MIRPUR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARMENT OF ENGLISH
Attributes of Technical Writing (TW)

(Lecture # 3)

Date:
 Lecture Overview

•There are different characteristics or features of technical writing. In today's

session we will discuss first three attributes:

• It relates to a technical subject.

• It has a purpose.
• It has an objective.
• It conveys information/facts/data.
• It is impersonal.
• It is concise.

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 Attributes of Technical Writing (TW)

• Technical writing is formal.

• It has level of formality.

• It uses standard language.

• It is considered highly scientific.

• All above facts show the importance of technical writing.

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 Attribute No.1 : It refer to to a technical subject.

• Technical or academic writing is always concerned with specific area

or subject.

• Every field or subject has its own specification.

• Like Sciences, Engineering and Fine Arts.

• The needs and demands of each area under discussion may vary.

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 Continued…

• For example:
• Philosophy, psychology, and religion
• History
• Geography and anthropology
• Social sciences
• Political science
• Law
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 Continued…
• Education
• Fine arts
• Language and literature
• Science
• Agriculture
• Technology
• Health/medicine
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 Continued…
• Technical writing may apply to any of the above mentioned fields.

• Objectivity is the key element of technical writing

• What is objectivity?

• Technical writing is concerned with any subject which is evaluated on

object fashion.

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 Attribute No.2 : It has a purpose

• Technical Writing always has a:

 Reason
 Intension
 Cause
 Motive
 Logic etc.

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 Continued…
• For example, a purpose of writing technical report may be to;

Explain something
 show results
State reasons
Describe any topic
Compare etc.

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 Continued…
• The purpose of reports and papers should also be clearly stated, as in
the following example:

It is the purpose of this report to present the

results of a statistical study on the failure rate of
spring keys on a type D cardiology cassette. There
have been a number of latch failures uncovered in
the inspection cycle, and this work is the first step
in reducing the latch failure rate to less than three
ppm failure rate
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 Continued…

• This passage identifies:

1. The purpose of the report

2. Reason of doing the work
3. Recommendations

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 Attribute No.3 : It has an objective.

• Objective means the reason of doing a work.

• There is always a reason behind Technical Writing (TW) or

Technical Report .

• The objective of TW should be clearly known

• The objective is usually précised

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 Continued…
• Every research has a clear objective.
• For example, a research conducted on “Exploring the Factors of poor
communication skills of university students”, might have following
objectives:

• To identify the reasons of poor communication skills of students of BS

level of University.
• To increase the achievement level of students in communication skills.

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Attribute No. 4: It conveys information/facts/data.

• TW is used to convey important facts, figure, data or information

• Every sentence written in technical way should convey some solid
information otherwise its useless.
• Scientific and technical subjects usually offer some facts or related
data that is why TW is used in them.
• Technical writing should have substance (material or matter) in every
statement.

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 Continued…

• The use of data and factual information makes the

work a technical report.
• A report without facts or scientific evidence to
support an opinion also usually lacks credibility, and it
is likely to be unsuccessful in achieving its purpose
and objective.
• Its important that information or data should be
authentic.
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 Continued…
• Reports need facts and data to support results, conclusion and recommendations.
• Factual statements are used to write results.
• Following verbs are usually used to make factual statements:
Found
Solved
Determined
Resolved
Obtained
Approved
Accepted
Rejected etc.

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 Attribute No. 5: It is impersonal

• TW is impersonal so it is suggested to use ‘third person pronoun’

• The use of first person pronoun is considered improper
• Names of people are also avoided to use in TW as they add length
and look unprofessional.
• Personal pronouns are avoided like;
I, we, mine, our, you

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 Continued…
• The message can be conveyed without using names, trade
names or personal pronouns.

• For example:

I will provide best services to you. (Personal)

The best services will be provided to you. (Impersonal)

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 Continued…

• Another example:

 I will assign the appropriate individuals to handle the

situation in our company. (personal)

The appropriate individuals will be assigned to sort

out the situation in our company. (Impersonal)

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 Attribute No. 6: It is concise.

• TW is not written for the sake of entertainment.

• It provides facts and information
• Information is usually directed toward some individual
or institution.
• So message in TW should be short and to the point.
• Irrelevant material should be avoided because it will
just make the document lengthy and bulky.
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 Continued…
• Conciseness means wordiness i.e. to explain the
information in less possible words.
• Although it is difficult to achieve but it is necessary to
maintain in TW.
• It saves both cost and time of writer and reader.
• Paraphrasing and summarizing are good techniques to
achieve conciseness. (we will discuss these in later
lectures)

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 Continued…
• Example:

• Wordy:
Our company hereby wish to inform you that we are
pleased with the confidence you bestowed on us.

• Concise
Your confidence is highly appreciated.
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Recap

• In today's lecture we discussed Four attributes of TW :

1. It conveys information/facts/data.
2. It is impersonal.
3. It is concise.
4. It is directed.

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 REFERENCES

•Budinski, K.(2001), Engineers’ Guide to Technical Writing. ASM Internationals.

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THANKS
Attributes of Technical Writing

(Lecture # 4)

Date:
 Lecture Overview

•There are different attributes or characteristics of technical writing. In today's

session we discuss last three attributes:
•It is performed with a particular style and in a particular format.
• It is archival.
• It cites contributions of others.

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 Attribute No. 7: It is directed.

• As it is discussed earlier that TW has a specific area, purpose

and objective, so it is expected that it would have specific
readership also.
• TW is directed towards specific audience.
• Audience could be:
 A person
A Group
Or an organization/Institution
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 Continued…
• Example:

A letter is written to send to a receiver.

An office memo is written for the sake of circulating some information or order to
employees.

A book is written for the readers to get information from it.

Reports are used to convey information to relevant people.

Research reports, theses, papers, articles etc. are intended to provide knowledge to the
researchers of different fields.

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 Continued…

• In short, if your TW has no direction or intended viewer, it is

a wastage of time.

• So Technical Reports should be directed towards a particular

readership.

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Attribute No. 8: It is performed with a particular style
and in a particular format…

• TW is formal so it requires a particular style and format.

Style = the way you write

Format = the ordering and physical layout of a document

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 Style

Objective
Not
opinionated

Accurate

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 Continued…

Example
• Not Objective
The damaged gear train was removed in a bushel basket. Only a
miracle worker could put this puppy back together. The operators
must have fallen asleep at the controls.
• Preferred
The damaged gear train was removed for inspection to determine the
root cause of failure. At this point in the failure analysis, it appears
that the unit cannot be returned to service. Testing will be completed
by Wednesday.

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 Continued…
Format
• It is the arrangement of basic elements of the document.
• For example, a business letter has its own format:
• Date
• Address
• Subject
• Salutation
• Main body
• Complimentary close
• signature
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 Continued…

• Formal technical reports have basic elements and a structure as follows:

 Introduction (why you are doing the work)

 Procedure (what you did)
 Results (what happened)
 Discussion (what it means)
 Conclusions (what was learned)
 Recommendations (what is to be done with the new information or
knowledge)

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 Continued…

• This style and format have been agreed to by international

technical journals, most educational institutions that teach in
English, and most industries or organizations that employ
engineers and scientists.

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 Attribute No. 9: It is archival.

• TW is written in such a way that it can be saved for future

use.

• It can be archived and produce valuable and usable

information in the future.

• Technical documents should not be generated on temporary

issues or subjects that will not be pertinent in the future.
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 Continued…
TW typically involves four steps
Planning

Writing

Delivering

Archiving

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 Continued…
• TW is used in writing;
 Books on technical subjects
 General reports
 Letter, application, memo etc.
 Resume
 Document designing
 Research reports, articles, papers, theses etc.
• Once these are written or completed these can be saved for further use.

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Attribute No. 10: It cites contributions of others.

• Formal technical reports and other forms of writing must show

sources of information and recognize the contributions of others.
• Acknowledgment is also a source of recognizing people or institution
who helped during the work.
• Giving credit to the source is ethical and mandatory in scientific and
educational work.

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 Continued…
Example
• No Reference
The word ‘discourse’ is usually defined as “language beyond
the sentence”, so discourse analysis is the study of language
in conversations and texts.
• Reference
The word ‘discourse’ is usually defined as “language beyond
the sentence”, so discourse analysis is the study of language
in conversations and texts (Yule, 2010).

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 Continued…

• The use of citation is another attribute of TW which

makes it:

 Formal
Standard
 and at the same time different from other forms of
writing.

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 Writing Types other than Technical Writing

• TW follows a particular style and format:

 Introduction
 Literature review
 Methodology
 Analysis
 Results
 Conclusion
 Recommendation
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 Continued…

• In the working world, business, health, industries, private

sector etc., there is no common institution to tell how to
write.

• So different professions may use there own style and format

to write documents.

• These personalized styles will be acceptable in their own

domain without any objection.
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 Instructions

Advertising
Opinion

Other types of
Writing

Information
Entertainment

Creative
Writing

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 Instructions

• Instructions can be used for various purposes.

• For example:
• Public Service Messages
• Product
• Process
• An Individual or a Group
• Professional needs etc.

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 Continued…

• TW can be used for instructions.

• It depends for which purpose it is used.

• If the product or process pertains to technology, it is more

likely to be written in technical style.

• In this case TW follows most of its attributes.

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 Continued…
• Instructions can be written without following TW rules.
• It is normal and acceptable in certain professional domain too.
• For Example: In the picture below, instructions are given in informal
way.

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 Continued…
Example
Instructions in Formal Way
As per guidelines PPE should be discarded in an appropriate waste container after
use, and hand hygiene should be performed before putting on and after taking off
PPE.
  The number of visitors should be restricted and if visitors must enter a COVID-19
patient’s room, they should be provided with clear instructions about how to put
on and remove PPE and about performing hand hygiene before putting on and
after removing PPE. All this should be supervised by a health care worker, it added.
  This category included the use of no-touch thermometers, thermal imaging
cameras, and limited observation and questioning all while maintaining a spatial
distance of at least one meter, the guidelines suggested.

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 Creative Writing

• In previous lectures we discussed about creative writing and how it is

different form TW.
• It can be used to create:
Humor
Mystery
Impressions
Amusement
Song etc.

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 Continued…

• This kind of writing is more descriptive and expressive.

• So it does not follow style and format of TW.
• For example:

“And, when you want something, all the universe

conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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 Continued…
Example
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades

         Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

                Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep

                        In the next valley-glades:

          Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

               Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

(Ode to a Nightingale BY JOHN KEATS)

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 Opinion

• Every person has his opinion towards certain things.

• But personal opinion is not a part of TW.
• They belong to:
 Personal forums
Editorial pages of newspapers
Essay
Review
Judgment
Decision

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 Continued…
• It is subjective so it is not concerned with TW.
• Many business and science oriented books are having
contents based on subjective theories and interpretations.
• For example, many books on business are based on opinion
rather than facts.
• Also in physics and biology, many contents are based more
on subjective analysis of researchers or writers.
• These kinds of writing are not classified as TW.

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Recap

• In today's lecture we discussed three forms of writing:

1. Instruction
2. Creative writing
3. Opinion based writing

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 REFERENCES
•Chapter No 1 : Engineers’ Guide to Technical Writing

•https://nation.com.pk/09-Apr-2020/govt-issues-guidelines-on-use-of-covid-19-protective-equi
pment

•https://nkyhealth.org/individual-or-family/health-alerts/coronavirus/downloads-and-resourc
es/

•https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44479/ode-to-a-nightingale

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THANKS
Different Types of Writing (other than TW)

(Lecture # 5)

Date:
 Lecture Overview

•In today’s lecture we will discuss ‘other types of writing’:

•Information

•Administration

•Advertisement

•Entertainment

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 Information

• Documents convey different information to intended readers.

• Sometimes information is written by following TW rules and
sometimes not.
• Nature of the information has a key role to determine
whether it should be written in technical style or not.
• For example; a personal letter to your friend or family may
not need TW style but, a letter written to your boss may need
some technical attributes to be followed.
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 Continued…
• Mostly, TW rules are followed to share information on professional
levels.
• But, TW is not followed all the time there as well.
• For example; Office memorandum, often short and circulated among
the staff members for quick communication, is not always written in
TW.
• Look at the following Example:

The ASM committee will meet at Main Hall conference room at 10:00 pm. The
speaker for the weekly meeting is Harry, and his topic will be to address
problems of students related online courses.

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 Continued…

• This meeting announcement might be a part of departmental archive

but, it has no value as technical document.
• So, every written text or document in an office can not have the
attributes of TW.
• Information is shared from different mediums such as:
o Newspapers
o News and business magazines
o Newsletters etc.

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 Continued…

• Although these mediums share information but most are not

TW.
• These mediums usually are not related to field of
engineering and science.
• In short, if the information is not on technical matter, it does
not need TW .

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Administration

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 Continued…
• As mentioned earlier, sometimes office memo or circular are
used to share information which does not require TW format
• Likewise, in business, workers use email, fax and other
sources for communication so, they try to be simple and
exact in order to cope with urgent matters efficiently.
• Also, office writing norms may slightly differ from one
organization to another.
• In nutshell, TW is not mandatory in administration.

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 Advertisement

• In advertising, the sole purpose is to attract the audience towards a

certain person, product, organization, service etc.
• For this purpose often glittering language is used.
• Often information being shared is not fact based.
• Also, there is a lot of exaggeration in advertisement.
• Have a look at few ads images:

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Continued…

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Continued…

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The following words can be commonly observed in ads:

Number Healthiest
Best one

Awesome Finest

Top
brand
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Continued…

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Entertainment

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Recap

• In today's lecture we discussed four forms of writing:

•Information

•Administration

•Advertisement

•Entertainment

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 REFERENCES

•Chapter No 1 : Engineers’ Guide to Technical Writing

•https://www.google.com/search?q=ad&bih=657&biw=1366&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&
ved=2ahUKEwiCu8iy4YvpAhVDxoUKHXrQDLkQ_AUoAXoECBMQAw#imgrc=PssXiiUds46-0M

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THANKS
Principles of Effective Communication

(Lecture # 6)

Date:
 Lecture Overview

•Verbal communication can be written or oral.

• For effective communication, students must have command on both writing and
speaking skills.

•In today’s lecture you will learn Principles of Effective Communication.

• There are seven components of Business Communication, in this lecture you will
learn two components:
• Completeness
• Conciseness

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 Principles of Effective Communication (7C’s)

• Communication is an important part of our world today.

• The ability to communicate effectively with others is
considered a prized quality of the successful business people.
• The term ‘Business’ is generalized here to refer any
profession or work which is concerned with technological,
scientific or methodological information.
• Communication has main two types: Verbal and Non-verbal.

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 Communication

Verbal Non-verbal

Involves words (of a

particular language) Involves gestures

For example; speech,

For example; waving,
presentation, discussion,
winking, nodding etc.
written material

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Continued…

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 Continued…
• To compose a written or oral message, you must apply certain
communication principles.
• Following are the seven C's of effective communication:
1. Completeness
2. Conciseness
3. Consideration
4. Concreteness
5. Clarity
6. Courtesy
7. Correctness

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 Continued…
• The seven C’s apply to both written and oral communication.

• Although, this lesson discusses these principles on a

sentence level, yet they are applicable to all forms of
communication.

• To some extent, the principles overlap because they are

based on a common concern for the audience, whether the
audience consists of listeners or readers.

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 1. Completeness

• A message is complete when it covers all the aspects which a listener

or reader wants.
• Senders and receivers are influenced by their background, viewpoint,
needs, experience, attitude, status and emotions.
• Because of their difference, the receiver needs to be sure that he has
included all relevant information.
• The goal should be to satisfy the needs and requirements of the
receiver.

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 Continued…
• Guideline:
• Provide all necessary information.
• Answer all questions asked.
• Give something extra, only when desired.

• The easy way to get completeness is to answer the five Ws that make the message clear:
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

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 Continued…
• Example :

When requesting merchandise, make sure:

• What do you want?

• When do you need it?
• To whom and where is it to be sent?
• And how would the payment be made?

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 Continued…

• Benefits:
• It enhances reputation
• Cost saving
• Time saving
• Helps in better decision making
• As it provides extra information so no question is left.

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 2. Conciseness

• Conciseness means using less possible words to explain your point.

• Nobody likes to read or listen wordy expressions.
• So information should be to the point, exact and relevant.
• It is one of the most important principles of communication and at
the same time most difficult one as well to achieve.
• It is difficult while composing a message that which information
should be included and which not.
• Moreover, writing a precise message is a challenge as it demands
good command over techniques like, summarizing and paraphrasing.

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 Continued…
To achieve conciseness:
a) Eliminate wordy expressions.
b) Include only relevant material.
c) Avoid unnecessary repetition.

Example:
d) Eliminate wordy expressions.
• Wordy: At this time
• Concise: Now
• Wordy: Due to the fact that
• Concise: because
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 Continued…
• Wordy: Please be advised that your admission statement has been
received.
• Concise: Your admission statement has been received.
• Wordy: Please find attached the list you requested.
• Concise: The list you requested is attached.

b) Include only relevant material.

• Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our company is pleased with
the confidence you have reposed in us.
• Concise: We appreciate your confidence.
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 Continued…
C) Avoid unnecessary repetition.

• Following is the body of a letter from a business executive in a Company for 5 years.
“Will you ship us some time, anytime during the month of October would be fine, or even
November if you are rushed (November would suit us just as well, in fact a little bit better)
300 of the regular Dell Computers.
Thank you in advance for sending these along in parcel post, and not in express, as
express is too expensive.”

• Concise Version of the Letter

“Please ship parcel post, 300 Dell Computers before the end of November”.

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 Continued…

Benefit:
• Conciseness;
• Saves time and energy
• Saves expenses
• Highlights important information
• Shows respect towards reader by not cluttering him in unnecessary
information

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Recap

• In today's lecture we discussed :

1. Two principles of effective communication:
• Completeness
• Conciseness
2. Usage and benefits of these two principles.

Subject Name 92
 REFERENCES

•VU Handouts; ENG 201

•VU Handouts; ENG 301

•https://www.google.com/search?q=verbal+and+non+verbal+communication&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s
a=X&ved=2ahUKEwjErPD3sI3pAhUCrxoKHSYwBlYQ_AUoAXoECBMQAw#imgrc=ps6QUhvKMJkczM

Subject Name 93
THANKS
Principles of Effective Communication

(Lecture # 07)

Date:
 Lecture Overview

•In today’s lecture we will continue to discuss Principles of Effective

Communication.
• There are seven components of Business Communication,
• Consideration
• Concreteness
• Correctness
• Clarity
• Courtesy

Subject Name 96
 3.Consideration

• In business communication, there are three specific ways to indicate

consideration:

1) Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’.

2) Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver.
3) Emphasize positive & pleasant facts.

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 Continued…
1) Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’.

• To create considerate, audience-oriented messages, focus on:

 how message receivers will benefit,
 what they will receive, and
what they want or need to know.
Example:
• We-attitude: I am delighted to announce that we have extended our office
hours to make shopping more convenient.
• You-attitude: You will be able to shop evenings with the extended office
hours.
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 Continued…

2) Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver.

• Readers may react positively when benefits are shown to them.
Whenever possible and true, show your receivers will benefit from
whatever the message asks or announces. Benefits must meet the
recipient's needs, address their concerns, or offer them rewards.
3) Emphasize positive & pleasant facts.

• Another way to show consideration is to emphasize pleasant and

positive facts. This means stressing what can be done instead of what
cannot be done. Also, you must focus on words your recipient
considers favorable.
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 Continued…
Example
• In the following opening of a letter, the negative words you would
rather not have at all are underlined.
• We regret that, since you closed your account, your name is missing
from our long list of satisfied customers. We sincerely hope that due
to the best efforts of our fine staff, there were no occasions on which
you felt we failed to serve you properly.

Subject Name 100

 Continued…

Benefit:
• It shows respect to reader.
• It conveys empathy.
• It shows that you understand your receiver.

Subject Name 101

 4. Concreteness

• Concreteness means message is:

• Clear
• Specific
• Vivid
• Have solid arguments
• Logic based
• Having authentic facts and figures

• It also means using denotative (direct, explicit, often dictionary-

based) rather than connotative words.
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 Continued…
Guidelines:

• Use specific facts and figures.

• Put action in your verbs.
• Choose vivid, image-building words.

1. Use Specific Facts and Figures

Whenever possible, use an exact, precise statement or a figure in place of a general
word to make your message more concrete. Consider the following example:
• Vague, General & Indefinite: Student GMAT scores are higher.
• Concrete & Precise: In 1996, the GMAT scores averaged 600; by 1117 they had
risen to 610.

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 Continued…
2. Put Action in Your Verbs
Verbs can activate other words and help make your sentences alive or
vigorous. To have dynamic sentences:
a) Use active rather than passive verbs.

Specific: "The dean decided" is more explicit than "A decision has been made."
Personal: "You will note" is both personal and specific; "It will be noted" is
impersonal."
Concise: The passive voice requires more words and thus slows both writing and
reading. Compare "Figures show" with "It is shown by figures."
Emphatic: Passive verbs dull action. Compare "The students held a contest" with "A
contest was held by the students."
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 Continued…
b) Put action in your verbs.
Example:
Weak: Action hiding in a "Quiet" Noun
• The function of this office is the collection of payments and the
compilation of statements.
• Professor H. will give consideration to the report.

Improved: Action in the Verb

• This office collects payments and compiles statements.
• Professor H. will consider the report.
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 Continued…
Sometimes, however, you may prefer the passive voice instead of the
active, as in the following situations:

I. When you want to avoid personal, blunt accusations or comments

For example:

• ‘The October check was not included’ is more tactful than ‘you failed to
include....’

• ‘Attendance at the meeting is required.’ is less hard than ‘You must

attend…’
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 Continued…

II. When you want to stress the object of the action

For example: "You are invited." is better than "We invite you."

III. When the doer is not important in the sentence

For example: In "Three announcements were made before the meeting

started," the emphasis is on the announcements, not on who gave
them.

Subject Name 107

 Continued…
3. Choose vivid and image-building words
• You can make your message forceful, vivid, and specific by using
comparisons, sensory appeals, figurative language, concrete nouns, and
well-chosen adjectives.
Example:
Comparisons
Bland Image: This is a long letter.
More Vivid Image: This letter is three times as long as you said it would be.
Figurative Language
Literal: Her work in groups was exemplary.
More vivid & Figurative: She could be called the spark plug of the group.
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 Continued…

Benefits:
• Your receivers know exactly what is desired.
• When you supply specifics for the reader, you increase the likelihood
that your message will be interpreted the way you intended.

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 5. Correctness

• The correctness principle is more than proper grammar, punctuation

and spelling.
• A message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still
lose a customer and fail to achieve the purpose.
• Though mistakes are never intentional, they spoil our image. Errors in
the messages fall in the following categories:
• Mistakes in names, figures, facts, and words.
• Mistakes in punctuation and capitalization
• Mistakes in the level of Language

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 Continued…
Guideline:
A. Use the right level of language.
B. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words.
C. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.

• The following things are at the core of concreteness:

Grammar
Punctuation
Spelling

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 Continued…

A. Use the right level of language.

Formal Writing
Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing.
Examples
It includes Doctoral dissertations, scholarly articles, top-level
government agreements, etc. The style is unconventional, usually
impersonal, and contains long and involved sentences.
Informal Writing
This style of writing is more common in business writing. An example
is the communication via e-mail, memos, etc.

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 Continued…

B. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words.

• Verify your statistical data.
• Double check your totals.
• Avoid guessing at Laws that have an impact on you.
• Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data.
• Determine whether a fact has changed overtime.

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 Continued…

C. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.

• All material relating to mechanics, word processing, and appearance

is relevant.
• Pay careful attention to the mechanical part of every well-written
document.

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 6. Clarity

• Getting the meaning from your head accurately to the reader is the
purpose of clarity.
• Receiver understand completely the purpose and content of the
message clearly.
• Its important to write a rough draft first in order to check clarity.
• Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise
language and familiar language.

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 Continued…

• Put right word to convey the meaning. Familiar words are often
conversational.

Guideline:

a) Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.

b) Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.

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a) Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.

Complex Words Simple Words

A substantial segment of the Many people
population
Affords an opportunity Allows

Complex Words Concise Words

Arrived at the conclusion Concluded
At a later date Later

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Trite Expressions Choose these conversational words
Acknowledge receipt of thank you for
Agreeable with your desires in the as you suggested
matter
are in receipt of Have
as per our conversation as we discussed
at the earliest possible date as soon as (you) can
at the present writing Now

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 Continued…
b) Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
• At the core of clarity is the sentence. Important characteristics to consider are:
A. Length
B. Unity
C. Coherence
D. Emphasis

A. Length
Try for an average sentence length of 17 to 20 words. When the sentence length increases, try to
chop it down into two sentences. Also if the sentences are too short then the resulting language
becomes overly simple and choppy.
B. Unity
In a sentence, unity means that you must have one main idea. In case of other ideas they must be
closely related. For example, ‘I like Sohail and Eiffel Tower is in Paris’ is obviously not a unified
sentence.
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 Continued…
C. Coherence
In a coherent sentence the words are arranged so that the ideas clearly express
the intended meaning. Place the correct modifier as close as possible to the word it
is supposed to modify.

Examples
Unclear
Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure that you can help us.
Clear
Being an excellent lawyer, you can surely help us.
Unclear
His report was about managers, broken down by age and gender.
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 Continued…

Clear
His report focused on age and gender of managers.
Unclear
After planning 10,000 berry plants, the deer came into out botanist's
farm and crushed them.
Clear
After our botanists had planted 10,000 berry plants, the deer came into
the farm and crushed them.

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 Continued…

D. Emphasis
The quality that gives force to important parts of sentences and
paragraphs is emphasis.
Example
Little emphasis
The airplane finally approached the speed of sound, and it became very
difficult to control.
Better emphasis
As it approached the speed of sound, the airplane became very difficult to
control.
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 7. Courtesy

• Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude.

• It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertion of ‘please’ and
‘thank you’; although, applying socially accepted manners is a form of
courtesy.
• Rather it is politeness that grows out of respect and concern for
others.
• Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy. Be
aware of your message receiver.

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 Continued…
Guidelines:
A. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative.
B. Use expressions that show respect.
C. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.

A. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative Examples

• Tactless, blunt
Stupid letter; I did not understand any of it.
• More tactful
It’s my understanding…..
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Tactless, Blunt
I rewrote that letter three times; the point was clear.
More Tactful
I am sorry the point was not clear; here is another version.

B. Use expressions that show respect:

No reader wants to receive a message that offends. Such expressions
are expressed in two groups:
• Irritating expressions
• Questionable humor
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Omit irritating expressions

Following is a consensus list that includes a list of expressions that many people find
irritating:
Contrary to your inference
I do not agree with you.
If you care
I am sure you must realize

• Omit questionable humor

When in doubt as to the relevance of humor, leave it out.
Laughter to one person is disgust for another; each of us has a different sense of humor.
Notice the difference between the 2 notes in the next example.

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• Example
Note 1, Offensive
Hey man, what’s this I hear about the good news? You sure pulled a
fast one this past weekend and then didn’t tell any of us about it.
Give my regards to the little lady. And wish her the best; she’ll need it.
More courteous
Warm congratulations on your wedding.
Well, you certainly took us by surprise. In fact, just a few of us
suspected that you were taking off to get married. But even though
we didn’t hear about it until later, we wish you the best.

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C. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions

• Be careful about using the word ‘man’; this is a matter of concern especially in
the
• Western cultures compared to other cultures..
• Use alternative expressions that are neutral in nature.
Example
• Questionable
Freshman
• More Desirable
Entering students, first year students
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 Continued…
• Singular pronouns

English lacks a neuter pronoun signifying ‘he’ or ‘she’.

The trend to follow should be to avoid using ‘he’, ‘his’ or ‘him’ etc.
Examples
• Questionable
Anyone who comes to class late will get his grade reduced.
• More desirable
Students who come to class late will get their grade reduced.

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• Questionable
Our criteria are firm: he is to be a scholar; he is to be a good teacher.
• More Desirable
Our criteria suggest that he or she should be a good scholar and a
good teacher.
• Questionable
You guys should all be concerned about the issue.
• More Desirable
All men and women should be concerned about the issue.

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 Continued…
• Names
While using names, treat each gender with respect. Use names in
parallel form.
Example
• Undesirable
Mudassir Ali and Sonia
Mrs. Ali and Mudassir
• More desirable
Mudassir and Sonia Ali
Ms. Ali [she deserves this] and Mr. Ali

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Benefits
• Courtesy shows respect to receiver.
• It shows professionalism.
• It is helpful in making long-term relationship in business.
• It helps in understanding cultural differences.

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Recap

• In today's lecture we discussed:

• Consideration
• Concreteness
• Correctness
• Clarity
• Courtesy

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 REFERENCES

• ENG 201VU handouts

•
•ENG 301 VU handouts

•Budinski, K.(2001), Engineers’ Guide to Technical Writing. ASM Internationals.

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