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?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Explain an idea
Inform people
Persuade others
Entertain the reader
Explore an idea
Express feelings
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?
from http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/pubs/two-abstract.html
• ReaderResponse = function(WrittenText)
Identifying Goals
• Try to be able to state the goal or purpose of a piece of
writing in a sentence.
• What is the objective or intended outcome?
• What is the goal of…
1. A Wikipedia article about Alan Turing?
2. A blog post about installing a new version of Windows?
3. An email to the professor about an assignment?
4. An academic paper about social groups in World of Warcraft?
5. A memo about the new version control system used by a
company?
6. The ICS139w Syllabus?
7. Assignment 2: System Overview and Introduction Tutorial?
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
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.
Share-back
Focus on the audience
The Thesis
The main point of an essay or paper.
The argument you are making.
A statement of the goal you want to achieve.
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
A Good Thesis
Is this a good thesis statement?
1.
In this paper, I will discuss the different types of websites.
2.
Some benefits of online learning are its scheduling, cost, and
flexibility.
3.
Companies like Apple have made it impossible to go anywhere
without seeing one of their ads on display.
4.
Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, you can download your favorite
story in minutes without having to buy the book.
5.
“Minority Report” is a very good movie about ubiquitous computing.
6.
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.
7.
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.
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
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
“So what?”
• …of each point/detail
• …of each example
• …of each component
• …of each sentence
BREAK!
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)
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?