at least three graphics. Graphics can include tables, charts, or graphs showing some research findings. They can also be images that are relevant to the topic of the white paper.
Discussions.
NB This Discussion ties to Assignment 3
Discussions.1
1. Preparing to Write Recipe for Alice
This discussion topic is designed to help you prepare for writing assignment #3, in which you will write a recipe for a friend, Alice.
Please read the assignment instructions for writing assignment #3, the recipe. Note the situation that Alice is in.
Then answer the following questions. Your answers can be around 2-5 sentences.
· What recipe will you send to Alice?
· Why will you recommend this recipe for Alice? Keep in mind the situation she is in and her background, or lack thereof, in cooking.
· Name one step or aspect of the recipe that you think Alice will find challenging. There might be many of them but select one for this discussion topic. Why will she find it challenging? Remember Alice's background, or lack thereof, in cooking. This is mentioned in the writing assignment instructions.
· Are there any warnings or statements of caution that you think you will have to mention to Alice? What are they?
NB This Discussion ties to Assignment 2
2. Comparing and Contrasting two websites for alignment and Contrast.
Your second writing assignment will involve comparing and contrasting two websites for proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast (PARC).
This discussion topic is designed to help us get started in thinking about the concepts of alignment and contrast.
To complete the discussion topic, please access the following two websites:
https://www.headhunterhairstyling.com/
· Write a few sentences about how alignment is applied in these two websites. Point out how the two websites apply alignment differently. Which one is more effective in applying the concept of alignment?
· Write a few sentences about how contrast is applied in these two websites. Point out how the two websites apply contrast differently. Which one is more effective in applying the concept of contrast?
NB This Discussion ties to Assignment 2
3. Comparing and Contrasting two websites for Proximity and Repetition
Your second writing assignment will involve comparing and contrasting two websites for proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast (PARC).
This discussion topic is designed to help us get started in thinking about the concepts of repetition and proximity.
To complete the discussion topic, please access the following two websites:
https://millerlawpc.com/
· Write a few sentences about how repetition is applied in these two websites. Point out examples of how the two websites apply repetition effectively. If you think one website is more effective than the other in demonstrating the concept of repetition, explain why.
· Write a few sentences about how proximity is applied in these two websites. Point out examples of how the two websites apply proximity effectively. If you think one website is more effective than the other in demonstrating the concept of proximity, explain why.
Discussions.2
1 Getting Started in thinking about the white paper assignment.
The last writing assignment in our class will be a white paper for an external audience. This discussion thread is designed to help you get started in thinking about this assignment.
Access a video from the Purdue OWL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIgJTQiv7wQ
After watching the video, please respond to the following two tasks.
· Describe a possible white paper for an external audience. Keep in mind that, for a white paper to an external audience, you will not be writing to an audience for an organization of which you are a member. In other words, you would not write a white paper to your boss about the need to correct a problem in your company. That would be an internal white paper because you are a part of the company.
You would not write a white paper to the board of directors of your son's soccer league about the need to address a problem in the soccer fields. That would be an internal white paper because you are a part of the soccer league.
However, you could write a white paper to other companies about a product or service that your company sells or offers.
Or you could write a white paper to soccer leagues around the country about problems in soccer fields.
· Describe what terms you might need to define or what concepts you might need to explain for a white paper of the type you mentioned in task #1 above. For example, a white paper that gives cautions about moving to the cloud will have to define certain cloud terminology for its audience. A white paper that describes a new method of training IT personnel will have to define certain terms used in IT now.
Please note that, whatever ideas you come up with in responding to this discussion thread, you are not bound to any of these ideas for your last writing assignment. The purpose of this discussion thread is to help you start your thinking process for the last paper.
1. L.V Anderson’s Analysis of Badly Written Recipe
Please read the following article on recipes: Anderson, L.V. (2015, October 21). Kitchen nightmares: Why poorly written recipes drive me nuts. Slate Plus. https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/10/recipes-why-are-they-so-badly-written.html
· After perusing the article, examine the following set of instructions for a recipe and answer this question: According to Anderson, what is wrong with each step?
1. Place 2 lbs. of ground beef into the pot.
2. Mix 1 cup chopped onion into the ground beef
3. Stir ground beef.
· Anderson writes the following:
Don’t take this the wrong way, but a good recipe is written under the assumption that the people who read it are idiots.
Is this good advice for technical writers in general when they write instructions for a task? What problems or frustrations might occur if a set of instructions is written assuming the audience has no knowledge of the task when the audience does, in fact, have some background knowledge of the task?
For writing assignment #3, the recipe, Anderson’s statement should be heeded. While we wouldn't call Alice an "idiot," the scenario in which that recipe is to be written is one for which the audience, Alice, has little to no knowledge of cooking. Anderson's advice should be followed for writing assignment #3.
Discussions.3
1. Writing a Memo to your Instructor about your white paper Topic.
· Before responding to this discussion topic, please make sure to watch the video, "The Basic Memo," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Zyn9y_MDs
· For this discussion topic, please post a memo to your instructor indicating your topic for your white paper, the problem or issue you will be addressing, and the "new approaches" you will be suggesting for addressing the problem. Keep in mind the instructions given in the Purdue OWL lecture on white papers as you consider the problem or issue and new approaches.
· In addition, in your memo, please indicate what the audience would be for your white paper and why this particular audience would be interested in your white paper.
Discussions.4
Technical Description for Alice
This discussion topic follows up on writing assignment #3, in which you wrote a recipe for your friend, Alice.
In this discussion topic, you will write a technical description for Alice of a device or a piece of equipment you referred to in your recipe. You will explain to Alice how the equipment or device works.
The following is the scenario for this task:
You sent your recipe to Alice after she asked you for help. This is the recipe you wrote for writing assignment #3.
Alice has written you an email message back noting that she does not own one of the pieces of equipment that you mentioned in your recipe.
You will now recommend that Alice purchase this piece of equipment. In this assignment, you will describe the piece of equipment and what it does. Your description will “market” it for Alice in order to persuade her to purchase it.
The following are some examples:
· You sent Alice a recipe for making a particular soup. The recipe called for a vegetable blender. Alice has now sent you an email message stating that she does not own a vegetable blender. You will write a description of a particular vegetable blender that she should purchase.
· You sent Alice a recipe for making potato wedges. The recipe calls for a potato peeler. Alice has now sent you an email message stating that she does not own a potato peeler. You will write a description of a potato peeler that she should purchase.
· You sent Alice a recipe for preparing a meat dish. The recipe calls for a knife to cut the meat. Alice has now sent you an email message stating that she does not own this type of knife. You will write a description of the type of knife you are recommending that she purchase.
Keep in mind that you are describing a physical object in this assignment. You are not writing instructions on how to do something.
You can use graphics in either of the following ways:
· provide one main graphic and refer to parts in the graphic when writing your technical description
· provide several graphics, integrating each graphic as you write the various parts of the technical description.
Also, please note that a good technical description does not simply provide a picture of an object and then a paragraph describing the object. A technical description should have arrows pointing to specific parts of the object along with text that identifies what parts are being described.
Keep in mind that you are describing a physical object in this assignment. You are not writing instructions on how to do something.
Your description should answer at least some the following questions:
· What is the device? How is it defined?
· What is the device made of?
· What does the device look like?
· What does the device do? How does the object do this?
Discussions.5
Technical Writing.
We are in our eighth and final week of the class. In this discussion topic, we will discuss what technical writing is. Please answer the following questions.
· Distinguish technical writing from business writing? Write a couple of sentences or so in your response to this question.
· You have written a set of instructions on how to navigate a website. You have also written a recipe. You have written an essay that compares and contrasts two websites. You also wrote a technical description for your friend, Alice (this was one of the discussion topics in class).
Finally, you are finishing up a white paper.
· Would you say that technical writing is expository and that business writing is persuasive? Did any of the writing assignments in this class involve some persuasion? Please draw upon your experience in writing the various writing assignments and tasks. Please write a paragraph or two in response to this question.
