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Technical Writing

Official Catalog Description

Nonmajor prerequisite: grade of C or higher in Engl 1102 or 1103. Intensive study of scientific and technical style; practice at various formats, including reports, proposals, instructional manuals, and professional papers.

My Spin

This course covers two main aspects of technical writing: rhetorical issues and technical writing genres. For rhetorical issues, we’ll address such things as context, audience, purpose, content design, format design, etc.–issues key to any writing situation. For genres, we’ll cover such things as memos, letters, resumes, proposals, reports, instructions, web pages, etc.

This course is rather time consuming. There will be a lot of reading and writing (surprise!). Commitment to hard work is not only expected but also essential. Unlike in some other courses, attendance is mandatory, and so is punctuality. If you feel you can commit neither time nor hard work, this is definitely not the course for you. On the other hand, if you’re ready for this kind of commitment, you should do well in this course.