Part 1: Technical Description (Chp 20 Writing Descriptions)

Choose an object, process, or mechanism from your field that you are particularly interested in and explain its purpose. 

• introduce the object, process, or mechanism clearly.
• describe what the object, process, or mechanism is used for.
• end with a brief conclusion.

Remember to be specific and provide a lot of detail.

Part 2: Writing Instructions

Now that you have described your object, process, or mechanism, write instructions on how to use it/assemble it effectively.

First, think about your audience. Who is your audience? Depending on who your audience is, decide the kind of language you will use in your instructions. For instance, if you are explaining how to send a text message to your grandma who calls her iphone a “cellular phone,” you’d probably explain a lot slower and use terminology that she could understand. If she were to ask, “where are the buttons?,” you’d have to explain that there aren’t any physical buttons but are rather touch screen. OR, if you were to explain how to send a text message to your 17-year old friend, you’d probably go a lot quicker. Would you point? Repeat anything? What kind of terminology would you use?

The instructions need to include:

Part 3: Memo

Write a memo to me (Professor Gandhi) answering the following questions:

1. explain why you chose your particular object, process, or mechanism
2. engaged in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts and beyond (how you chose what format to do your instruction set in and why)
3. enhanced strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment (how you revised your technical description and instruction set)
4. developed and engaged in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes (how peer review helped or did not help you revise your work)
5. negotiated your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation
6. what you struggled with, if anything, when writing this assignment
7. what you learned, if anything, when writing this assignment

The memo should be no more than 2 pages. This is your chance to tell me what you learned, what your experience was with this assignment, and anything else you want me to know.

The more work you put into this memo, the easier it will be to write your Self Assessment Essay at the end of the semester (don’t worry, we’ll go over that eventually).

Due Date:

• Your final draft of the Technical Description and Instruction Set with Memo is due: Sunday, March 10 at 11:59pm

Assignment Goals and Evaluation Criteria (Rubric)

Appeal to an intended audience with the creation of technical descriptions and instruction sets: How effectively does the technical description and instruction set provide information based on the writer’s intended audience? If they chose a specific object/process/mechanism, are the descriptions and instructions written specifically? For the technical description, is there an introduction, definitions of parts and labels, and a conclusion? For the instruction set, is there an introduction, are the instructions in chronological order, are sufficient feedback statements and steps provided, does the conclusion include warnings, safety precautions, maintenance/troubleshooting tips (if needed)? Are the references in APA format?

Analyze rhetorical strategies in your own texts: How effective is the analysis of the rhetorical text that you created? How effectively is that analysis supported with explanation tying back to rhetorical terms and the rhetorical situation (i.e., information about the author, text, context/exigence, purpose, and audience)? Specifically, how effectively does the memo talk about how the student tailored their technical descriptions and instruction sets to fit their purpose and audience?

Are the technical descriptions and instruction sets grammatically and stylistically consistent and professional in terms of having headings,subheadings, content etc. in same font/font size etc.?

Are the technical descriptions and instruction sets significantly revised from the first drafts based on peer review comments? If not, the grade will be deducted by 5 points.

Is the assignment totally completed and submitted on time? Totally complete means there is a memo, title page, table of contents, technical description, instruction set, and references page in APA format. If an extension is granted by the professor (the student must email the professor 24 hours in advance asking for an extension and proposing a date they will submit), is the assignment submitted by the new deadline?