Technical Object Description

1 Assignment 4: Technical Object Description ENGL2338: Technical Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Department of English University of Texas at Arlin" rel="nofollow">ington Assignment Overview This assignment asks that you select a technical object and write a description of its looks, features, and functions. In completin" rel="nofollow">ing this assignment, you will learn how to defin" rel="nofollow">ine and describe a technical object to someone who has little knowledge with it. Assignment Guidelin" rel="nofollow">ines Begin" rel="nofollow">in by reviewin" rel="nofollow">ing Gurak & Lannon, Chapter 12: Descriptions. You will choose your own topic for this assignment. However, the subject of your description should be a technical object (e.g., fitness tracker, flash drive, wrench, clock radio, calculator, smart phone, game console, stapler, etc.). Because you must accurately describe an object in" rel="nofollow">in at least 500 words, do not pick somethin" rel="nofollow">ing too simple (such as a paper clip). Choose a topic that is complex and manageable. Once you have identified a technical object, research it. Take time to learn about what the parts are called and how they work. This might require you to read background in" rel="nofollow">information or otherwise in" rel="nofollow">inform yourself about the topic. Audience and Content Your primary audience would be someone who has little experience with the object that you are describin" rel="nofollow">ing. Regardless of the object, your fin" rel="nofollow">inal paper should be at least 500 words; you must in" rel="nofollow">include all of the followin" rel="nofollow">ing contents in" rel="nofollow">in your description: • Introduction. • Orient your audience by providin" rel="nofollow">ing a one-sentence defin" rel="nofollow">inition of the object. • Preview its various parts. • Discuss its uses and functions. • Preview the content of your description. • Detailed Description of the Object. • Describe each part of the object in" rel="nofollow">in detail, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing its dimensions, materials, prin" rel="nofollow">inciple(s) of operation, function, and relation to other parts. • Use the present tense. • When in" rel="nofollow">introducin" rel="nofollow">ing a new concept or termin" rel="nofollow">inology, make sure to explain" rel="nofollow">in it for a non-technical audience. • Conclusion. • Re-state the major use(s) and function(s) of the object to solicit the audience’s support or awareness. 2 Document Design and Illustrations Give careful thought to illustrations and design elements: • Use headin" rel="nofollow">ings and sub-headin" rel="nofollow">ings throughout the document. Mark the in" rel="nofollow">introduction, body, and conclusion of your document with headin" rel="nofollow">ings; and use sub-headin" rel="nofollow">ings to in" rel="nofollow">indicate the begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing of each part/component of the objective you are describin" rel="nofollow">ing. DO NOT just throw large chunks of text together without clearly identifyin" rel="nofollow">ing each part. • Sin" rel="nofollow">ingle-space the text. • You must in" rel="nofollow">include at least two illustrations. You may create your own, use illustrations from other sources, or adapt illustrations from other sources. Make sure you provide source in" rel="nofollow">information for all illustrations immediately below each illustration. (For example, for any photos you took: “Source: photo by author.” For any illustrations from other sources: “Source: web site (or other resource listed here).” • Apply as many of the four basic design prin" rel="nofollow">inciples as possible (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity). • Design your document for consistency (grid patterns, margin" rel="nofollow">ins, justification, white space, in" rel="nofollow">indentation, font style and size). See pages 136-140. • Design your document for navigation and emphasis (headin" rel="nofollow">ings, color, shadin" rel="nofollow">ing, boldface, italic, and underlin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing, bulleted and numbered lists). See pages 140-145. • Follow the tips for illustratin" rel="nofollow">ing documents presented in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 7. • In addition to followin" rel="nofollow">ing all the in" rel="nofollow">instructions regardin" rel="nofollow">ing assignment 4, please pay special attention to "Document Design" when completin" rel="nofollow">ing assignment 4. Like your "Instructions" document, your Technical Object Description should reflect your attention to "audience" in" rel="nofollow">in both content and design. In addition to readin" rel="nofollow">ing Chapter 12 on "Descriptions," review Chapters 7 and 8 on usin" rel="nofollow">ing visuals and designin" rel="nofollow">ing userfriendly documents. In addition to providin" rel="nofollow">ing your audience with useful, accurate in" rel="nofollow">information, your document should also be visually pleasin" rel="nofollow">ing to the audience. Also, don't forget you are not writin" rel="nofollow">ing a "commercial" for a particular object; you are writin" rel="nofollow">ing an objective, detailed description of the object. Warnin" rel="nofollow">ing Again" rel="nofollow">inst Copyin" rel="nofollow">ing Descriptions! You should write the descriptions yourself. DO NOT simply copy descriptions you found elsewhere and cite the source. If you do, SafeAssign will detect and report the exact words, phrases, and sentences that are copied and will show the origin" rel="nofollow">inal sources. We have been workin" rel="nofollow">ing with SafeAssign for many years and we know that it is an effective and reliable tool in" rel="nofollow">in detectin" rel="nofollow">ing plagiarism. In addition, it is NOT acceptable to copy existin" rel="nofollow">ing descriptions and then cite the sources. This is not the idea of this assignment. The idea is that YOU will write a technical object description—this maybe somethin" rel="nofollow">ing that you are familiar with, or somethin" rel="nofollow">ing that you have learned and can express in" rel="nofollow">in your own words. You are still allowed to consult secondary sources, if necessary. But do make sure that you are writin" rel="nofollow">ing the descriptions yourself. If you transcribe (copy) descriptions you found elsewhere, you cannot get a 60 or above on this assignment, even if you cite the sources in" rel="nofollow">in APA. If more than 30% of your paper is copied from other sources, your assignment will receive a 0, even if the sources are properly documented in" rel="nofollow">in APA. If portions (or the entirety) of your paper are copied from other sources without proper APA documentation, your assignment will receive a 0, and the plagiarism case will be reported to UTA Office of Student Conduct. 3 Submission • Your fin" rel="nofollow">inal paper should be at least 500 words and should be sin" rel="nofollow">ingle-spaced. • Submit your Word file via SafeAssign. No assignments will be accepted over email. • Required title for Word file: your last name-description. For example, my file name should be: Pearman-description.docx. • Due by 11: 59 pm on the Sunday of Week 4. Evaluation Rubrics • Completeness (10 pts): The description in" rel="nofollow">includes all of the sections required. • Termin" rel="nofollow">inology (10 pts): The description uses correct termin" rel="nofollow">inology and effectively explain" rel="nofollow">in the termin" rel="nofollow">inology to a non-technical audience. • Introduction (10 pts): The in" rel="nofollow">introduction orients the audience by providin" rel="nofollow">ing a onesentence defin" rel="nofollow">inition of the object. It previews the object’s various parts, discusses the object’s uses and functions. It also previews the content of the description. • Detailed Description of the Object (20 pts): The body of the document describes each part of the object in" rel="nofollow">in detail, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing its dimensions, materials, prin" rel="nofollow">inciple(s) of operation, function, and relation to other parts. It uses the present tense. It explain" rel="nofollow">ins new concepts or termin" rel="nofollow">inology for a non-technical audience. • Conclusion (10 pts): The conclusion re-states the major use(s) and function(s) of the object to solicit the audience’s support or awareness. • Design (10 pts): Effective use of the design prin" rel="nofollow">inciples (contrast, alignment, proximity, and repetition). Design features, such as fonts, font sizes, and forms of emphasis are applied consistently. The overall design is clear and consistent. • Illustrations (10 pts): There are at least two illustrations. The illustrations are effective, each servin" rel="nofollow">ing a functional purpose (meanin" rel="nofollow">ing, it helps the reader better comprehend the task at hand). It is not merely used for decorative purpose. The illustrations are appropriately documented, displayed, and labeled. • Style (10 pts): Present tense is used throughout. Headin" rel="nofollow">ings are in" rel="nofollow">in parallel form. Numbered/bulleted items, if used, are in" rel="nofollow">in parallel form. Paragraphs are unified— each paragraph has a sin" rel="nofollow">ingle focus, begin" rel="nofollow">ins with a topic sentence, and develops around a sin" rel="nofollow">ingle idea. • Mechanics (10 pts): Spellin" rel="nofollow">ing, APA documentation, grammar, and punctuation are correct. Min" rel="nofollow">inimum word requirement is met.