See the course schedule in the syllabus to see what day a lecture is “officially” given.
Lecture 1 gives an overview of the course and of technical writing.
Lecture 2 gives an overview of audience, purpose, and context, as well as the first discussion of English usage in the context of technical writing.
Lecture 3 gives a discussion on the importance of style guides and which ones to use for this class.
Lecture 4a gives a discussion on the importance of good document design.
Lecture 4b gives a discussion on preposition use in technical writing, including phrasal verbs.
Lecture 5a is a handout that summarizes Markel’s Eight Measures of Excellence in technical writing. Read the textbook for more information. Also read over the Rubric With Writing Corrections Instructions document at <davidmmerchant.com/engl30/>. The course rubric is based largely on Markel’s Eight Measures of Excellence.
Lecture 5b is a short discussion on working with Word: (1) Make sure you insert page numbers in a document header (or footer in some cases) and not just type them in; (2) also, make sure your titles and level-1 headings are the proper color (see the Style Guide for color choices).
- Add Page Numbers to a Header or Footer
- Choosing [RGB] Colors in the Colors Dialog Box
(Instructions for setting a specific, custom color in Word)
Lecture 6 is a handout giving an overview of what is plain and persuasive style, how to use it, and why you should use it. The handout is meant to supplement textbook readings but not replace them.
Lecture 7 consists of a few articles showing how a small small grammar or spelling error can cause irreparable harm to an organization.
Lecture 8a: Numbers—Read Section 4 in Merchant’s English Usage Guide for Technical Writers: <davidmmerchant.com/merchants-english-usage-guide-for-technical-writers/>.
Lecture 8b: Conciseness—Read Section 2 in Merchant’s English Usage Guide for Technical Writers: <davidmmerchant.com/merchants-english-usage-guide-for-technical-writers/>.
Lecture 9a: Commas—Read Section 5.1 in Merchant’s English Usage Guide for Technical Writers: <davidmmerchant.com/merchants-english-usage-guide-for-technical-writers/>.
Lecture 9b: Hyphens and Dashes—Read Section 5.3 in Merchant’s English Usage Guide for Technical Writers: <davidmmerchant.com/merchants-english-usage-guide-for-technical-writers/>.
Lecture 9c: Common spelling and word choice errors—Review Sections 1.6, 1.7.2, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, and 1.12 in Merchant’s English Usage Guide for Technical Writers: <davidmmerchant.com/merchants-english-usage-guide-for-technical-writers/>.
In technical writing you must mean what you say and say what you mean: you need to be accurate and you need to keep in mind that your readers may be skimming and scanning, stressed, busy, or English is not their first language; also, the document may need to be translated and correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice is essential for easy (thus, inexpensive) correct translation.
Lecture 11b—How to Design for Color-Blindness <usabilla.com/blog/how-to-design-for-color-blindness/>
Keep in mind that 1 out 12 men and 1 out of 200 women are color blind. In addition, your document may be faxed or printed out in black and white but still needs to be readable, understandable.
Lecture 19—Job Search Discussion: Found in the Career Center Ex section on Moodle.
