response to todd's chap 6 &7 writing

I chose to respond to Todd's writing because he very much got the same similar ideas from the chapters that I did. He brought up a good point how the guidelines try to get you to streamline your research but then also tells you to deepen and explore other areas. This was a catch i made as well. For chapter 7 we have the exact same argument about how it tells you to give your results up front and then follow with details. He agrees that in cases where the reader might respond negatively to the outcome it might be best to show the ground work leading up to that point so the reader has to read why it failed. This would be so that the reader could not make any acuzations about why the outcome is not what they would have liked.

Chap 6 & 7 reading

Chapter six discusses some important things to keep in mind when doing research. They bring up the relationship between writing done in school and at work. While during school there is much time to explore lots of areas, for work you must conduct your research efficiently because you are paid for your time and cannot waste it. You can't afford to spend alot of time on a dead end because there is often people waiting your response. They also talk about the idea of a research plan that you could prepare before hand to keep you on track. One of the good points they make is to not wait until the end of the research before you start thinking about the interpretation of the results. I think that this is a good idea because it allows you to plan ahead for your writing and also connect it to other areas or leads.

Chapter seven is organizing and arranging your research and information correctly for the type of writing you will be using it in. It is basically helping you to put the most important stuff where it needs to be keeping all the details with the appropriate generalization. This is a particular part where i differ in ideas about the order of results and conclusions. The book says that you should give your findings in a quick generalization first so that the reader can get the answer without reading alot. However I think that if the conclusion is not one that you think the reader will be pleased with, then it might be best to share the results first so the reader knows why. Mainly I am talking about a failure or other situation in which you write about something the reader will not like or heavily disagree with.

Response to sams chap 3 post

I chose Sams post before I read it because I know him and I have a pretty good idea of his personality so I knew I would probably relate to his post. We did agree on the new approach the chapter takes on conveying my ideas. He thought it was interesting that they were using the persuasion in the writing to cause the desired reaction rather than factual information. As a fellow engineer I know exactly what he is talking about. Most papers we write are full of data that essentially speaks for its self. So this technique is somewhat foreign and I also think that I would not use it as much as most other professions. He didn't write about how it wants to really know how the reader is going to respond and how tough that can be. Which is a large part of what I wrote about. I was a lot more cynical towards this idea than he appeared to be from his writing. But I think that our views are fairly similar in general.

Chapter 3 thoughts.

Chapter three is a follow-up chapter from chapter two taking one of the main writing techniques and going into great detail about it. The main idea is clearly to find the goals and objectives of your writing. However as I read on it was slowly revealed that my definition of goals and objectives in a writing were very different from the books. I took them as including the correct types of information or subject matter that was intended. A paper should make sure that it adequately covers the requested or proposed material. I am talking about the physical data or words that the reader is looking for and the book takes a more abstract approach.

I remember in chapters one and two they had put a lot of emphasis on writing for your reader. They discussed many types of ways to do this including ethical, educational and professional. They wanted to stress the importance of knowing your audience. This is a very good point and is a large part of the writing but as chapter three progresses they start to really narrow it down on finding out about the reader. They seem to not only want you to know the exact person but also know how he or she is going to respond or perceive your writing. Again this is an important concept but what really got to me was that it seemed like they were really wanting us to get inside of the readers head and make sure that they got everything we wanted them to and to respond exactly how we wanted them to.

This chapter really sets a very high standard and has some very unlikely expectations. They include alot of phsycology and a little manipulative or mind reading almost. Basically I just don't think that unless you have a decent background in phsycology that most would find it very difficult to know how a person will respond especially someone whom you most likely will not know on a personal level. An interoffice letter or memo would be much easier to get the desired results. I think that knowing a little about the person your writing to will will be extremely helpful but thats about all I think you need . There isn't any need to find out what kind of a mood they are in that day so they don't take last nights loss on the trifecta out on your investment proposal.

My Innermost thoughts on written word.

Being an engineer or a student engineer I haven't had a lot of feedback or criticism on any of the writing I have done. Of the two quarters of English 101 and 102 I took at Clark College most of the feedback was just grammar correction. The rest of the papers I wrote were more focused on the content with usually around 10% grammar. I am not saying I have not had alot of experience writing because I always had lab reports and research papers that were required in my engineeering classes. With computers correct spelling and obvious wording issues like writing "the the" I have pretty much learned how to write well using proper grammar and using words correctly to convey my thoughts and ideas, so I do not have any problem with grammar or communicating efectively. I think that i have the foundation needed to get the most out of this class.
Now I should mention that writing is not really one of my favorite activities, I would much rather be problem solving with enginering calculations. Of course in solving these problems I have to write the occasional sentence or two, but that is much different from writing an essay or research paper. Although essays do not really bother me when I am able to just write about what I knoe or how I feel about a certain subject, like I am doing in this blog. The research papers are where I have the problem because I really do not like to do the research because often times it is not something I have an interest in. Once I have the research actualy writing the paper is not really all that bad either. The main thing about research papers is the reading that is required. I litterally do not like to read plain as that. I can read very well and do it when it is assigned or needed for homework, but I have not read a book for fun since I was probably ten maybe. A large reason is that I have ADHD (for real I take the meds for it) and it is difficult for me to read because I cannot stay focused on what i am reading. Most the time I read a page and then realize my mind had wandered and I have no clue what i just read so I might have to read it three or four times. So since I don't read for fun I think that is probably why I don't really do any other writing other than what I do in school.
As I stated earlier I think that this class is going to teach me aspects of writing in the professional world that will definately be of use to me. I have very little experience in writing professional letters, memos or emails. I do however have a good amount of experience with the formats of proposals and reports from all of the projects and labs I have done. What I am looking forward to learning is all of the techniques and strategies for making my writings more effective and successful. These types of skills stand out in a persons professional writing ability and gives them an advantage others may not have. This book also has a bit on communicating effectively in writing so that the reader get the right information or perspective on what you are writing. I think that my skills in this area are very well groomed because my knowledge in science is advanced and I have had to learn how to explain or write things so that non-science individuals can understand what I am trying to say.
To sum it up writing is obviously a tool that will be used emensely throughout my career and since what I write will most often be about advanced material, I really need to learn how to write for my audience. That is the most inportant skill I want to master. The booked calls it "reader centered" basically meaning learning about your audience so that you can tell them what you want them to hearwhile telling them what they want to hear. You want your writing to be pleasing, appealing, informative, understandable and address all ideas the reader is looking for, making your professional writing skills excel you professional career.

Response to reading Chapters-1,20,22

When reading the first chapter it is easy to see the outcome they would like you leave with when your finished reading it. The main message is to make sure that you have a good understanding of the person or persons that will be reading you writing. It is important that you do this because you are trying to communicate your thoughts through writing which has a much different result than verbal communication. You need to know the audience that is reading you writing because they may not understand or know about certain things and may take things in a different context than you intend. Also they talk about ethics and making sure that your writing abides by the readers ethical background so that you don't offend or confuse them.
The other main point in this chapter is to distinguish the differences between writing done at school and in the workplace. A good point I read was that when a professor reads a students writing their main focus or most often the only focus is on the students comprehension of the subject matter. While a writing in the work place most often has the intention of influencing the reader into agreeing or accepting your ideas. While grammar is very important in both areas for communicating the proper idea and is expected you can have perfect grammar along with poor communication and understanding of the central point.

Chapter 20 focususes on on letters memo's and emails. They have a list of important guidelines that are very helpful when writing these types of messages. A major part is on the customary way to write a memo, letter, or email. Some of the important things were having the right format, making your message "reader centered", and making sure you that the main idea is provided quickly and with the right amount of information. Providing information is essential but providing too much or unnecessary information can cause the reader to lose focus. Thats why you need to know your reader so that you don't break things down too much or not enough and make them feel stupid or ignorant. Essentially this chapter gives the customary way along with a few tips to make your message more effective and helping to provide you with an advantage over the reader.

Chapter 22 takes one of the guidelines from chapter 21 and goes further indepth on the subject matter of making you writing reader focused. The use this guideline with a proposal to help you make your proposal more effective. Because most often the reader of a letter is an investor or a client who intends to give you money for a good or service you want them to accept your proposal. This chapter gives you knowledge about the typical things the reader expects to see. They define four things and also provide tips for making them more beneficial to you. First thing is to clearly define the problem that you are proposing to solve which is actually the most important step in solving a problem is to clearly define the problem that you need to solve. Second the discuss the solution that you will give. You want your solution to be appealing and cacth the interest of the reader. Third and most often the most important to the reader is the cost. How much overall and sometimes a breakdown as well as a timeline. Last the discuss capability of you to do the job. You need to make the reader feel confident and safe that you will complete the solution that you propose and that it will be done to their expectations.

This book has alot of great information about writing in the real world. I skimmed some of the chapters and I expect that I will be learning a great deal of invaluable information to help me in my future.