Eng305w: Syllabus

College:             Arts and Letters
Dept.:                  English 
Course:               English 305W: Writing in Disciplinary Communities (Technical Writing)
                   Course number: 0000
When:                 Winter Intersession 2008-9 (00 Dec. 08--00 Jan. 09)
Credit:                 3 hrs.
Instructor:          John Rothfork
Office:              BAA 324 (Babbitt Academic Annex)
 (:                  928.523.0559
*:               John.Rothfork@nau.edu  Please send course related email to me using
                   the WebCT/Blackboard mail tool. WebCT will archive our mail & I will be able to
                   find earlier messages you sent. 
Homepage:      http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/jgr6
Prerequisites:  Prerequisite: ENG 105 or HON 190 or HON 191

Disciplinary Writing / Technical Writing   

This course fulfills NAU's junior-level writing requirement.
Why isn't this course eng302W: Technical Writing? The difference between eng302 & eng305 is slight. Eng305 has been offered online in the past. So, for the intersession, we decided to continue with the eng305 number even though the text is devoted to tech writing.

This course offers instruction and experience in writing:

About half the number of available points come from quizzes on the Markel text. The other half comes from fairly short writing assignments.  This is not an analytic class where you can succeed by recognizing theoretical principles in someone else's writing. Document design (how a document looks on a page) is important. Like it or not, readers make a first judgment of your resume, letter of job application, proposal, or other similar document based on how they look. Attention to detail is a watchword for this course. Tech writing differs from composition or analytic essay writing (that you may have done in composition or literature classes) in several ways. Tech writing:
Text:
Markel, Mike. Technical Communication, 8th ed., 2007.  Isbn: 978-0-312-44197-5 Bedford/St. Martin's.  Amazon (used price: $50).
 [Distance Learning Text Orders]  Because the time is so short for Intersession classes, call the NAU bookstore, if you want them to mail you a text: 928.523.5505.
Publisher's supporting Website

An online tech writing text

Assignments 

Reading: We will read most of the Markel text: chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20.

Quizzes: There are quizzes on each chapter. You can take quizzes as many times as you like. The program should record your highest grade for each quiz.

Writing:

  1. Writing: All of the assignments are fairly short, but they are formal documents, which means that appearance counts as much as content. Tinkering & revision take time. There is no major paper or project required. Almost all of the assignments are posted in the discussion area. Use the WebCT HTML editor to control display & document design elements. You can edit your documents after posting them. The number of points should suggest how long you spend creating & editing the document. Following is a list of all written assignments:

    1. unit 01 (Chapter 1)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 1. Do #2: "Additional Exercise: Addressing an Audience in a Web Site." Define the subject line in your post as Audience (40 points). 
      • Do the last "Additional Case: Introducing the Fundamentals of Technical Communication. Define the subject as Play (40 points).
    2. unit 02 (Ch. 3)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 3. Do #3: "Additional Exercise: Analyzing the Audience & Purpose of a Web Site." Post your analysis in the discussion section for Ch. 3 using the subject line of Webs (40 points). Or upload your HTML file.
      • Visit Techwr-L. Click on Archive & search some topic related to the writing process. Report what you find in the discussion session under the subject line of Techwr-L (30 points).
    3. Unit 03 (Ch. 5)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 05. Do the next to last item: "Additional Cases: Writing an Information Booklet." Define the subject line in your post as foreign (60 points). 
    4. Unit 04 (Ch. 6)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 06. Do the  "Additional Project: On Second Thought, We Probably Shouldn't Have Said That." Post your thoughts in the discussion for Ch. 6 under the subject line Czech (30 points).
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 06. Do the  "Additional Case: How Safe is Safe?" Define the subject line in your post as safety (30 points). 
    5. Unit 05 (Ch. 9)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 09. Do the  "Additional Exercise: Evaluating Object Descriptions." Post your thoughts in the discussion for Ch. 9 under the subject line mechanism (20 points).
      • From the Course Lessons page, click on 09 oil change. Write a description of this process in the form of giving instruction to a car owner who has never changed their own oil before. Tell them how to do it.  Define the subject line in your post as oil (50 points). Or upload your HTML file.
    6. Unit 06 (Ch. 10)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 10. Do the  "Additional Exercise: This Has Got to Be the Worst Manual."  Post your thoughts in the discussion for Ch. 10 under the subject line Worst (30 points).
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 10. Do the  "Additional Project: Analyzing a Plain-Language Brochure." Post your memo in the discussion section for Ch. 10 with the subject line: plain (30 points). 
    7. Unit 07 (Ch. 11)
      • Do the "Additional Case: Revising Passive-Aggressive Sentences." Instead of critiquing the document to make recommendations, edit it to change passives into active voice and to change other awkward features. Post your revision in the discussion for Ch. 11 under the subject line radiation (30 points).
      • These are selected from the exercises in Marel on pp. 262-4. Copy the sentences & paste them into a blank MS Word document. Make your revisions & copy the text. Paste it to be the body of an email you send me. Identify the subject as Ch. 11 (44 points).
    8. Unit 08 (Ch. 12)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 12. Do the  "Additional Case: Analyzing the Front Matter in a Government Report." Write the memo as instructed. Post your memo in the discussion for Ch. 12 under the subject line front (30 points).
      • Use the Cline Library to find a science journal.  Identify the journal. Find the instructions or guidelines for authors page. Report on what kind of front & back matter the journal specifies. Post your report in the discussion section for Ch. 12 under the subject line: journals (20 points).
    9. Unit 09 (Ch. 14)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 14. Do the "Additional Project: Creating Different Graphics from the Same Information." Choose 2 groups of data (A-F). Render each in a graphic form. Submit your graphics as attachments to a post in the discussion for Ch. 14. Subject line: graphics (40 points).
      • From the Course Lessons page, click on "journal critique."  Post your analysis in the discussion area for Ch. 14. Provide the url for the journal, if you are critiquing an electronic journal. Identify the subject line as journal (40 points).
    10. Unit 10 (Ch. 15)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 15. Do the  "Additional Project: "Writing a Sales Letter."  Create letterhead & post your letter in the discussion section for Ch 15; use the subject line: letter (35 points). Use the WebCT HTML editor to control document design elements.
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 15. Do the  "Additional Case: "Shaping Correspondence to Meet Your Audience's Needs." Post your thoughts in the discussion section for Ch 15; use the subject line: guide (25 points).
    11. Unit 11 (Ch 16)
      • Write a letter of job application & a traditional (rather than a scanable) resume.  Letter (20 Points); resume (20 points). Send these to me as email attachments.
    12. Unit 12 (Ch. 18)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 18. Do the  "Additional Case: Mandatory Computers at Your School?" Do parts 1, 2, 3, & a modified 6. Post your memo in the discussion area for Ch. 18 under the subject: laptop (50 points).
    13. Unit 13 (Ch. 19)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 19. Do the  "Additional Case: Summarizing a Feasibility Report for a General Audience" Do parts 1 & 2. Post your analysis in the discussion for Ch. 19 under the subject water (50 points).
    14. Unit 14 (Ch. 20)
      • Go to "Additional Exercises, Projects, & Cases." Click on Ch. 20. Do the  "Additional Case: Comparing Web-based Instructions." Post your analysis in the discussion for Ch. 19 under the subject instruct (50 points).

Calendar:  Dec. 2008 -- Jan. 2009

m tu w th f sa su
Dec 18
Ch. 1		 19
Ch. 1		 20
Ch.3		 21
Ch. 5		 22
 		 23
 		 24
 
25
 		 26
Ch. 6		 27
Ch. 9		 28
Ch. 10		 29
 Ch 11		 30 31
 
Jan 1
2007
 		 2
 Ch 12		 3
 Ch 14		 4
 Ch. 15		 5
 Ch 16		 6
 		 7
 
8
 Ch 18		 9
 Ch 19		 10
 Ch 20		 11
 End		 12
 		    

Time ManageMent: Most Web courses run over the course of a semester with unit work available for a week or more. This allows full-time working students to do course work on the weekends or at some other opportune time during the week. Intersession courses are more intense. Because all of the course material is available, you could manage your time to shift much of the work to holiday weekends. Plan to spend 3 hours or more on each of the 14 units; that means at least 3 hours a day during the intersession.


Deadlines: These are not strict, as in "the work must be in by 11 pm or I won't accept it." But deadlines are serious. I will not accept material from lessons two units prior to the one we are studying. If the calendar says we are working on ch. 5, I will accept late work from ch. 4 and 3, but not earlier. The grade for work submitted a week late is reduced by 10%; two weeks late by 20%. Work submitted from more than two chapters earlier is not accepted.

Discussion: These are not simply a convenient way to submit assignments. You are responsible for reading all the posts in each lessons & responding to a few that interest you most. Peer interaction is an important element of the course. The course is not simply a tutorial between you & me.

HTML: Tech writing documents are business & professional documents. Every reader makes an initial judgment based on how the document or Webpage looks. In this course your documents must look professional. Since this is a Web course, the medium for your writing is electronic. You will only submit a few documents as MS Word attachments. Most submissions use the Discussion tool. Before you begin writing in the textbox offered by the Discussion tool, click on the HTML editor button. This will allow your to control document design & display elements.

Incompletes: These are unrealistic. When the course is over, I no longer have complete control of the WebCT course.

Grades:

90% A
80% B
65% C
50% D