Walter Flow November 7, 2013 Mrs.

Mary Muesing

Plain Language Annotated Bibliography "How to Create Clear Documents." Back to Basics. Quality and Productivity Commission, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. <http://qpc.co.la.ca.us/cms1_080634.pdf>. The topic that I chose for this assignment was the use of plain language in technical writing. This is important because I have grown up reading documents that are written with complex writing. This is important because some forms of technical writing have to be understood by people who are not well versed in the American language. The first source that I found useful was from the Quality and Productivity Commission. The document starts by talking about what plain language is. It defined plain language as the analyzing and deciding what information readers need to make informed decisions, before words, sentences, or paragraphs are considered. According to the source, there are many writers including many government writers that believe that using plain language in a document would dumb it down. They believe using common language in a document would make the document simplistic and not elegant enough writing to be published for others to read. However, this is not the case. Plain language is more than that; it is making things easier to read so that your work can be appreciated and used by more people. The more people that read your writing, the more they will tell their friends about it. This means more people read it. When it comes to writing

directions the more plain language a person uses the easier the directions are to read and thus follow. Writing in plain language is writing something as it is suppose to be read. When writing in plain language, the writer must think about his audience. According to the Quality and Productivity Commission, the writer must ask several questions before starting to write. First, who is the reader? Second, what does the reader already know about the subject? Third, what questions will the reader have? Fourth, whats the best outcome for my agency? Fifth, what's the best outcome for the reader? Finally, what do I need to say to get these outcomes? Once the writer knows that information, it makes it easier to write in plain language. Once the writer starts writing he needs to organize his thought in a way that will allow the reader to follow their thought process so there is as little information lost as possible. One way to achieve this is by using headings and putting the information in chronological order. When writing it is important to write in short sections to avoid losing the attention of the reader. They must also think about the words they use. Words can make or break a writers work. If the words are too complex the reader feels dumb and stops reading. However, if the words are too simple the reader feels as if the writer is treating them like a child. This source is creditable because in the preface to the document it stated The Quality and Productivity Commission developed this handbook using material from the plainlanguage.gov website and from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions A Plain English HandbookHow to create clear SEC disclosure documents. I was able to verify this information from the research I have done.

Bivins, Peggy G. "IMPLEMENTING PLAIN LANGUAGE INTO LEGAL DOCUMENTS: THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS ROLE." Florida Virtual Campus State University Library Service. University of Central Florida, Spring 2008. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. The second source I chose was a thesis written by Peggy Gale Bivins. Peggy Gale Bivins is a Masters student at the University of Central Florida. The thesis, Implementing Plain Language into legal Documents: The Technical Communicators Role, was written in the spring of 2008, regarding legal documents. I believe that Mrs. Bivins stated her definition of plain language best when she wrote, it is best described as reader-focused communication that presents information in a manner that makes it easy for a reader to find, understand, and use the information. Plain language facilitates comprehension by using shorter, less complex sentences; active voice; and common words. The use of plain language in legal documents has been a controversial topic over the last several years. People who write legal documents believe that only people in the legal field should be able to decipher these documents. So, they write the documents with very complex language so that it is very hard to read. This is why the use of plain language is such a controversial subject. The other side of the controversy says that if a legal document has to do with an individual then that individual should be able to read and understand what the document says. This source had several things to say about the use of plain language and the fight to not use it in legal documents. Before plain language was used there were people who trusted their lawyers to get the best thing for them; when they got what they thought was best, they went with it. Since plain language started being used in legal documents people do not trust their lawyers as

much. This is because the people started to understand what the documents were saying and that the lawyers were only looking out for what made them look good, instead of what was best for their clients. This started to make people very mad and that is when the major push for plain language in legal documents started. The plain language push is not only for legal documents, it is also for new laws. The average civilian wants to be able to look at a new law and read it to know what the law says. Although plain language has become more common law makers have not quickly taken to using plain language when they write new laws. This approach has become hard since President Obama passed the Plain Writing Act of 2010. The Act is designed "to improve the effectiveness and accountability of Federal agencies to the public by promoting clear Government communication that the public can understand and use. This topic relates to my field of study because my field of study is law enforcement. Plain language has a lot to do with law enforcement because police officers dont usually have the legal training that is required to read some of the documents related to the cases that they are investigating. Therefore, it is important to have plain language in documents so that I will be able to read the documents that relevant to my cases.