technical writing homework
saadalisq7
333samo.rtfAssignment 3
WORKPLACE INSTRUCTIONS
DEADLINE: September 16 @ Noon
This module contains the following parts:
- Assignment description;
- Tips for completing Assignment 3;
Two weak and two strong examples produced by students in other classes;
The rubric used to evaluate your work.
Please review all of these materials before you begin working on Assignment 1. Please email me with your questions if you do not understand something…Professor Stankowski
ASSIGNMENT THREE: Work place instructions
RATIONALE:
Understanding how to work well with others in workplace settings is a key element of professional success. The ability to communicate effectively with co-workers through written documents is an especially important component of Technical Writing.
THE ASSIGNMENT:
Carefully read Chapter Four “Weighing the Ethical Issues,” and Chapter Five “Teamwork and Global Considerations” and Chapter 19 “Instructions and Procedures.”
- After you have finished reading, complete the following assignment: Assume that a new employee is taking over your job. Identify a specific problem in the job that could cause difficulty for the new employee. Write a set of instructions for the employee for dealing with the problem. Complete this assignment using memo format.
- You must complete this assignment using 250 to 275 words. Be sure to include the word count at the end of your assignment.
DEADLINE : September 16
* * *
Tips for completing Assignment 2
Now that most of you have completed and submitted your responses to Assignment 1, I wanted to give you some tips and advice for Assignment 2 and beyond.
Please be sure to read what the text has to say about using and/or not using the passive voice. If you’re working from a different edition, simply consult the index in the back of the book for the correct page numbers.
Be certain to read the comments I wrote on your first assignment. I’ll be holding you accountable for correcting the flaws I’ve indicated. Let me know if you can’t open or can’t read my comments.
Be sure to study the two bad examples and the two good examples that appear later in this document. They will give you some ideas of what to avoid!
Remember: say it clearly; say it simply. One of the ways to accomplish this is by limiting your sentences to no more than 25 words. Yes, that means that you have to count the words in your sentences—or make the computer do it for you.
Be specific when specificity is required.
Proofread. One way to proofread is to read your material aloud to yourself. Usually, this will expose the most serious flaws. Maybe you could ask a friend to read your work. This is a 200-level course. I have the reasonable expectation that you know how to form plurals, possessives, possessive plurals, etc. This leads to my next point…
Get help! Some of you might want to take a draft of your work to the Writer’s Center to gain their expert feedback and assistance. You have some time before the next deadline. Get started now so that you can take advantage of resources that might be able to help you achieve a better grade.
I don’t accept late papers. So, if you miss the deadline you get an F. There are no exceptions. Please don’t ask. Also, as stated in the syllabus, this course does not offer opportunities for revision.
For Assignment 2, try to pick some aspect of your job that you know well and feel confident you can explain to others. This assignment also should be submitted in memo format; include a word count at document’s end. The elements of the memo format do not count toward the document’s word count.
Here are some other requirements for Assignment 2:
Clearly identify the task(s) to be performed in the memo’s first sentence.
Avoid using workplace jargon -- especially if you are a health care professional!!!
Employ a format that organizes the memo in a logical way. Your format should assist the user in understanding the memo and completing the task. Bullets and subheadings, for example, are great organizational devices. Keep your paragraphs small. Readers resist large, unbroken blocks of text.
Ask yourself this question: Based upon the quality of the memo, would a person unfamiliar with the task be able to complete it? I’ll be asking myself this question when I grade your work.
Assume that the audience for the memo has NO previous understanding or experience with the task at hand.
Finally, email me should you have questions. Good luck…Professor Stankowski
ASSIGNMENT 2
GOOD EXAMPLE I
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
MEMORANDUM
To: Police Recruit Officer
From: Field Training Officer
Date: February 5, 2016
Subject: Instructions For Logging Into The In-Car Camera System
Officers SE Stankowski, Edward This is a good, clear and specific sentence. It gets this memo off to a fast start!
must complete the five steps provided to log into the in-car camera system. Logging into the system is mandatory for all officers. As per rules and regulations, all officers must log into the system at the beginning of their shift. Failure to log in will result in disciplinary action (i.e. write ups, suspension, etc.). SE Stankowski, Edward Just a tip to keep in mind: looking for shortcuts, readers tend to ignore material in parenthesis. Therefore, never place important info in parenthesis!
Logging into the camera system allows videos, generated by an officer, to be synced to their online folder. This organizes videos, making them easy to locate for court hearings. The camera must be used SE Stankowski, Edward This is passive voice. to record all traffic stops, searches (i.e. persons, vehicles), field sobriety tests, and emergency driving. With the use of cameras, complaints against officers have decreased by 75%.
How SE Stankowski, Edward The following text is well formatted and highly user friendly. to log in:
Step 1: Insert city issued thumb drive into USB slot located on the side of the camera.
Step 2: Press button marked “trace” located on the camera. A prompt screen will appear with options: “ok” or “cancel”.
Step 3: Press the right arrow key to highlight the “ok” option.
Step 4: Press the “record” button. You will now see your name located in the upper right corner of the camera screen, indicating that you are now logged in.
Step 5: Turn emergency lights on to test camera is working properly. A red circle will indicate that it is recording. Hit “stop” when finished testing.
After logging in it is important to make sure the camera is working properly. If it is not, document the issue on your call sheet. Then, notify a supervisor immediately. If you lose, damage, or forget your thumb drive notify a supervisor immediately. Remember to log in prior to every shift.
Word count: 275
ASSIGNMENT 2
GOOD EXAMPLE II
MEMORANDUM
To: MRI Staff Member
From:
Date: 2-3-2016
Subject: Customer Service: Speaking to the Patient
The SE Stankowski, Edward This is a good, clear and specific sentence. It gets this memo off to a fast start!
most difficult task of a new MRI staff member, known as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologist, is speaking appropriately toward your patients. Unfortunately the MRI Technologist is not taught SE Stankowski, Edward SE Stankowski, Edward SE Stankowski, Edward This is passive voice. how to speak directly to a patient. Patients are in pain, scared and confused when they come to a hospital for testing. In these types of situations you need to remain calm, be able to comfort the patient, and maintain professionalism to provide top quality care.
Patients want to know how long their test will take and what will happen during those tests. You should explain to the patients that Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy. With this method, MRI makes pictures of the organs and structures inside the body. First impressions count. A very helpful method to use when speaking to the patient is to follow the steps Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explain, and Thank. Here are some helpful tips for speaking to a patient SE Stankowski, Edward This paragraph is very well done. The writing is clear, to the point and compassionate. The paragraph has high instructional value.
One point, though: readers resist large blocks of text, and this paragraph is somewhat lengthy. Here’s a tip: If it makes sense to do so, break paragraphs after every 5-6 lines. :
Acknowledge SE Stankowski, Edward This section is very well done. Again, the writing is very clear and has high instructional value.
The format also makes it good. I especially like the way each step emphasizes key words. You could make these words even more emphatic by adding bold to the italics. the patient. Smile and say hello to the patient, greeting them by name.
Introduce yourself to the patient.
Inform the patient of the Duration before their exam starts. Inform the patient of the length of time for their exam.
Explain the exam to the patient.
Thank the patient for visiting today. Offer them assistance exiting the building or moving on to their next appointment.
With this helpful tip, the patient will be left with a positive and lasting impression of their experience.
Word Count 254
ASSIGNMENT 2
BAD EXAMPLE I
To:
From:
Date: September 21, 2010
Subject: Problems Regarding The Warehouse
As a new employee, some problems will have to be faced s stankoe1 This is an unnecessarily complex sentence. Part of its complexity resides in the passive voice clause: It is expected that… Who or what is expected. Remember: Say it simply; say it clearly.
A revision of this sentence could read: New employees will face some problems.
The revision is clear and gets right to the point.
For a detailed explanation of the difference between active and passive voice, please see the text. Please ask me should you have questions.
. One important aspect of the job is accessing the supply warehouse, and sometimes that can become a scary feat s stankoe1 Wasted words—just say scary. . For instance, most shifts are spent overnight, and the warehouse will need accessed s stankoe1 Two passive clauses here: “are spent” (who does the spending?) and “will need accessed” (who does the accessing?) Passive voice hides the subject in this sentence. And the result is writing not as clear as it should and must be. more than once a night. Many issues have been had s stankoe1 The passive voice is especially awkward here.
with reopening the doors to the warehouse, and some employees have gotten stuck for some amount of time there. Safety should come first, but this issue has yet to be solved. When you have to use the warehouse, have a cell phone on hand with the security number saved in it. It is also a good idea to knowingly close the doors with less force. s stankoe1 It’s in this section where you actually provide useful instruction. To enhance the text’s usefulness, consider how the imposition of some organizational device can help.
For example, applying bullets or numbers improves the utility and organizational value of a document. Keep that in mind when completing future assignments—especially the next one.
This way you can have the advantage before possibly getting stuck! Hopefully this is a useful bit of knowledge for your new job position. s stankoe1 This sentence doesn’t really add much value to your document.
word count: 159
ASSIGNMENT 2
BAD EXAMPLE II
THE ELLWOOD CITY HOSPITAL
MEMORANDUM
To: Admissions Supervisor
From: Erica, Admissions Clerk
Date: September 22, 2010
Subject: Area of Difficulty in the Admissions Department
The admissions department is the front line of the hospital. Within this department, employees must handle public relations, customer service and satisfaction, and be knowledgeable of insurances. All of these responsibilities are overwhelming for a new employee. A patient’s wants and needs are of the utmost importance for the few moments he/she is sitting at your desk. This time with the patient is crucial, because in these minutes, the patient forms an opinion of the entire facility and the people working within it. s stankoe1 Erica: This paragraph is quite well written. It’s logical, coherent and very easy to read and comprehend. But here’s the issue: this intro graph really takes up a lot of space in your document—83 words, in fact. That’s valuable space consumed by text that could and should be reduced so that you can get to the heart of the assignment—providing instruction.
In the event that a situation develops, an employee should stay focused and consider the resources available. Those resources include notes taken during the employees training, any handbooks located in the department, and information provided by other colleagues including the department supervisor. Most importantly, the guidance of colleagues is invaluable because of their experience in handling an array of patient visits. s stankoe1 This instructional section also is well written; however, it seems a little short on instructions and specific detail. If you analyze the absence of specific instructions, perhaps you’ll agree that you’re really not helping the user of this document all that much. In that way, you kind of missed the heart of the assignment.
Also, think of how this document might be improved were it formatted differently. For example, imposing bullets or a numbered list would improve the organization and utility. With improved format, this would read more like a set of instructions and less like a letter.
Organizational devices eliminate the need for words such first, second, third, etc.—as well as words like then, next and later, buying the writer valuable space within a document.
Each patient encounter is unique and provides the opportunity for the admissions clerk to efficiently represent the hospital. Diffusing a difficult situation will instill confidence in the employee. s stankoe1 Once again, good writing but not especially instructional.
Respectfully,
Admissions Clerk
Word Count: 172
ASSIGNMENT 2 : WORKPLACE INSTRUCTIONS
PART I: Meeting assignment requirements
NO :
ZERO POINTS
YES :
SEVEN POINTS
Does the memo use precisely 250--275 words in its body? [NOTE: Only the text in the memo’s body applies to the word count.]
Does the memo include the word count?
Does the assignment use correct memo formatting?
PART I
POINTS TOTAL
/2 1
PART II: Elements of effective instruction
NO :
ZERO POINTS
YES :
SEVEN POINTS
Does the author clearly identify the task(s) to be performed in the memo’s first sentence?
Does the author avoid using workplace jargon?
Does the author correctly assume that the audience for the memo has NO previous understanding or experience with the task at hand?
PART II
POINTS TOTAL
/2 1
PART III: Elements of effective writing
NO :
ZERO POINTS
SOMETIMES :
FOUR POINTS
YES :
SEVEN POINTS
Does the author remember to say it simply and say it clearly?
Does the author avoid using the passive voice?
Does the author limit sentences to no more than 25 words?
Does the memo avoid sentence errors such as fragments, comma splices and run-on sentences?
Does the memo avoid punctuation errors?
Does the memo avoid mechanical errors such as misspelled words?
PART III
POINTS TOTAL
/42
PART IV: Elements of a useful format
NO :
ZERO POINTS
SOMETIMES :
FOUR POINTS
YES :
SEVEN POINTS
Does the memo employ organizational devices such as bullets and subheadings?
Does the memo contain small reader-friendly paragraphs?
PART IV
POINTS TOTAL
/14
PART V: The critical question
NO :
ZERO POINTS
TO A LIMITED EXTENT:
F IVE POINTS
YES :
TEN POINTS
Would a person unfamiliar with the task be able to complete it?
PART V
POINTS TOTAL
/10
POINT TOTAL: = 10 8
YOUR TOTAL: = /10 8
GRADE:
%
On the passive voice…
W
riting in the passive voice: It’s one of the most common mistakes student writers make. Passive voice is awkward. Passive voice hides the sentence’s subject. Passive voice takes more words to makes its point than its superior counterpart, active voice.
To understand the difference between active and passive voice, let’s review some elementary school grammar basics:
Subjects in sentences determine who or what is doing something. Check out the example:
Roberto Clemente threw the ball.
Roberto Clemente is the subject. For example, you could ask, “Who or what is this sentence about?” And the answer would be Roberto Clemente. Any time you want to determine the subject of a sentence, you can ask, “Who or what is this sentence about?” The answer will reveal the sentence’s subject. This is a most useful answer, and we’ll come back to it later.
Verbs are the muscle of sentences. Verbs show action. In the example above, the verb describes the action of throwing.
Direct objects receive a verb’s action. Let’s go back to the example. What receives this verb’s action? Answer: the ball.
We can sometimes think of writing in the same ways we think of math. For example, one can view sentences as formulas. The formula for an active voice sentence goes like this:
Subject + Verb + Direct Object
You should memorize this formula. Doing so can help you in other writing classes
and, perhaps, in your career.
Now, some student writers prefer writing in the passive voice. Maybe because by doing so they think that their writing sounds more formal. So, let’s see what happens when we take our example active voice sentence above and convert it to the passive voice:
The ball was thrown by Roberto Clemente.
Sure sounds formal, doesn’t it? But the conversion to passive voice has flip-flopped our formula above. “Who or what is this sentence about?” The answer is, of course, Clemente. But see how the direct object has become the subject? Notice also that we’ve increased this sentence by 33 percent to express the exact same concept!?! If you can say something in just four words, why use six!?!
Most writing applications stress using fewer words. How many characters, for example, does Twitter allow? Something like 140, right. Would you want to read 20 pages in a text book’s chapter – or just 10? (I think I know the answer to that one!) Does your boss want a three-page report when just two will do?
There are no jobs that I know of where someone will pay you to take more time and space to express a concept. If you’re a criminal justice major, you’re going to have write reports. Lots of them! You’ll advance in your career if you write well. Say you’re an IT major. You’re likely going to have write reports. Lots of them! You’ll advance in your career if you write well. Let’s say you are majoring in a health-care field. Guess what? You’ll have to write reports, too. And you, too, will advance in your career if you write well. You’ll find that your boss probably is a lot like you: he won’t want to read three pages when two pages get the job done.
In this class and in your current and future profession, you’re not writing poetry and you’re not writing about Shakespeare. Your writing will have work to do – serious work. And in all cases the following is true: Less is more. Do you remember the practice assignment? Do you remember how eliminating wasted words makes writing stronger? That’s one of the key principles of this class. And understanding the differences between active and passive will help you to eliminate wasted words. In fact, if you have neglected to compare your practice assignment to the one I completed, take some time and do so now.
[A NOTE THAT I PROBABLY SHOULDN’T SHARE: In other classes, certainly not in this one, you can use passive voice to your advantage. When you have written four pages of a five-page paper, convert all of your sentences to passive voice. It beats using Courier font and expanding a page’s margins. We teachers notice those things – probably because we did them ourselves!]
Finally, remember this: All writing, regardless of a person’s job or a student’s major, requires clarity. If you force someone to read something more than once, you’re doing a poor job. If I read one of your sentences three times and still don’t understand it, the fault is yours – not mine. Say it clearly; say it simply. Understanding the difference between active and passive voice will help you to accomplish this goal.
If you would like to learn more about the difference between active and passive voice, check out pages 2 05 -2 08 in the text’s 1 4 th edition.
Just one more thing: I’ll be looking at your workplace instructions memo to see if you’ve read and understood this writing lesson!
