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Writing With a Purpose

Writing With a Purpose. ICS 139w 08/10/2011. The Goal of Writing. What are some possible reasons for writing? What are some goals of writing a (formal) document? Explain an idea Inform people Persuade others Entertain the reader Explore an idea Express feelings.

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Writing With a Purpose

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  1. Writing With a Purpose ICS 139w 08/10/2011

  2. The Goal of Writing • What are some possible reasons for writing? • What are some goals of writing a (formal) document? • Explain an idea • Informpeople • Persuade others • Entertain the reader • Explore an idea • Expressfeelings

  3. The Goal of Writing • In technical writing,one goal is to… transmit information as effectively as possible • Effective Writing  Scientific Method • Does a change in the text result in an improved reaction? • ReaderResponse = function(WrittenText) from http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/pubs/two-abstract.html

  4. Identifying Goals • Try to be able to state the goal or purpose of a piece of writing in a sentence. • What is the objectiveor intended outcome? • What is the goal of… • A Wikipedia article about Alan Turing? • A blog post about installing a new version of Windows? • An email to the professor about an assignment? • An academic paper about social groups in World of Warcraft? • A memo about the new version control system used by a company? • The ICS139w Syllabus? • Assignment 2: System Overview and Introduction Tutorial?

  5. Audience • Remember: Author => Text => Audience • Audience may be more important than the text! • the dependent variable • the output variable affected by the input your text • The audience of a text helps define the text’s purpose

  6. Writing for an Audience Imagine that we’ve just finished creating and deploying a new prototype web service. • Now we want to tell the world about it. TrackMe Gets location Reads your Mind • Each group gets an audience slip • Write a short paragraph introducing and explaining our service to your audience • You can make up the details about its capabilities, etc.

  7. Share-back

  8. Focus on the audience

  9. The Thesis The main point of an essay or paper. The argument you are making. A statement of the goal you want to achieve.

  10. Writing a Thesis A good thesis… • clearly states the writer’s opinion or argument • makes a significant and arguable claim • usually has one main idea • is limited to fit the assignment or situation • is clear and specific • (try to avoid “my opinion is” or “I argue that”) • It is not always necessary to have an explicit thesis. From: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/rst/pop5e.cfm

  11. A Good Thesis Is this a good thesis statement? • In this paper, I will discuss the different types of websites. • Some benefits of online learning are its scheduling, cost, and flexibility. • Companies like Apple have made it impossible to go anywhere without seeing one of their ads on display. • Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, you can download your favorite story in minutes without having to buy the book. • “Minority Report” is a very good movie about ubiquitous computing. • Watching too many television programs can lead to unrealistic expectations because the views of reality are contrived, solutions are overly simplistic, and violence is excessive. • Students should study math regardless of their majors due to the fact that mathematical skills are needed for going shopping at the mall, making a budget for the family, and investing money in retirement accounts.

  12. Scope • At what level are you writing? • What level of detail? • Depends on the audience and purpose! • Not too broad and not too narrow • What is the scope of the assignment/venue? • e.g., conference poster vs. journal paper • Matching page limits

  13. Significance • Purpose means that your writing achieves some goal • But goal needs to matter to someone • Technical writing is descriptive, but try to also go beyond simple use • Make sure all parts of the text are relevant • Make sure no parts of the text are redundant

  14. “So what?” • …of each point/detail • …of each example • …of each component • …of each sentence

  15. BREAK!

  16. Peer-Editing: System Overview Outlines • Exchange papers in groups of 3 or 4 • Pass them around for everyone to read • Read & comment first, then discuss as a group • Once you start discussing, we will answer questions • Can also come see us during Office Hours for individual feedback • You will need to turn your commented outline on Monday • (you can use the comments for writing before then)

  17. Homework • Monday: bring a full draft for Assignment 2 for peer-editing. • Also bring your commented outlines to turn in. • Assignment 2 will be due Tuesday 08/16 @ midnight to EEE Dropbox. Any Questions?

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