Process Analysis

1. Process Analysis What do you do when a “non-computer person” asks you for help with their computer? Write out the steps you use to solve the problem.

2. When you come in…

3. Process Analysis Definitions • Process – an operation that moves through a series of steps to bring about a desired result • Any procedure (getting out of bed, buying stocks) can be called a process. • Natural – birth of a baby • Mechanical – starting a car engine • Physical – dancing • Mental – reading • Analysis – an operation that divides something into its parts in order to understand the whole more clearly • Poetry readers analyze lines of a poem to find meaning • Doctors analyze a patient’s symptoms to prescribe treatment • Politicians analyze the opinions of voters to plan campaigns

4. Process Analysis • Talk to your table: What is a process you all go through every day? • List at least six steps in your process. • Compare your list with your group. • What is different? • What is the same?

5. To write a process-analysis essay: • Divide the process you are going to explain into its individual steps; • Show the movement of the process, step by step, from beginning to end; and • Explain how each step works, how it ties into other steps in the sequence, and how it brings about the desired result.

6. Process Analysis • Using the process you and your table came up with earlier… • As a group, choose one of the steps and analyze, in no less than three complete sentences, what it takes to successfully complete it. • Remember: • Show the movement of the process, step by step, from beginning to end; and • Explain how each step works, how it ties into other steps in the sequence, and how it brings about the desired result.

7. Purpose • To give directions • Help your readers do something (change a tire) • To provide information • Satisfy readers’ curiosity (pilot a space shuttle) • Often, you’ll find it hard to separate the two purposes. • Directions on how to hit a baseball, plus • How the whole process works (rules of the game – strike zone, walks, hits, base running, outs, scoring)

8. Audience – WHO IS IT? • Writing to an audience – giving directions • People who are already interested in your subject • “If you want to plant a successful garden, you must follow these seven steps.” • Writing for an audience – providing information • Can write from a more detached point of view, but you have to find a way to catch the interest of more casual readers • “Although many Americans say they are concerned about nuclear power, few understand how a nuclear power plant works.”

9. Audience – WHAT DO THEY ALREADY KNOW? • How wide is the gap between you and your readers? • If they’re experts, you can make certain assumptions as you write. • If they only have general knowledge, you can take nothing for granted. • Teaching someone to operate an iPhone who has no experience, you have to define special terms and explain all procedures

10. CAUTION • If you don’t tell enough, you will confuse or annoy your audience. • If you tell too much, you will bore or antagonize them.

11. Remember • To analyze a process effectively, you must either research it carefully or have firsthand knowledge of its operation. • It’s risky to try to explain something you don’t really understand.

12. Something You Don’t Understand… • What is something useful you would like to know how to do better than you already do? • Write an 8.2 (ha ha ha) • Rock climbing • Paintball • Playing guitar • Skateboarding • Studying • Why do you want to know how to do it?

13. Something You Don’t Understand… • Go home tonight and look for two instructional articles on the topic you chose. • Record the website or bookmark it- make sure you can get back to it tomorrow in class!

14. Strategies – Organization • Five Parts • Overview • Special terms • Sequence of steps • Examples • Results Help readers understand process Show process in action Evaluates worth of completed process

15. Organization – Overview • Define the objective of the process • Identify (and number) the steps in the sequence • Group some small steps into larger units • Call attention to the most important steps or units

16. Organization – Special Terms • Used to describe tools, tasks, and methods • Define them for your readers • At the beginning – aids in understanding • When you use them – easier to remember when used in context; pause to explain their special meaning

17. Organization – Sequence of Steps • Must be clear • Give the reason for each step • If appropriate, provide these reminders • Do not omit any steps.A sequence is a sequence because all steps depend on one another. • Do not reverse steps. A sequence is a sequence because each step must be performed according to and necessary and logical pattern. • Suspend certain steps. Occasionally, a whole series of steps must be suspended and another process completed before the sequence can resume. • Do not overlook steps within steps. Each sequence is likely to have a series of smaller steps buried within each step. • Avoid certain steps. It is often tempting to insert steps that are not recommended but that appear “logical” (i.e. could be tragic in an operating room).

18. Organization – Examples • Pictures – charts, graphs, diagrams • Anecdotes – clarify your explanation by using examples from your own experience • Variants – alternative steps to show that the process may not be as rigid or simplistic as it often appears • Comparisons – a complex process may be similar to a process they already know

19. Organization – Results • How do you know it’s done? • How do you know it’s good? • Simple answers: the car starts; the trunk opens • Answers that aren’t so clear: the jury may have difficulty reaching a decision; a successful surgery may still result in death

20. Process AnalysisPoints to Remember • Arrange the steps in your process in an orderly sequence. • Identify and explain the purpose of each of the steps in the process. • Describe the special tools, terms, and tasks needed to complete the process. • Provide warnings, where appropriate, about the consequences of omitting, reversing, or overlooking certain steps. • Supply illustrations and personal anecdotes to help clarify aspects of the process.

21. How many ____ does it take? • Q: How many Censors does it take to change a light bulb? • A: One to ---- ------- ----- and another to ---- ----- ---- while ---- ---- - - -----with a ------ • Q: How many Magicians does it take to change a light bulb? • A: It depends on what you want it changed in to... • Q: How many Waiters does it take to change a light bulb? • A: None, even a burned out bulb can't catch a waiters eye • Q: How many Aggies does it take to change a light bulb? • A: Five, one to hold the light bulb and the other four to turn the ladder round and round !

22. In this comic drawing, James Stevenson offers yet another variation on the old joke. Trace the various steps in this overwrought flow chart. Has Stevenson missed a step or placed steps out of sequence?

23. Homework • Read My Daily Dives in the Dumpster, Riverside: p.103-108 • Answer For Writing and Research question number 1 in an 8.2 essay. • Analyze how Eighner uses anecdotes to illustrate the various steps in learning to scavenge.