THE PROJECT: Technical professionals are often required to define or describe a
THE PROJECT:
Technical professionals are often required to define or describe a technical
object, concept, or process to someone who has little knowledge of experience
with it. For examples, an engineering firm might write a proposal to bid on a
contract to develop a helicopter for the Defense Department; one section of the
proposal would be a detailed description of the product the company proposes
to develop. Technical descriptions are used before products and processes are
developed (as part of proposals and planning documents), during development
(in progress reports), and afterwards (as part of marketing and promotional
literature and technical support documents).
The purpose of this assignment is to give you experience in adapting a piece of
technical writing to a specific audience. The assignment consists of two short
independent pieces. Choose something that you know a lot about, but which
would probably not be familiar to a broad, general audience. It could be
anything from an abstract concept, to a technique, a skill, an object, or an
activity (e.g. a sport or a hobby). Write a description or explanation of it that is
aimed at a general audience. (Characterize the audience you have in mind
before you begin to write.) You could imagine that this description will be one
component of a larger piece of writing aimed at that audience.
Then write another description of the same thing, this time for a more
specialized audience of your peers. This audience could be people who share
with you a very specific area of specialization within a field, or it could be a
broader audience within that field.
After each of your two definitions, please write a reflection of how you tailored
your definition to your audience. The entire assignment (both definitions and
both reflections) should run between 1200—1600 words (NOTE: Please use
standard MLA format and be sure to cite any outside sources.
Essential, you need to discuss something and adapt it to two different audiences. This something can be just about anything, but it should be something you have knowledge about. The first piece of writing needs to be directed to a general audience and the second needs to be a more specific piece directed towards people who also have knowledge on the subject. An example would be:
Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game that takes place in a medieval fantasy setting.
Dungeons and Dragons’s newest product, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will open up the fifth edition setting to more science-fiction elements.