Communication Midterm Assignment
fury12
4-mechanism_description_overview.pptxMechanism / Technical & Process Description
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Before beginning:
Analyze
Context
Message
Audience
Purpose
Product
Brain into gear before…
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Organization
Spatial / Geographical:
L>R, top>bottom, inside>outside, etc.
Common: no moving parts
Chronological
Order of operation: Hole #1 > Hole #18
Order of assembly: operator’s manual, etc.
General > Specific / Simple > Complex
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Vocabulary: Precision (1)
Precise but incorrect because of context
Circle vs. Sphere
Square vs. Cube
Triangle vs. Pyramid
Spiral vs. Helix
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Vocabulary: Precision (2)
Precise versus Vague
… 750 m. straight ahead … fair distance ahead
… travels N. along Main St. … goes up Main. St.
… 49°2’18” N. latitude … a few minutes above 22°9’12” W. longitude and to the left of the border
… temp reaches 150 ° C. … hat and sunscreen
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Terminology / Analogy
N.B.: Cultural Referents
Size: football field, paper clip, nickel, toaster oven, ballpoint pen
Shape: circular, rectangular, concave, convex, tubular, conical, saw-toothed
Texture: mirror-like, honeycombed, spongy, serrated, spiked
Colour: red, blue, green, cyan, mauve…
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Visuals
Why?
Number?
What?
Where?
Size?
Scale?
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Simple Technical Description
Introduce item
Specify relevant details
Organization pattern (spatial, chronological, etc.)
Attributes (function, dimension, shape, etc.)
Conclude
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Complex Description
1) Introduction
2) General relationships / functions
3) Specifics of main components:
a) First component
b) Second component, etc.
4) Conclusion
Example:
http ://guppy.mpe.nus.edu.sg/~ mpeangh/wss-mob-robot/Mobile%20Robotics%20TD23_40CA_EN_v2.0.pdf
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Hyperlinked Description
How Stuff Works http://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htm
iPad (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad
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Terminology?
Source:Bragonier & Fisher (Ed.), What’s What, Ballantine Books 1981
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Sample 2
NHL / International Hockey Rink Source: http://www.mybackyardicerink.com/hockey-rink-diagram.html
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Technical Description: URLs
Online Technical Writing (©David McMurray) http://www.prismnet.com/~ hcexres/textbook/desc.html
Society for Technical Communication (Description Writing Exercises) http://www.ebstc.org/TechLit/trgintro3.html
DocSymmetry.com http://www.docsymmetry.com/technical-writing-process.html
Jerz’s Literacy Weblog http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/technical-writing/process-description-how-to-write-about-a-sequence-of-events /
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Component B
Component A
Component C
Summary
Sub-
component
B3
Introduction
Sub-
component
B4
Sub-
component
B1
Inter-
relationship
Overview
Sub-
component
B2
