Instr:                  Associate Professor William Van Pelt
Office:                CRT 505,   229-4326
e-mail:                vanpelt@uwm.edu
Web                   http://www.uwm.edu/~vanpelt

Office hours:    by appointment

Course Information:                     Wednesdays   5:30 - 8:10 p.m.       CRT 127
 

Course Description

This course teaches you to write clear, direct prose for technical reports, instructions, proposals, letters of application, resumes, procedures, manuals, and other forms of technical writing.  The course is appropriate for students in English, information resources, science, engineering, architecture, education, and other applied sciences--students interested in becoming professional technical writers are especially encouraged to enroll.  You will learn the importance of purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategy for designing effective, appealing, and persuasive documents.  Your writing will be evaluated for clarity, conciseness, organization, content, format, and rhetorical effectiveness.  The course engages the latest communication technologies, including desktop publishing software, electronic mail, the Internet, and designing Web Pages.

Prerequisites:
Sophomore standing and completion of the English Composition Requirement, OR consent of instructor.

Required Materials:
Brusaw, Alred, and Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing, 6th ed., St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Lannon, John M. Technical Writing. 9th edition.  Little, Brown & Co., 2002.

An account on the alpha computers (for e-mail and class projects; the
University provides free e-mail accounts on its Alpha computer system).
Recommended: a good college dictionary (if you don't already have one, you
should consider buying The American Heritage Dictionary).