Final Exam-JTC300

Minh Anh Nguyen

1.      What are three goals of document design? Describe five things to consider when designing a document. (25 points)

-         Three goals of document design are:

1.      To help readers find information they need

2.      To help readers understand and remember information. 

3.      To make a good impression on readers.

-         Five things to consider when designing a document are:

1.      Know what decisions are yours to make.

Some companies have a template or standard format for reports, letters, proposals, and websites.  Knowing what decisions are yours to make means making sure your design fits the design requirements for any company or project. 

2.      Choose a design that fits your situation

Choosing a design that fits your situation requires one to keep the document simple. When writing a document, writers should not make their document any more complex than the situation requires.  For example, if the manual or technical report is less than five pages, then writers do not need to include a table of contents or glossary.

3.      Plan your design from the beginning

Planning your design from the beginning is important. Before writers start writing, they should carefully consider how they will organize and display their information.

4.      Reveal your design to your readers

Revealing your design to your readers is the process of showing readers how you have organized the document so the information makes sense.

5.      Keep your design consistent.

Consistency in document design is essential to make reading easy so the information can be easily obtained by readers.

Minh Anh Nguyen

2.      Define an extended definition and describe four techniques you might use for creating and writing an extended definition. (25 points)

o   An extended definition is used to define complicated terms with a very detailed explanation using examples and visuals.  According to the JTC 300 class notes, “Extended definitions are just going to take a sentence definition and expand upon it. Just like a parenthetical merely introduces a term or a concept and gives a brief sense of what it is, and then a sentence definition goes beyond that by establishing a category membership and distinguishing characteristics, an extended definition establishes a category and distinguishing characteristics. An extended definition then elaborates on these characteristics and amplifies on them so it is really clear what those characteristics are, how they distinguish the concept from other concepts, providing a fuller understanding.”  Generally, an extended definition is going to be one or more paragraphs long. It depends upon how complex the concept is and how much you want your readers to understand about the concept. The more they need to know, the more detailed and the longer the extended definition will be.

o   Four techniques you might use for creating and writing an extended definition are:

1.      One is to use exemplification, or examples. You start with a sentence definition and then you clarify, expand upon the distinguishing characteristics by providing examples of them.

2.      Two, you can write an extended definition by breaking the term into its parts, partitions, just like you would do with a document’s organization, where you break things into their parts. You can organize this section of your document, the extended definition, as a sub-organization within the document by partition.

3.      Third, you can compare a new term to a familiar term and use an analogy to create a good extended definition.

4.       Fourth, you could use a metaphor.  So use examples; break the extended definition  into its parts and pieces and explain them through partitioning; compare a new term to something familiar—by using an example, a metaphor, or a simile.

Minh Anh Nguyen

3.      Describe three types of arguments (deductive, inductive and analogical) and relate when each might be used. (25 points)

o   Deductive

The first is using deduction. Deductive arguments apply general rules to specific outcomes such as a syllogism. You have a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion.  Below are some examples of deductive:

1.       All men are mortal. John is a man. Therefore, John is mortal.

2.       You must make sure that A and B are true. If they are both true, then C must be true as well.

o   Inductive

An inductive argument is different and opposite from a deductive argument. It moves from specific to general. You take a series of experiments put them together to generate a rule and a theory.

 If you get the same result over and over, you can then say it is a rule. You create experiments to test the theory to make sure that what you assumed based on the same thing happening is indeed true and can be replicated. Replication is important to distinguish between anecdotal instances and real trends or rules.

 For example, if you saw something drop and hit the ground over and over, and you tried the same experiment in the same situation each time, you could assume that if I drop this thing off this building, it will always hit the ground. That’s essentially how we came to understand gravity. Individual events or observations lead to a generalization that leads to a rule.

o   analogical

Writers may need to use an analogy to make something clear when neither deductive nor inductive arguments work in a given situation. Analogies are the weakest form of argument, but sometimes analogies work to persuade people, particularly in areas like politics. In this case, writers compare one situation to another more familiar one that already has a known outcome and predict the result will be the same. However, if the two situations are different, there is no guarantee the outcome will be the same. Analogies are most effective if you can use them in conjunction with hard evidence.

Minh Anh Nguyen

4.      Explain the difference between active and passive voice and give examples to show when each would be appropriate to use. (25 points)

Sentences in active voice are generally more concise than those in passive voice because fewer words are required to express action in active voice than in passive.

o   Active voice means that the subject of the sentence performs the action.  Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy.

An example of active voice: The crew paved the entire stretch of highway.

o   Passive voice means that the subject is acted upon.  In scientific writing, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences.  A passive voice sentence uses a form of “be” plus a past participle. A passive voice sentence may include a "by the..." phrase after the verb; the agent performing the action, if named, is the object of the preposition in this phrase.

An example of passive voice: The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew.

Minh Anh Nguyen

5.      Describe what is involved in the three levels (across the document, paragraph, sentence) of the revision process. (50 points)

o   The first level is document level editing. Look at the big picture based on your audience analysis. Keeping the audience in mind, ask questions about the impact of the document as a whole. It doesn’t make sense to correct grammar and word choice at this point because you may end up adding or deleting sections or moving things around. This is the time you or an editor looks at things like organization. Does the chosen method of organization make sense? Is it easy to follow? Are there any gaps in information? If someone reads your document and has questions that may mean there is some information you need to add. Perhaps you have included more than you need in certain areas. You certainly don’t want to make a reader trudge through unnecessary information. Remember, technical writing is meant to be direct, clear and succinct. You want to consider things like tone, headings, cross references, indexes, table of contents, etc. Also, are there any potential legal or ethical issues with your document? 

o   The second level is paragraph level editing. This is more detailed and looks at paragraphs themselves as well as transitions between them. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence with supporting details within. You also want to make sure paragraphs are not too long or too short. If they are too long, readers will get lost or bored. Too short a paragraph may not include enough supporting detail. Also, look at how one paragraph moves into another. Have you included good transitions to ease the reader from one to the next? Each paragraph should contain only one main idea.

o    Sentence level comes after paragraph level revision or editing. This is what is more commonly referred to as proof reading. At this level you begin to really dig into the small details of your writing. You look at individual sentences. Are they written in active voice? Are they succinct and clear in meaning. Examine things like word choice. Have you avoided euphemisms? Are there any offensive words? You should also be checking for subject/verb agreement, pronoun agreement, tenses, and punctuation. These smaller details can distract a reader from really gleaning the fullest meaning from your document if they are not corrected. Also, things like grammar and punctuation, poor spelling or incorrect usage of terms can affect your credibility as a writer. Readers may think if you can’t bother to be correct, perhaps you are not a reliable source of information.