TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Derive useful tips, tricks, and techniques for improving your writing skills Page | 1 OUTPUT: Research proposal OUTLINE: I. Common errors in English (game) II. Pre-writing strategies a. Brainstorming b. Graphic organizers: outline, fishbone, Venn diagram, clustering c. Freewriting d. Keeping a journal e. Reading II. Organizing your paper a. 2 forms of reasoning in research b. Achieving unity: Using effective claims c. Maintaining coherence d. Basic technical report formats III. Textual elements a. Patterns of development b. Writing your draft: strategies c. Avoiding plagiarism IV. Graphic/appearance elements

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

II. Organizing your Paper a. FORMS OF REASONING IN RESEARCH Page | 2 1.DEDUCTIVE: Starting with an established truth to examine a particular experience This truth can be hypothetical (theories, definitions, procedural assumptions); often used in the humanities Requires applying the truth to particular experiences then articulating the connections 2.INDUCTIVE: A way of thinking that demands withholding any judgment, or hunch, or assumption, except that it is possible to derive a general conclusion from an ample number of particular examples. Proving a thesis Often used in the sciences REMEMBER: Induction and deduction describe the initial thinking that goes into an essay, and not its final, formal organization. Deductive thinking is not as likely to nurture original thought as inductive thinking; but it does encourage helpful connections with preexisting ideas.

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

b. TYPES OF CLAIMS: your Thesis Statement must make an ASSERTION 1. Resemblance: compare & contrast; argues whether something is the same or not Page | 3 the same as something else. 2. Evaluation: compare & contrast; argues why one of the items is better or worse than the other 3. Causal: cause & effect; argues whether something causes something else or whether something is the result of something else 4. Proposal: argues whether something should or should not be implemented 5. Definition: argues that something is or means something else

REMEMBER:

All writing is PERSUASIVE. No matter how technical it is, a writer is always trying to convince the reader to believe him/her, and thus act accordingly.
C. Maintaining COHERENCE: how the parts are related Organizing for Emphasis:

1. General to specific
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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling 2. Specific to general 3. Climactic in order of increasing importance When writing your outline, remember: Page | 4

1. Is your thesis statement clear and concise? 2. Does your arrangement suit your purpose? 3. Does your arrangement fulfil your readers

D. Basic Technical Report Formats 1. Problem, Analysis, Solution approach. 2. The Outside - In Approach This means, simply, that the discussion is more readable and easily scanned if you make certain that the most important ideas in each section, subsection, and paragraph appear first rather than last. Example: "A larger bypass line with automatic, temperature controlled backup is recommended. Such a system will protect against overheating and lowered efficiencies under extreme load conditions and permit safe, unattended operation of the system. Tests performed to verify this are detailed in Appendix D." 3. Small Report - Big Appendix. In general, the more data, facts, test results and similar detail you have the more likely it is that you will overwhelm your reader and yourself with it. It may be very good data and you may be justly proud of it, but it will swamp the most attentive reader if you let it. To avoid this

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling problem, many writers summarize their data in the main report as succinctly as possible, and then present it in full in a large, often separately bound appendix. 4. The Executive Summary Page | 5 In this, only the most important information can be presented. The size of an executive summary is not defined but they typically run only a few pages. To cram as much useful information as possible into it, the writer must distill his entire report into some graphs, maps or other figures, tables, and some text. Every trick of concise data presentation must be used. When well done however, an executive summary presented at the beginning of your report will get your message to the most readers in the smallest possible space.

III. TEXTUAL ELEMENTS A. Patterns of Development: Ways of thinking as writing strategies 1. Narration: How did it happen? 2. Description: How does it look, sound, feel, smell, taste? 3. Illustration: What are examples of it or reasons for it? 4. Definition: What is it? What does it encompass, and what does it exclude? 5. Analysis: What are its parts or characteristics? 6. Classification: What groups or categories can it be sorted into? 7. Comparison/Contrast: How is it like, or different from, other things? 8. Analogy: Is it comparable to something that is ina different class but more familiar to readers? 9. Cause & effect: What are its causes or its effects? 10. Process analysis: How do you do it, or how does it work?

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

Page | 6 B. Writing the draft 1. Your first draft: Just do it. Start somewhere. Keep going. Follow your outline. 2. Revising: Re-seeing your work in relation to the thesis statement/objectives; unity/coherence/development; editing language and tone; adding graphical elements 3.Opening/closing strategies STRATEGIES FOR OPENING PARAGRAPHS state the subject use a relevant quotation relate an incident/anecdote ask a question make a historical comparison/contrast create an image STRATEGIES FOR CLOSING PARAGRAPHS restate the thesis use a relevant quotation summarize the paper recommend a course of action give a symbolic or powerful fact create an image strike a note of hope or despair

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

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4. TRANSITIONAL DEVICES/EXPRESSIONS: To add or show sequence Page | 7 To compare To contrast And, again, also, then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, moreover, next, second, still, too Also, in the same way, likewise, similarly but, although, and yet, but at the same time, despite, even so, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the To give examples or intensify To indicate place To indicate time other hand, regardless, still, though, yet after all, even, for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, it is true, of course, specifically, that is, to illustrate, truly Above, adjacent to, below, elsewhere, opposite to, etc. Then, after, as long as, at last, at that time, before, in the meantime, To show cause & effect To repeat, summarize, conclude at present, currently, meanwhile, subsequently, when Accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, hence, otherwise, thus, then, therefore, to this end Therefore, all in all, altogether, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in particular, in simpler terms, in summary, on the whole C. AVOIDING PLAGIARISM: the SANDWICH technique Original Passage: One might contend, of course, that our countrys biological diversity is so great and the land is so developed so crisscrossed with the works of man that it will soon be hard to build a dam anywhere without endangering some species. But as we developed a national inventory of endangered species, we certainly can plan our necessary development so as to exterminate the smallest number possible

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TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

James L. Buckley, Three Cheers for the Snail Darter, National Review, September 14, 1979: 144-145. Examples of plagiarism: 1. Our countrys biological diversity is so great and the land is so developed that it will soon be hard to build a dam anywhere without endangering some species. But as we developed a national inventory of endangered species, we certainly can plan our necessary development so as to determine the smallest number possible. 2. Our countrys biological diversity is so great and the land is so developed that in the near future we may pose a threat to some creature whenever we construct a dam. By developing a national inventory of endangered species, however, we can plan necessary development so as to preserve as many species as possible (Buckley 144). 1. PARAPHRASE (say it in your own words!) America has so many kinds of plants and animals, and it is so built up, that in the near future we may pose a threat so some living thing just by damming some waterway. If, however, we knew which of our nations plants and animals were threatened, we could use this information to preserve as many species as we can (Buckley 144). 2. Use DIRECT QUOTES when: the language is unusually vivid, bold, or inventive. the quotation cannot be paraphrased without distortion or loss of meaning. it represents and emphasizes the view of an important expert. BUT KEEP THEM SHORT AND RELEVANT.

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VERBS FOR INTRODUCING PARAPHRASES AND QUOTATIONS:

MINDANAO CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE (MCRDC)

TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling (Introduce borrowed material with a verb that conveys information about the source authors attitude towards what he or she is saying.) Author is neutral Describes Explains Illustrates Notes Observes Points out Records Relates Reports Says Sees Thinks Writes Author infers or Author argues suggests Analyzes Asks Assesses Concludes Considers Finds Predicts Proposes Reveals Shows Speculates Suggests Supposes Alleges Claims Contends Defends Disagrees Holds Insists Maintains Author agrees Admits Agrees Concedes Concurs Grants Author is uneasy or disparaging Belittles Bemoans complains Condemns deplores Deprecates Derides Laments Warns

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ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES!

IV. GRAPHICAL/APPEARANCE ELEMENTS The graphic elements of your report are important for at least the following reasons: They are often the only thing which will be looked at by some readers. They create the overall impression of the quality of your work. They allow you to convey complex ideas in simple ways.
MINDANAO CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE (MCRDC)

TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling They are often the most concise way to present certain kinds of data.

EXAMPLES: Page | rest from his/her labors. The effective use of "white space" does this and makes your 10 report look better, scan more easily and places the emphasis on the most important points. 2. Maps or other relevant images 3. Graphs: Graphs represent one of the best ways to illustrate numerical data in a concise and dramatic way; especially helpful when you wish to show trends over time or the effect of one variable upon another. The key to good graphs is simplicity. Most readers expect to read graphs from left to right and from the bottom up; types of graphs: bar, line, pie, area, 3-D, logarithmic, etc. 1. White space: The reader of your report will find it much easier if you provide an occasional

4. Tables/ charts: Tables represent a kind of hybrid between textual and graphical report elements. With a good tabulation of data, your job is to explain in the text of the report the meaning and significance of the table. Lines are very helpful in guiding the reader's eye to those things you particularly want him/her to notice. Shading, boldface type, separation and similar tricks can also be used to accomplish that same objective. 5. Schematics or Flow diagrams: a drawing or illustration which shows how something works, rather than how it actually looks; they show how something flows through the system, what happens to it along the way and what the end result of a process is.
MINDANAO CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE (MCRDC)

TECHNICAL WRITING COURSE HANDOUT

Prepared by: Prof. Jhoanna Cruz-Daliling

Avoid clutter, confusion, and sloppiness! Simpler is always better.

Page | 11 SOURCES: Fowler, H.Ramsey & Jane Aaron. The Little, Brown Handbook. 5th edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1992. Hoffman, Gary & Glynis. Adios, Strunk & White. A Handbook for the New Academic Essay. 2nd edition. California: Verve Press, 1999. http://www.pdhonline.org

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