23-29 September Reflections

Last week reading covered Chapters 10 and 12, the Genre Analysis PowerPoint, and the Rhetoric in the World PowerPoint. We also developed Genre Analysis charts and performed Rhetoric in the World activity.

Chapter 10 deals with various kinds of reports organizations produce internally and externally on a regular basis. It was useful to learn about various purposes that organizations have to write reports. One thing that I learned was the various types of reports, such as progress and periodic reports, investigative reports, incident reports, trip reports, and test reports. I found the discussion of incident reports most useful as I often have to write similar types of reports in my line of work.

Chapter 12 had writing instructions as its subject. I think this is one of the most popular subjects for professional writers. I especially liked the section on illustrations. It made me better understand how illustrations can be used for clarity and usability of instructions. However, I wish I learned more about various computer tools that are used for the purpose of developing illustrations.

The Genre Analysis and the Rhetoric in the World PowerPoints provided useful information about genres in document writing. The concept of boundary objects seemed important for understanding why different types of documents require using different genres.

Both WtW readings and PPT readings set stage for our genre analysis project.