Gluma, Lyrinx E.

BSED Eng 3-B

Technical Writing WEEK 1

ACTIVITY #1

1. What do you think is the importance of technical writing?

Technical writing in English is a valuable medium for expressing or conveying

one's thoughts, opinions, conclusions, orders, and recommendations in a
rational and technical manner. In the field of engineering, technical writing in
English necessitates the use of complex registers, form, and vocabulary.
Since technical writing in English serves a particular function, it must be
concise, appropriate, and free of repetition. The above are needed for skills
such as writing instructions and inferring data from graphs and charts. This
paper explains the different writing skills available in the field of engineering,
as well as highlighting the above ideas with specific examples.

2. Discuss the relevance of technical writing in our present world.

It enables them to communicate their own knowledge to others in an

understandable manner. This makes it easier for everyone to connect to the
firm's products and services, resulting in a welcoming atmosphere for
everyone. The majority of knowledge in the industrial world is transmitted by
various means of professional prose. Since technology has improved so far,
everyone now has access to a variety of digital channels where knowledge in
the form of technical writing is shared on a daily basis. It can be about a single
subject or a variety of topics, and it can provide information to the reader. After
gaining technical knowledge about any given object, whether it be a computer,
a product, or something else, interaction becomes easier.
Gluma, Lyrinx E. BSED Eng 3-B
Technical Writing WEEK 2

ACTIVITY #2

1. Explain the basic aspects of technical writing.

There are seven principles to guide technical writing: remember your purpose
(to inform or persuade), remember your audience (their concerns,
background, attitude toward your purpose), make your content specific to its
purpose and audience, write clearly and precisely (active voice, appropriate
language to audience), make good use of visuals (good page design and
graphics), and be ethical (truthful, full disclosure, no plagiarizing).
Both explicit (or obvious) and implicit (or implied) purposes are served by
technical communication. To provide information, to provide guidance, to
convince the reader to act on the information, or to enforce or forbid anything
are all explicit objectives. Establishing a relationship, building trust,
establishing reputation, and recording behavior are all implicit purposes.

2. What are the characteristics of technical writing style?

1) Technical Writing is Comprehensive

If you are explaining the functions of the buttons on a toolbar, you need to
explain ALL of them.
If a gadget has two communication ports, you need to explain how each of
them is used.
Any omission in covering all system components or attributes in a document
means an eventual call to the customer service.

2) Technical Writing is Logical and Sequential

Technical writing information cannot contradict itself. All information, all steps
need to make sense with respect to one another.
If you need to open a lid in order to reach a button, you need to tell the reader
to open the lid first and then to press the button.
In the above case, do not instruct the user to press the button and then open
the lid.
3) Technical Writing is Action Oriented

You are writing a document to help users take action.

Therefore, use action verbs whenever possible, especially in the beginning of
procedural steps.
BAD: "Cable A and Cable Z need to be connected now."
BETTER: "Connect Cable A to Cable Z."
BAD: "Memory leaks will drop the efficiency of data retrieval and thus watch
out against such an eventuality."
BETTER: "Report any memory leaks immediately."

4) Technical Writing is Organized

Technical documents are organized in the ideal "tree view" fashion.

The material is organized in layers, from general to the specific.
The document starts with the general aspects of a system and drills down to
more specific details later on.
For example, you explain what the TopCardPro software accomplishes first
(controls access to power plant sites), BEFORE you explain the way to
configure an access card with the user info.
The individual chapters and sections should have a logical parent-child-sibling
relationship to one another.
For example, if you are explaining how to start an engine in Chapter 1, you
should also explain how to shut it off within the same chapter since they are
conceptually related procedures ("siblings").
The information on how to delete a user from the database ("child") should be
placed within a more general chapter or section ("parent") devoted to User
Configuration, or Database Management, just to give an example.
Gluma, Lyrinx E. BSED Eng 3-B
Technical Writing WEEK 3

ACTIVITY #3

1. Who are the readers of technical writing? Why does the technical writer
need to know them ?
Your audience is your intended reader, or who you’re writing for. In technical
writing, your audience is often going to fit into one of the following categories:

 Executives—Those who are funding the product

 Experts—Those who are coming up with ideas about the product
 Technicians—Those who are building the product
 Non-specialists—The end-user

This is important because the way you write your document is determined by
the scope of your audience. The general rule is the less the audience knows,
the less technical your document will be. So when a document is for the
layman, it shouldn’t contain overly technical language, should clearly define
terms, and avoid technical jargon. Yet when the audience consists of experts,
the opposite is true, as the more expertise the audience has, the more
technical the document becomes.
Gluma, Lyrinx E. BSED Eng 3-B
Technical Writing WEEK 4

ACTIVITY #4

A. Write a one-sentence definition of any three of the following:

1. Government - the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs,

etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain
functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and
administration.
2. Novel - an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and
deals especially with human experience through a usually connected
sequence of events
3. Electricity - a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged
particles (such as electrons or protons), either statically as an accumulation of
charge or dynamically as a current.
4. Cap - a head covering especially with a visor and no brim.
5. Internet - a global computer network providing a variety of information and
communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using
standardized communication protocols.
6. Computer - is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences
of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.
7. Magnetism - a physical phenomenon produced by the motion of electric
charge, resulting in attractive and repulsive forces between objects.
8. Bold - not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or
rebuff; courageous and daring:
9. School - is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces
and learning environments for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the
direction of teachers.
Gluma, Lyrinx E. BSED Eng 3-B
Technical Writing WEEK 5

ACTIVITY #5
1. Following the rules in classification, write a classification of:

1. Teachers- A teacher (also called a schoolteacher or formally, an

educator) is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence
or virtue.
-educator
-tutor
-instructor
-pedagogue
-schoolteacher
-schoolmaster
2. Students- a person formally engaged in learning, especially one enrolled in
a school or college.
-undergraduate
-postgraduate
-scholar
-tutee
-freshmen
3. Schools- a place or institution for teaching and learning; establishment for
education.
-academe
-academic community
-academicians
-college
-savants
2. Tell what is wrong with the following classifications:
Employees:
1. Those employed in private companies
- Employees can be employed whether in private or public.
2. Those employed in government officers
- Employees can be also seen in other office jobs or companies.
3. Those who are honest
- Employees can be define based on their character and not on
their position status.