How to Write for the World of Work

Pearsall, Thomas E.

ISBN 10: 0155011219 ISBN 13: 9780155011212

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 1980

Synopsis

Designed for advanced professional, technical or business writing courses, this concise text covers basic principles, correspondence and reports, and provides a guide to common problems.

About this title

Review

Unit I: BASIC PRINCIPLES. 1. The Process of Workplace Communication. Analyzing Your Audience. Anticipating Readers' and Listeners' Questions. Setting Objectives. Discovering and Gathering Information. Planning Your Organization. Planning Visuals. Writing and Revising. Writing and Planning Collaboratively. Communicating Ethically. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 2. Computers and Workplace Communication. Writers' and Readers' Responsibilities. The Writing Process Online. Writing Environments. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 3. Persuasion and Scientific Argument. Persuasion. Scientific Argument. Uses of Persuasion and Scientific Argument. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 4. Creating World-Ready Documents and Presentations: Style and Tone. Expressing Routine Information Mindfully. Achieving Clarity and Conciseness. Using Language that Does Not Offend. Achieving Proper Tone. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 5. Design and Development of Documents. Making Documents Inviting to Read. Making the Contents Easy to Follow. Making Documents Easy to Use. Planning and Revising Checklist: Text and Document Design. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 6. Visuals and Document Design I. Factors Influencing Comprehension of Visuals. Ethics of Visuals. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 7. Visuals and Document Design II. Computer-Generated Visuals. Using Visuals to Explain Objects. Using Visuals to Explain Processes and Show Relationships. Using Visuals to Explain Trends and Relationships. Planning and Revising Checklist: Visuals. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. Unit II: CORRESPONDENCE AND PRESENTATIONS. 8. Workplace Correspondence: Letters, Memos, and E-Mail. Basic Principles of Workplace Correspondence. Basic Formats of Correspondence. Situations and Analyses of Typical Workplace Correspondence. Planning and Revising Checklist: Workplace Correspondence. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 9. Resumes, Employment Letters, and Application Forms. Timing. Preparation. Resumes. Letters. Application Forms. Planning and Revising Checklist: The Job Hunt. Planning and Revising Checklist: Job-Hunt Communication. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 10. Portfolios and Interviews. Portfolios. Interviews. Planning and Revising Checklist: The Portfolio. Planning and Revising Checklist: The Interview. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 11. Communicating News: News-Release Publications, Brochures, and Web Pages. News-Release Publications. Brochures. Web Pages. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 12. Oral Presentations. Preparing for Oral Presentations. Developing Oral Presentations. Delivering Oral Presentations. Planning and Revising Checklist: Oral Presentations. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. Unit III: REPORTS. 13. Workplace Reports. Types of Reports. Formal Elements. Prefatory Elements. Main Elements. Supplemental Elements. Planning and Revising Checklist: Formal Elements of Workplace Reports. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 14. Recommendation Reports. Practical Logic. Reporting the Solution. Recommendation Reports as Correspondence. Planning and Revising Checklist: Recommendation Reports. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 15. Proposals. Solicited Proposals. Unsolicited Proposals. Proposal for a Paper. Planning and Revising Checklist: Proposals. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 16. Mechanism Description. Deciding How Much Information to Provide. Helping Readers Visualize the Mechanism. Arranging the Details of the Description. Planning and Revising Checklist: Mechanism Description. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 17. Instructions. Collecting the Information to Write Instructions. Writing Brief Sets of Instructions. Writing Instruction Booklets and Manuals. Troubleshooting and Undoing Errors. Testing Instructions for Usability. Planning and Revising Checklist: Instructions. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. Unit IV: RESEARCH. 18. Research Strategies. Identifying the Problem. Locating the Information. Taking Notes. Evaluating the Information. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 19. Research Sites and Sources?Library and Internet Research. Library Sites. Electronic Search Strategies. Reference Sources. Evaluation of Information. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 20. Research Sites and Sources?Field Research. Preparing for Field Research. Interviews. Surveys. Direct Observations. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. 21. Documenting Sources. Incorporating Information. Using Proprietary, Copyrighted, and Public Domain Information. Documenting Sources. Planning and Revising Checklist: Documentation in Reports. Suggestions for Applying Your Knowledge. Unit V: WRITER'S GUIDE. Writer's Guide. Abbreviation. Acronym. Apostrophe. Brackets. Bullets. Capitalization (Upper Case Letters). Colon. Comma. Dash. Diction. Ellipsis Points. Exclamation Point. Hyphen. Italics. List. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers. Numbers (Numerals). Paragraphs. Parallelism. Parentheses. Period (Dot). Pronouns. Question Mark. Quotation Marks. Run-On Sentence. Semicolon. Sentence Fragment. Sentence. Slash. Mark. Spelling. Symbol. Transition. Underlining. Verb Agreement. Word Division. Index.

About the Author

Dr. Thomas E. Pearsall, professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, is author of a number of college textbooks. He has served as president of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing and is the founder and first president of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication. Dr. Pearsall is a fellow of both the Society of Technical Communication and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. He is listed in Who¿s Who in America and the Who¿s Who is the World.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0155011219
• ISBN 13: 9780155011212
• Binding: Misc. Supplies
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 544