Lecture 3&4
Objectives in Technical Writing
Objectives
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Clarity
Conciseness
Accuracy
Organization
Ethics
CLARITY
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Provide specific detail
Answer the reporter’s questions
Use easily understandable words
Use verbs in the active voice
CLARITY
1) Provide Specific detail
Supply specific quantified information, avoid
vague or abstract adverbs and adjectives e.g
some or recently.
State exact meaning
CLARITY
2)Answer the Reporter’s questions
Who, what, when, where, why and how
3) Use Easily Understadable Words
i)Avoid Obscure Words:
Write to express not to impress
• Using Acronyms, Abbreviations, and jargon
Acronym: single word created from the first
letters of multiple words
-Scuba(self contained underwater breathing
apparatus)
-radar(radio detecting and ranging)
-NASA(National Aeronautics Space
Agency)
• Abbreviations:
-FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigations)
-IBM(International Buiness Machines)
-L.A(Los Angeles)
-U.E.T
• Jargon:
heaters(for fast balls in Baseball)
• Guess the meaning of the following
abbreviations and jargons:
• CIA????
• Spaghetti???
• FIFO???
• Solution:
-Parenthetial Definitions i.e CIA(Cash in
advance)
-Glossary
Active Voice versus Passive Voice
CONCISENESS
• Provide thorough details in fewer words
-conciseness saves some time
-it aids in comprehension
How to achieve Conciseness
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1)Limit Paragraph Length
2)Limit word and Sentence Length
3)Avoid Camouflaged Words
4)Avoid the Expletive Pattern
it allows you some time to understand the
contents separately
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it gives you a room to breathe
1)Limit Paragraph Length
• “Please Prepare to supply a readout of your
findings and recommendations to the officer of the
Southwest Group at the completion of your study
period. As w discussed, the undertaking of this
project implies no currently known incidences of
impropriety in the Southwest Group, nor is it
designed specifically to find any. Rather, it is to
assure ourselves of sufficient caution, control, and
impartiality when dealing with an area laden with
such potential vulnerability. I am confident that we
will be better served as a company as a result of
this effort”.
Limit Paragraph Length
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No more than 4 to 6 typed lines
No more than 50 words
Short paragraphs are manageable
Cut long paragraph at logical places
Improved version
Please Prepare to supply a readout of your findings and
recommendations to the officer of the Southwest Group at
the completion of your study period. As w discussed, the
undertaking of this project implies no currently known
incidences of impropriety in the Southwest Group, nor is it
designed specifically to find any.
Rather, it is to assure ourselves of sufficient caution,
control, and impartiality when dealing with an area laden
with such potential vulnerability. I am confident that we
will be better served as a company as a result of this effort.
2)Limit word and Sentence Length
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Excessively long words and sentences add haze to the writing.
Fog index should not be greater than 13
Robert Gunning’s Method for Fog Index
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Take a full passage that is around 100 words (do not omit any sentences).
Find the average sentence length (divide the number of words by the number
of sentences).
Count words with three or more syllables (complex words), not including
proper nouns (for example, Djibouti), familiar jargon or compound words, or
common suffixes such as -es, -ed, or -ing as a syllable.
Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words
Multiply the result by 0.4
Example:
Fog Index and Reading Level
Fog Index
By Grade
17
College Graduate
16
College Senior
15
College Junior
14
College
13
College
12
High School Senior
11
High School Junior
10
High School sophomore
9
High School Freshman
8
Eighth Grade
7
Seventh grade
6
Sixth grade
Interpretation of Fog Index
• 22% americans graduate
• Writing at college level means that you are
ignoring 78% of the readers
Calculating Fog Index
• Passage from the Wikipedia article on
"logorrhoea"
– The word logorrhoea is often used pejoratively to
describe prose that is highly abstract and contains little
concrete language. Since abstract writing is hard to
visualize, it often seems as though it makes no sense
and all the words are excessive. Writers in academic
fields that concern themselves mostly with the abstract,
such as philosophy and especially postmodernism,
often fail to include extensive concrete examples of
their ideas, and so a superficial examination of their
work might lead one to believe that it is all nonsense.
Example
• Passage from the Wikipedia article on
"logorrhoea"
• The following paragraph has a Gunning Fog Index
of 16.6.
– The word logorrhoea is often used pejoratively to
describe prose that is highly abstract and contains little
concrete language. Since abstract writing is hard to
visualize, it often seems as though it makes no sense
and all the words are excessive. Writers in academic
fields that concern themselves mostly with the abstract,
such as philosophy and especially postmodernism, often
fail to include extensive concrete examples of their
ideas, and so a superficial examination of their work
might lead one to believe that it is all nonsense.
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Analysis
There are 86 words in three sentences.
The 11 italic words are considered complex.
0.4 ((86 / 3) + 100 (11/86))
0.4 x ( 28.67 + 12.79)
Fog index = 16.6
Assignment Question1
– As a result of the military, economic, scientific,
political, and cultural influence of the United Kingdom
from the 18th century, and of the United States since
the mid 20th century, it has become the lingua franca in
many parts of the world, and the most prominent
language in international business and science. It is
used extensively as a second language and as an official
language in the European Union and many
Commonwealth countries, as well as many international
organisations.
Assignment Question2
• Passage from the Wikipedia article on "The English Language"
– As a result of the military, economic, scientific,
political, and cultural influence of the United Kingdom
from the 18th century, and of the United States since
the mid 20th century, it has become the lingua franca in
many parts of the world, and the most prominent
language in international business and science. It is
used extensively as a second language and as an official
language in the European Union and many
Commonwealth countries, as well as many international
organisations.
Ways to Lower High Fog Index
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Use the Meat Cleaver Method of Revision
Avoid Shun Words
Avoid Camouflaged Words
Avoid the Expletive Pattern
Omit Redundancies
Avoid Wordy Phrases
Meat Cleaver Method
• Cut the sentence in half or thirds
• Example:
To maintain proper stock balances of respirators
and canister elements and to ensure the
identification of physical limitations which may
negate an individual’s previous fit-test, a GBC-16
Respirator Request and Issue Record will need to
be submitted for each respirator requested for use.
Meat Cleaver Method….contd
Version2:
Please submit a GBC-16 Respirator Request
and Issue Record for each requested
respirator. We then can maintain proper
respirator and canister elements stock
balances. We also can identify physical
limitations which may negate an
individual’s previous fit-test.
Avoid Shun Words
Example:
1) “to ensure the identification of physical
limitations”
• Identify physical limitations
2) “I want you to take into consideration the
following”
Consider the following .
Comprison: 66% reduced
Some Examples
Shun word
Concise Version
Came to the conclusion Concluded or decided
With the exception of
Except for
Make revisions
Revise
Utilization of
Use
Consider
implementation
implement
Avoid Camouflaged words
• The keyword is burried in the middle of
surrounding words(usually helper words or
unneeded words)
e.g with the exception of----------except
Some camouflaged words
For the purpose of
discussing
Arrive at an agreement
discuss
At a later moment
later
Make an amendment to
amend
Have a meeting
meet
agree
Avoid Expletive Pattern
• Avoid “there is” , “it is” pattern
• Example: “There are three people who will work
for Acme” ……….9 words
Revised Version: Three people will work for
Acme…………………...6 words
Omitted 3 words or 33%
Example 2: It has been decided that ten engineers
will be hired.
Revised: Ten Engineers will be hired
Omit Redundancies
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During the year of 2000
In the month of December
Needless to say
We collaborated together on the project
This is a new innovation
Avoid Wordy Phrases
• Due to the fact that …………because
• Enclosed please find…………enclosed is
• In the near future……………..soon
Accuracy
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1)Let someone else read it
2)Use the gestation approach
3)Read backwards
4)Read one line at a time
5)Read long words syllable by syllable
6)Use Technology
7)Check figures, scientific and technical equations, and
abbreviations
• 8)Read it out Loud
• 9)Try scattershot proofing
• 10)Use a dictionary