Introduction
On this page, you will find attachments to the best four assignments produced in my English Technical Writing class. The assignments vary in terms of their content; however, one central idea in all the assignments is that they are written for a specific reader in mind.
Definitions Assignment
The purpose of the Definitions assignment is to choose a relatively complex term in my field of study, and write three different types of definitions to define the chosen term. The audience of the definitions are for “non-technical readers” that do not have the technical knowledge of the term that is to be defined. I wrote parenthetical, sentence and expanded definitions for the word algorithm. This assignment was one of the first assignments where I was required to write to a specific audience, an important component in technical writing. This assignment was unique, as it gave me the opportunity to write to an audience that does not have the same technical background as myself, something that I rarely do.
Formal Report Proposal
One of the major components in the course is a formal report that addresses a deficiency in the workplace or community. The report is to investigate the problem and make appropriate recommendations to the problem. Since I am currently working at Statistics Canada, I chose to write about the feasibility of implementing a composting program. As someone from BC, I find that environmental consciousness is integrated into everyday life. That is part of the reason of what motivated me to choose the topic. I submitted my formal report to my director at Statistics Canada for review to ensure the accuracy of my facts in the report. My director found the report interesting and invited me to present my findings at a managerial meeting. You can find my formal report proposal and full formal report below.
301_Nancy_Wu_Report_Proposal
301_Nancy_Wu_Final_Report
Letter of Complaint
The purpose of the letter of complaint is to request a company for compensation for an inconvenience I have suffered. The letter provides the company with details, facts, and requests in a way that tries to remain positive and professional, yet is strict in purpose. I drew upon an experience my friend encountered when he was at a used car dealership. He had purchased the car and winter tires, but it took five trips over three weeks for him to obtain the winter tires. I talked to him throughout the ordeal, and I thought that this would be a perfect scenario to center the letter of complaint around. This assignment was successful in it’s own right, since it is something personal, and potentially useful for my friend.
Peer Review
An important part of writing is to be able to critique other people’s work, and offer comments as to what is superior in their writing (and why), and what is not so good, and offer ways to fix those deficiencies. In my technical writing course, six peer reviews for six different assignments were required. Each one varied in length, but overall each peer review had the same structure. Each peer review was organized such that sub-headings in the review matched the sub-headings (or the
categories, or the order of discussion) used in the original piece of writing. Therefore, every section of the original writing would receive some comment/feedback. I have chosen to include my peer review of the formal report draft of my group member, Alex. This review is memorable for me because I carefully utilized writing the review to focus on what the reader (Alex) wants to know. I tactfully wrote my review to offer facts, instead of using imperative words towards his writing. Overall, this review is longer than the reviews I have written previously. I believe that I was able to offer specific feedback, such as knowledge of bias in answers and replies on Reddit, since I was familiar with his topic.
https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-technicalwriting-98a-2018/2018/08/03/3-3-peer-review-of-formal-report/