During Week Five I'd like you to draft and revise Project 3, an exercise in writing technical descriptions. Remember that you need to have your topic--in other words, the technology you want to describe--checked by me. The only gauge that I will use is whether or not it meets the two fundamental aspects of writing descriptions that you book outlines: that it can be divided into parts and that the parts work to contribute to the operation of the technology as a whole.

During Week Five, there are two assignments due:

1. Project 3 Rough Draft (1 pt.): Saturday, 29 Sep
2. Project 3 APS (2 pts.): Saturday, 29 Sep
3. Project 3 Revised Draft (8 pts.): Saturday, 06 Oct (Week Six)

• For 29 Sep
  Two Assignments:
  • Audience Profile Sheet for Project 3 (2 pts.)
  • Rough Draft of Project 3 (1 pt.)
  1. Audience Profile Sheet for Project 3 (2 pts.)
     The audience for Project 3 is once again our class. So, consider the level of experience that our class members have with technology. For instance, if you are describing something like a web browser, then undoubtedly your audience has an average level of knowledge about the topic. Yet, you probably can't presume that all members of your audience are experts at using a web browser or knowing its capabilities. (By way of contrast, consider another example: less than a third of us use AOL as an Internet Service Provider. So, describing AOL's proprietary browser would be aimed at an audience with a lower level of experience.)

     Use the Audience Profile Sheet fill-in form to submit an APS for Project 3. Your APS will be evaluated according to completeness, so give thought to all of the categories, even if one (or more) seems obvious.

  2. Rough Draft of Project 3 (1 pt.)
     Read the description of Project 3 and write a rough draft of the memo that contains your technical description. Save your file in Rich Text Format. Use regular e-mail to submit your draft to me, and submit the draft as an attachment to your e-mail message. Be sure to fill in the "Subject" line of your e-mail message. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to put your name and to notify me that your rough draft of Project 3 is attached to the message. Then, make sure that the attached file is in Rich Text Format. Last, be sure that I receive your draft by 29 Sep.

     I will look at the drafts and send my comments to the class via e-mail. As in the past, I will make comments that pertain to the drafts of the class as a whole. I will respond to individual drafts only when it seems necessary. Of course, if in my general comments I do not address something in your draft that you would like addressed, by all means let me know. Please raise your questions, though, before the revised draft is due.

• For 06 Oct
  One Assignment:
  • Revised Draft of Project 3 (8 pts.)
  1. Revised Draft of Technical Description Project (8 pts.)
     Use regular e-mail to submit your revised draft of Project 3. Again, be sure that your description appears in a memo to me (no one need be on copy) and that you have saved your file in Rich Text Format. Attach your revised project to an e-mail message to me. Again, be sure to fill in the "Subject" line of your e-mail message. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to put your name and to notify me that your revised draft of Project 3 is attached to the message. Make sure that the attached file is in Rich Text Format. Last, be sure that I receive your revised draft by 06 Oct.