This outstanding anthology of insightful essays, written by both theorists and practitioners, focuses on the content and structure of technical writing while also discussing the political, interpersonal, and ethical demands of writing in a professional workplace. Unlike most other texts in
the field, Readings in Technical Communication goes beyond offering a traditional prescriptive approach to technical writing and provides students with a comprehensive and thoughtful examination of the field. Along with a wide variety of classic essays, RTC includes a wealth of new material that
reflects the most up-to-date approaches and methods in technical communication.
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 808/.0666
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9780195423228 9780195435221
- LCCN
- T11
- LCCN Item number
- R37 2007eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xiv, 408 p. :)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00223309 (OCoLC)753341570 (CaOOCEL)432068
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 6
- Introduction 12
- Acknowledgements 14
- Part I: Thinking about Communication 16
- Chapter 1 Communicate Well and Prosper: Poor Interaction Costs Companies More Than They Realize—Or Can Affford 17
- Chapter 2 Why Communication Matters 19
- Chapter 3 A Whole New Mind for a Flat World 26
- Chapter 4 First Flight 30
- Chapter 5 Functional Communication: A Situational Perspective 44
- Part II: Communicating Science 55
- Chapter 6 Communicating Science 56
- Chapter 7 Avoid the Technical Talk, Scientists Told. Use Clear Language 59
- Chapter 8 Getting the Story, Telling the Story: The Science of Narrative, the Narrative of Science 61
- Chapter 9 Advancing Science Communication: A Survey of Science Communicators 74
- Chapter 10 Communicating Science in the 'Digital Age': Issues and Prospects for Public Engagement 83
- Chapter 11 Negotiating Organizational Constraints: Tactics for Technical Communicators 92
- Part III: The Case for Rhetoric 118
- Chapter 12 An Engineer's Rhetorical Journey: Personal Reflections 119
- Chapter 13 Science and Rhetoric 126
- Chapter 14 What Connection Does Rhetorical Theory Have to Technical and Professional Communication? 129
- Chapter 15 Classical Rhetoric for the Engineering Student 136
- Chapter 16 Aristotle's Rhetoric as a Handbook of Leadership 141
- Chapter 17 Are Scientists Rhetors in Disguise? An Analysis of Discursive Processes within Scientific Communities 144
- Part IV: Observations on Style and Editing 158
- Chapter 18 Effective Writing 158
- Chapter 19 Clutter 168
- Chapter 20 Getting It Together: Strategies for Writing Cohesively 172
- Chapter 21 Voices to Shun: Typical Modes of Bad Writing 176
- Chapter 22 Situational Editing: A Rhetorical Approach for the Technical Editor 187
- Chapter 23 Escape from the Grammar Trap 195
- Chapter 24 Sense and Nonsense about Grammar 200
- Part V: Perspectives on Audience and Context 204
- Chapter 25 Making Them an Offer They Can't Refuse: How to Appeal to an Audience 205
- Chapter 26 Bridging Gaps, Engineering Audiences: Understanding the Communicative Situation 211
- Chapter 27 Communicating With Non-Technical Audiences: How Much Do They Know? 218
- Chapter 28 Three Tricky Relationships to an Audience 223
- Chapter 29 What's Practical About Technical Writing? 234
- Chapter 30 These Minutes Took 22 Hours: The Rhetorical Situation of the Meeting Minute-Taker 244
- Part VI: Language 249
- Chapter 31 The Language of Science: Its Simplicity, Beauty, and Humour 250
- Chapter 32 Digitariat 257
- Chapter 33 Politics and the English Language 259
- Chapter 34 The World of Doublespeak 268
- Chapter 35 Bafflegab and Gobbledygook: How Canadians Use English to Rant, to Lie, to Cheat, to Cover up Truth, and to Peddle Bafflegab 276
- Chapter 36 Gasping for Words 281
- Chapter 37 What Do You Mean I Can't Call Myself a Software Engineer? 286
- Chapter 38 Disciplinarity, Identity, and the 'Profession' of Rhetoric 293
- Part VII: Ethical and Political Constraints 308
- Chapter 39 Communicating Ethically 309
- Chapter 40 Ethos: Character and Ethics in Technical Writing 315
- Chapter 41 Between Efficiency and Politics: Rhetoric and Ethics in Technical Writing 326
- Chapter 42 Developing Ethical Decision-Making Skills: How Textbooks Fail Students 336
- Chapter 43 Can Ethics Be Technologized? Lessons from Challenger, Philosophy, and Rhetoric 345
- Chapter 44 The Moral Un-neutrality of Science 354
- Part VIII: Communication in a Technological Society 363
- Chapter 45 Thinking about Technology 364
- Chapter 46 Motorcar: The Mechanical Bride 368
- Chapter 47 Verbal Text: Electronic Communication in the Information Age 373
- Chapter 48 The Perils of PowerPoint 379
- Chapter 49 Rewind, Pause, Play, Fast-Forward 381
- Chapter 50 Driven to Distraction: How Our Multi-channel, Multi-tasking Society is Making it Harder for Us to Think 384
- Chapter 51 The Deceiving Virtues of Technology: From the Cave of the Cyclops to Silicon Valley 392
- Part IX: Trouble in the Office: A Communication Case Study 403
- Chapter 52 Trouble in the Office: The Case of Bob Eaglestone 404
- Chapter 53 Reading Eaglestone: A Corporate Psychopath? 406
- Chapter 54 Defending Eaglestone: Bad Fit or Wrongful Hire? 409
- Contributor Biographies 415
- Permissions 422