Fundamentals of Technical Writing (GEN 600)

Fundamentals of Technical Writing (GEN 600)

c© Samy S. Soliman

Electronics and Electrical Communications Engineering DepartmentCairo University, Egypt

Email: [email protected]: http://scholar.cu.edu.eg/samysoliman

Postgraduate Program

c© Samy S. Soliman (Cairo University) GEN 600 Postgraduate Program 1 / 29

Effective WritingThesis Statement


The Communication System

Objective - Size - Form - Duration - Venue


The Message

Message

Explains/details a main idea

Expansion of a Thesis Statement


The Message

Read - Analyze

Unlike readers of the academic world, most readers of thereal world read selectively: rather than thoroughly digestinga piece of writing, they skim-read most of it, skipping fromone main idea to another until they come to something thatparticularly interests them. Such readers are forced to readthis way.

How many sentences/parts?


The Message

Read - Analyze



The Message

Part 1

Unlike readers of the academic world, ...

is a phrase

cannot stand by itself

has incomplete meaning


The Message

Part 2

... most readers of the real world read selectively: ...

is a main clause

can stand by itself

has a complete meaning


The Message

Part 3

... rather than thoroughly digesting a piece of writing ...

is a phrase




The Message

Part 4

... they skim-read most of it ...

is a main clause

can stand by itself

has a complete meaning


The Message

Part 5

... skipping from one main idea to another ...

is a phrase




The Message

Part 6

... until they come to something that particularly intereststhem. ...

has two subordinate clauses


has incomplete meaning.


The Message

Part 7

... Such readers are forced to read this way.

is a simple sentence

can stand by itself

Has a complete meaning.


The Central Idea


Where is the central idea?


The Central Idea - Changed?

Unlike readers of the academic world, most readers ofthe real world read selectively: rather than thoroughlydigesting a piece of writing, they skim-read most of it, skip-ping from one main idea to another until they come tosomething that particularly interests them. Such readersare forced to read this way.

Most readers of the real world read selectively. They skim-read most of what they read, skipping from one main ideato another until they come to some-thing that particularlyinterests them. Such readers are forced to read this way.


The Central Idea - Thesis Statement

The Thesis Statement summarizes the whole text

Most readers of the real world read selectively. Theyskim-read most of what they read, skipping from one mainidea to another until they come to some-thing that partic-ularly interests them. Such readers are forced to read thisway.

Topic: Most readers of the real worldComment: read selectively


Thesis Statement

Every writing should have a central idea or central mes-sage

Thesis Statement: One or two sentences

Thesis Statement: Serves as a summary of the message

Thesis Statement - Topic Statement

Thesis Statement ⊃ Topic Statements

Thesis Statement: for a whole text of many paragraphsTopic Statement: for one single paragraph


Examples

Smog has become Cairo’s fall problem.

Knowing HRM is basic for managing people.

Cigarette smoking is hazardous to health.

Speaking and writing are not identical.


Message Example

Speaking and writing are not identical. Writing is not sim-ply speech written down on paper. Learning to write is notjust a natural extension of learning to speak a language. Welearned to speak our first language at home without sys-tematic instruction; whereas, most of us had to be taughtin school how to write that same language. Many adult na-tive speakers of a language find writing difficult. A speakerspeaks to a listener who is right there, nodding or frowning,or interrupting or questioning. For the writer, the reader’sresponse is either delayed or nonexistent.


Missing TS

Read

Several years ago, studies linked the intake of tar and nicotine, foundin cigarettes, with the development of cancer in laboratory animals.The evidence was so overwhelming that governments required cigarettemanufacturers to put a warning on the outside of each package ofcigarettes. Aside from the most serious and dreaded disease, cancer,cigarette smoking also aggravates or promotes other health problems.For example, smoking can increase the discomfort for the people withasthma and emphysema. It can give one a ”smoker’s cough” and con-tribute to bronchitis. Finally, recent studies have shown that cigarettesmokers are susceptible to common colds and flu.


Missing TS

Read

Several years ago, studies linked the intake of tar and nicotine, foundin cigarettes, with the development of cancer in laboratory animals.The evidence was so overwhelming that governments requiredcigarette manufacturers to put a warning on the outside of eachpackage of cigarettes. Aside from the most serious and dreadeddisease, cancer, cigarette smoking also aggravates or promotes otherhealth problems. For example, smoking can increase the discom-fort for the people with asthma and emphysema. It can giveone a ”smoker’s cough” and contribute to bronchitis. Finally, recentstudies have shown that cigarette smokers are susceptible tocommon colds and flu.

Smoking is hazardous to health


Characteristics of Thesis Statement

Indicates scope, purpose, and direction of writing

Sets up/Identifies relationships between all parts of themessage

Is a road map for the message

Directly answers essential questions about the message.

Should be concise and well written

Should be specific

Should be general and needs support

Should initiate the ”what” and the ”why” questions


Thesis Statement

Are these acceptable Thesis Statements

Aluminum is lighter than iron.

I think that volume of sales is simply the result of theprice of the commodity.


Tips for Writing Good Thesis Statement

Avoid burying the thesis statement in the middle

Avoid vague words

Connect two long statements to signal relationship, forexample by conjunction (but, for, so, yet) or (though,because, if, when, While, ...)


Cohesion

Cohesion of the text is achieved through

Tying all paragraphs (case of thesis statement)

Tying all sentences (case of topic statement)


Thesis Statement

How to Build TS?

Identify keywords

Group keywords

Cast keywords into TS structure


Thesis Statement

Task 1: Write a suitable TS

Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members ofthis profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standardsof honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact onthe quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided byengineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and mustbe dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior thatrequires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

https://tinyurl.com/GEN600-2



Thesis Statement

Task 2: Write a suitable TS

Internet of things is the interconnection of computing devices embed-ded in everyday objects via the Internet and enabling them to sendand receive data.The Internet of things has a myriad of applications inhealthcare that benefit patients, families and physicians alike. Somehospitals are using the Internet of things in healthcare to keep the tini-est patients safe and healthy, while others are using the technology tokeep track of inventory. These examples merely scrape the surface ofthe potential of healthcare IoT.




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Fundamentals of Technical Writing (GEN 600)