About the Course
ENG 410 - Professional and Technical Writing
Fall 2008, 8/28 - 12/11
R 4:30 - 7:10pm, IN 327
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Course Description
English 410 introduces you to the rhetorical principles and professional practices that you will need as a professional writer. These principles and practices will help you understand and respond effectively to professional and workplace writing scenarios. The course combines a study of current and historical rhetorical theory with situated practice and will focus on analyzing complex communication situations and designing appropriate textual and technological responses. In this course, we will address issues related to genres of workplace writing, design principles, and research skills and methodologies.
Given the nature of professional writing, the course will involve both individual and collaborative work.
Course Goals
In this course, you should expect to be able to:
- develop strategies for analyzing organizational contexts, including audiences, purposes for writing, and organizational cultures
- design documents, including memos, instructions, and reports, that meet the needs of your audiences and accomplish your goals
- construct arguments that appeal to several audiences at once and are based on evidence
- conduct research that can be used to support arguments
- conduct usability testing to support document/product analysis, design, and revision
- write clear instructions that can be used by different audiences
Texts and Materials
Graves, Heather, & Roger Graves. (2007). A Strategic Guide to Technical Communication. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-814-9.
Other readings listed in the schedule will be distributed online as PDFs or web links.
topTechnology Responsibilities
Because the exchange of information and materials in this class will be almost entirely electronic, familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in the course. In order to participate fully in the course, you should already be able to use the technology platform/s and applications listed below:
- Windows and/or Mac OS System
- Microsoft Office (Word)
- Firefox and/or Internet Explorer
- Email programs (including attachments)
Class Activities/Structure
Each class will include some time devoted to each of the following four activities:
- Discussion of readings
- Demos of research practices and short in-class assignments
- Longer in-class assignments
- Project work (which may include production, progress reports, team meetings, peer-review, etc.)
Assignments
Reading and discussion/participation: Students are expected to have completed the assigned readings and to contribute to class discussions. We will also be doing several shorter in-class writing and research assignments; these are considered part of the participation grade. Participation counts for 20% of the final course grade.
There are four major projects: a genre analysis, a style and editing project, a user research report, and a documentation project. Each of these projects is made up of several components – these components (which are generated as both part of the research and writing process and as evidence for your engagement with all aspects of said processes) will not be individually graded. Each of the major projects will be evaluated based on all of the written components, including the final product. Each of these major projects will count for 20% of the final course grade.
topCourse and Institutional Policies
Attendance: Because this is a class that requires collaboration and discussion, you are expected to attend class and be prepared. We will often work on projects and other exercises during class time, and there is no substitute for your presence in class. This is particularly true when we have clients or guest speakers visiting class. Unless you have made prior arrangements with me, each missed class beyond the first will lower the final course grade by 5%.
Late Work: Late assignments will lose 5% of their points for each calendar day that they are late. Late-work penalties cannot be changed through revision.
All institutional policies (including those that address issues of academic honesty, ethical conduct, and collegiality) are in force and should be adhered to.
English Department Statement on Plagiarism: Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another source without giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting.
Student writers are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include factual information which can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers' own insights or findings from their own field research, and what has been called common knowledge. What constitutes common knowledge can sometimes be precarious; what is common knowledge for one audience may not be so for another. In such situations, it is helpful to keep the reader in mind and to think of citations as being "reader friendly."
In other words, writers provide a citation for any piece of information that they think their readers might want to investigate further. Not only is this attitude considerate of readers, it will almost certainly ensure that writers will not be guilty of plagiarism. Consult the George Mason Honor Code for more information.
Students with Disabilities: Students with documented disabilities are legally entitled to certain accommodations in the classroom. If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the DRC. I will be happy to work with students and the DRC to arrange fair access and support.
The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus and schedule if warranted by pedagogical or logistical exigency.
topCourse Schedule
| Week | Date | Readings/Assignments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8/28 | 1st Class: Introductions |
| 2 | 9/4 | SG: Chapter 1 (pp 29-50); Crowley PDF |
| 3 | 9/11 | SG: Chapter 2 (pp 51-72); Katz PDF |
| 4 | 9/18 | SG: Chapter 4 (pp 95-132) |
| 5 | 9/25 | Jones PDF TTO Drafts Due |
| 6 | 10/2 | SG: Chapter 5 (pp 133-152); Kimball & Hawkins PDF |
| 7 | 10/9 | SG: Chapter 3 (pp 73-94) Technology Transfer Project Due |
| 8 | 10/16 | (Watson conference – no class meeting) |
| 9 | 10/23 | SG: Chapter 9 (pp 247-268) |
| 10 | 10/30 | Garrett PDF; Nielsen (website) |
| 11 | 11/6 | SG: Chapter 11 (pp 291-302) |
| 12 | 11/13 | SG: Chapter 6 (pp 153- 180) User Research and Usability Project Due |
| 13 | 11/20 | SG: Chapter 8 (pp 223-246) Documentation Project Proposal Due |
| 14 | 11/27 | SG: Chapter 7 (pp 183 – 222) |
| 15 | 12/4 | SG: Chapter 10 (pp 269-290) |
| 16 | 12/11 | Final Exam Date – all work due Documentation Project Due |