Amy Anderson
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This is
an ad-hoc accounting of the development of the ATTW following a session at the
1973 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in
Durack, Katherine T. “Authority and
audience-centered writing strategies: Sexism in 19th-century sewing machine
manuals,” Technical
Communication. 45.2 (1998): 180-196. Web. 22 Sep. 2010. http://proxygsu-mer1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb/?did=29224118&Fmt=4&clientId=30360&RQT=309&VName=PQD
While
this is a theoretical study to examine sexism in technical writing, its subject
matter is a detailed look at historical competing technical documents at the
advent of the introduction of ‘labor-saving’ machines into the American
home. The two documents described are very
different yet their purpose – to guide home sewing machine usage – is the
same. Katherine Durack
concludes that both documents are sexist, the one which seeks to establish rapport
with its reader every bit as much as the one with concise almost gender neutral
terminology. Still the detailed
examination of the approach taken by competing companies to inform equal
audiences is a revealing look into historical technical writing.
Johnson, Carol Siri. "Prediscursive
Technical Communication in the Early American Iron Industry" Technical
Communication Quarterly 15.2 (2006): 171-189. Education
Full Text. Web. 22 Sep. 2010.
This is an intriguing
discourse that traces a single industry from its beginnings in America through
its death, “In the case of the charcoal iron industry, the transfer from prediscursive to discursive knowledge did not happen in
time and the art of charcoal ironmaking is now a lost
art.” Carol Siri
Johnson examines the limited documentation of the prediscursive
era and discusses the volumes that evolved as the field of industrial and
technical publications grew. Much of her
discussion of prediscursive transfer reads like texts
from the knowledge management field: A
prime example of transfer of tacit knowledge from one worker to another with
the eventual loss of this knowledge.
Does she accomplish her
stated objective to fill the gap of knowledge regarding the technical
communication practices in the 18th and mid-19th centuries? That is debatable, but she does an admirable
job of illustrating the state of technical communication regarding the iron
industry during this era in
Kynell, Teresa. “Technical
communication from 1850-1950: Where have we been?” Technical Communication Quarterly. 8.2 (1999): 143-152. Web.
22 Sep.2010. http://proxygsu-mer1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb/?did=43656157&Fmt=3&clientId=30360&RQT=309&VName=PQD
This is a look at 100
years of technical communication as the natural “humanizing” engineering
course. Descriptions of how engineering
training progressed from only one or two science or engineering classes picked
up here and there as one learned the vocation, to a place where a Society for
the Promotion of Engineering Education not only existed but had English
Committees. This was followed quickly by
professions in engineering writing. Technical communication truly is here to
stay and continues to bridge disciplines:
Business, English, and Engineering.
This is an insightful overview.
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This is a short, concise piece surveying methods of teaching mathematics throughout history. By examining mathematics textbooks, conclusions are drawn regarding classroom methodologies from ancient Chinese (Han dynasty) and Socrates throughout Western history to the late 19th century. The emphasis is on the style of teacher/student dialogue. This is an intriguing glimpse into the history of knowledge transfer regarding a basic building block of technology.
Moskowich, Isabel. "To Lerne
Sciences Touching Nombres and Proporciouns":
The Proportion of Affixation in Early Scientific Writing." English
Studies 89.1 (2008): 39-52. Academic Search
Complete. EBSCO. Web.
22 Sept. 2010.
This is a linguistic study
using three scientific texts from the 14th century as subjects. These texts are significant in that they are
written in English not Latin, the normal scientific language of the time. This is noted as pre-modern scientific
writing with modern scientific writing commencing in the 17th century. The three texts analyzed are focused at two
separate audiences: 2 astronomy texts
written for instructional (academic) audiences and a medical ‘recipe’ book
written for more common usage. Even here
the intended audience influences the writing style. Pre-fixes, suffixes, and affixes are examined
and discussed with a significant point recognized: “one of the characteristics of scientific
writing: repetition in order to avoid
confusion and to make sure the transmission of ideas takes place with no
interference or misunderstanding.” Finally the study concludes with “scientific
writing acts as a response to ‘the changing needs of the audience’” and that by
the 15th century knowledge of specialized terms (scientific) was a
societal class marker.
Tebeaux, Elizabeth. "Safety Warnings in Tractor
Operation Manuals, 1920-1980: Manuals and Warnings Don't Always Work." Journal
of Technical Writing & Communication 40.1 (2010): 3-28. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.
Web. 22 Sept. 2010.
This is a critical look at
60 years of tractor operator manuals, their precursors - instruction sheets -
and additional safety manuals. Despite
ample documentation written at an understandable level even sometimes employing
comic style information, farm accidents and deaths remain too high. Why? Framers
do not read the manual. They sign papers
stating they have and have received verbal safety instruction but do not
actually do so. Challenge for technical
communication: change the mind set of
tractor operators to consider safety before profit. The history presented demonstrates technical
communicators have striven to meet this challenge by going beyond the
manuals. They have creatively utilized
white papers, slide sets, videos, etc., but the problem remains.
TILLERY, DENISE. "THE
PLAIN STYLE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: GENDER
This is a review of Royal
Society of England’s advocation of elimination of
pathos (emotions) and pleasure from their scientific reports, contrasted with
two contemporary female writers who could aptly write in the ‘plain style’
advocated but chose to consider their audience as priority. The discussion of masculinity and chastity
promoted by the Society’s “proscribed adherence to a plain style,” is
informative and at time tongue in cheek amusing (at least to a female
reader). That the female writers put
their audience needs first is a precursor to modern technical communication
practices, as opposed to the Society’s dictation that their audience should “demonstrate
their rigorousness by finding this severe language pleasing in its content
rather than its style.” Margaret
Cavendish’s argues that if you don’t wish to be understood then simply write in
Latin per tradition, but by writing in English the implied intent to be
understood should meet the promise. This
is an admonition we should all take to heart.