Throughout this weeks assignment, I have gotten the opportunity to learn, practice and revise on my technical writing skills. The definition assignment we did last week was really great because of a couple reasons. Firstly, I had to the opportunity to define a term In my field of profession and educate my peers on it. Secondly, I was able to read and learn the term Secularization from Alexandra to better grasp an understanding of the concept. Lastly, to be able to receive valuable feedback and compliments from my work is one of the most amazing things I can ever ask for. With the help of Alexandra’s critique was able to understand what I did well and also what I was missing. To be frank, when I construct my writings, I could proofread it multiple times and not find the lacking element to my paper, yet with another pair of eyes and knowledge, it really puts my writing into perspective.
When I first started writing for my term “mutual fund”, I was extremely confident in the term and underestimated the difficulty to explain a term I used every day at work. Yet after learning that there are so many different methods of definition in technical writing, I was pleasantly surprised but also concerned. I was unsure I could put all these different methods of definition in context with clarity, but with the help of a clear instruction I was able to figure out how to precisely construct each definition so that people are able to easily interpret the term without vast confusion.
I learned that my writing, although goes in-depth on analysis and explanation, lacks a personal connection. For instance, Alexandra mentioned three questions that she still had from reading my paper. Moreover, the most important question that resonated with me was: “Why do you think that people should be informed about what this term means?” This was essential because I was focusing too much on trying to explain a complex term while failing to realize the importance of retaining the audience’s attention. I failed to lay out why this piece of information is even relevant or useful for the readers, and without creating an incentive for the audience as they read through this definition, it loses its attraction and value.
Peer Review Link:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a/2018/10/01/peer-review-andy-xiaos-3-definitions/
Revised Version