Contents

• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• 1. Syllabus
  • 1.1 Required Texts
  • 1.2 Recommended texts--on reserve in the Science Library
  • 1.3 Also on reserve
  • 1.4 Other interesting books, not on reserve
  • 1.5 Homework Assignments
  • 1.6 Evaluation
  • 1.7 Collaboration
  • 1.8 Schedule (due dates)
• 2. Intake Survey
  • 2.1 Purpose of the intake survey
  • 2.2 Pre-requisite verification
  • 2.3 Language background
• 3. Job application letter and résumé
  • 3.1 Goals--audience assessment and letter writing
  • 3.2 Audience assessment
    • 3.2.1 Mass-mailed résumés versus tailored job letters
    • 3.2.2 Finding an employment possibility
    • 3.2.3 Doing the background research
  • 3.3 Writing process--letter writing
    • 3.3.1 Getting started
    • 3.3.2 Doing this assignment
    • 3.3.3 Doing the working draft
    • 3.3.4 Experimenting with formatting
    • 3.3.5 Tailoring your résumé
    • 3.3.6 Preparing for peer editing
  • 3.4 Things to keep in mind for editing
    • 3.4.1 Understanding confidence in its cultural context
    • 3.4.2 Including a statement of an objective or goal
    • 3.4.3 Including other categories
  • 3.5 The final draft
    • 3.5.1 Deciding about length
    • 3.5.2 Neatness counts
    • 3.5.3 Hints
  • 3.6 What to turn in
• 4. Hiring Recommendation Memo
  • 4.1 Goals--reading for content, writing memos
  • 4.2 Audience assessment--Personnel Director
  • 4.3 Writing process--persuasive writing
    • 4.3.1 How to go about persuading the personnel director
    • 4.3.2 Memo format versus letter format
    • 4.3.3 Writing in class
• 5. Electronic mail and newsgroups
  • 5.1 New forms of communication--new writing styles
  • 5.2 Flaming
  • 5.3 Humor
  • 5.4 Assignment--newsgroup discussion
• 6. Algorithm Description
  • 6.1 Goals--multiple audiences, graphics, sophisticated audiences
  • 6.2 Audience assessment--writing for multiple audiences
  • 6.3 Writing process--algorithm description
  • 6.4 Figures and displays
    • 6.4.1 Graphics
    • 6.4.2 Pseudo-code
  • 6.5 Explaining recursion
  • 6.6 Titles, title pages, and executive summaries
  • 6.7 Things to keep in mind for peer editing
    • 6.7.1 About the algorithm
    • 6.7.2 Mechanical details
  • 6.8 The final draft
• 7. In-program Documentation
  • 7.1 Goals--recognizing that programs are documents
  • 7.2 Audience assessment--maintenance programmers
  • 7.3 Assignment--adding comments to Wirth's code
  • 7.4 Writing process--in-program documentation
  • 7.5 Format for in-program documentation
    • 7.5.1 Identify your work
    • 7.5.2 Use white space freely
    • 7.5.3 Indent to show block structure
    • 7.5.4 Name variables carefully
    • 7.5.5 Use a block comment for each procedure interface
    • 7.5.6 Use a block comment inside each procedure to explain method
    • 7.5.7 Use a block comment for each data type
    • 7.5.8 Use a block comment for each data structure
    • 7.5.9 Use a one-line comment for each local variable
    • 7.5.10 Use comments sparingly inside the body of the code itself
    • 7.5.11 Use assertions.
  • 7.6 Things to keep in mind for peer editing
  • 7.7 The final draft
  • 7.8 Wirth's description of the knight's tour program
• 8. Naive-user documentation
  • 8.1 Goals--better paragraphs and writing for non-technical audiences
  • 8.2 Audience assessment--non-technical audiences
  • 8.3 Writing process--paragraph structure
  • 8.4 Things to keep in mind for editing and partner work
  • 8.5 The final draft
• 9. Library Puzzle
  • 9.1 Catalog database (CAT and TEN)
  • 9.2 Magazine database (MAGS)
  • 9.3 World-wide web
  • 9.4 Computer article database (COMP)
  • 9.5 You figure out what indices to use
• 10. Survey article
  • 10.1 Goals--short surveys, library practice
  • 10.2 Choosing your topic
  • 10.3 Textbook resources
  • 10.4 Audience Assessment--fellow students
  • 10.5 Writing process--finding, organizing, writing
    • 10.5.1 Library search
    • 10.5.2 Organizing the information
    • 10.5.3 Writing the paper
  • 10.6 What to bring for peer editing
  • 10.7 Final draft
• 11. Final project proposal memo
  • 11.1 Goals--proposal writing, choosing the final project
  • 11.2 Audience assessment--the instructors
  • 11.3 Writing process--informal proposals
• 12. Document specifications
  • 12.1 Goals--three purposes for document specifications
    • 12.1.1 Economy of effort
    • 12.1.2 Work planning
    • 12.1.3 Writing Organization
  • 12.2 Audience assessment
  • 12.3 Writing process--document specifications
    • 12.3.1 Outlining is organizing
    • 12.3.2 The basic tripartite structure of a formal report
    • 12.3.3 Organizing the work and the writing
    • 12.3.4 Which projects do not use the Tripartite Structure?
  • 12.4 What to turn in
• 13. Progress Report
  • 13.1 Goals--writing progress reports, making sure there is progress
  • 13.2 Audience assessment--instructors and supervisors
  • 13.3 Writing process--short progress reports
  • 13.4 Professional Ethics
    • 13.4.1 Honesty is the basis of professional ethics
    • 13.4.2 1979 IEEE Code of Ethics
      • Preamble
      • Article I
      • Article II
      • Article III
      • Article IV
    • 13.4.3 1990 IEEE Code of Ethics
  • 13.5 Assignment--final draft only
• 14. Final project
  • 14.1 Goals--formal report writing
  • 14.2 Audience assessment--choose your own
  • 14.3 Writing process
    • 14.3.1 Writing the Report
    • 14.3.2 The tripartite structure of a formal report
    • 14.3.3 Explanation of Tripartite Structure
    • 14.3.4 A note on page numbering
  • 14.4 Oral Reports
  • 14.5 What to turn in
• 15. Oral Reports
  • 15.1 Goals--clear oral presentation
  • 15.2 Meeting the expectations of the audience
  • 15.3 Presenting your report
    • 15.3.1 Using notes, transparencies, charts, and displays
    • 15.3.2 Practicing Your Presentation
  • 15.4 Evaluation of the presentation--form and content
    • 15.4.1 Form
    • 15.4.2 Content
  • 15.5 Scheduling the talks
  • 15.6 Note on oral presentations at SIGGRAPH
  • Things I Hope Not to See or Hear at SIGGRAPH
    • Talks read verbatim
    • Illegible slides
    • Microtext
    • Yellow lines on a white background
    • The entire text of the talk echoed on slides
    • ``I'm sorry these slides are so dark.''
    • The tops of the speakers' heads
    • ``I'm almost out of time so I'll just run through the rest of the slides real fast.''
    • ``Uh, I guess that's all I have to say.''
    • Remember
• References
• A. Generic Evaluation Sheet
  • A.1 Accurate presentation of technical information
  • A.2 Overall document design and organization
    • A.2.1 Discourse structure
    • A.2.2 Formatting
  • A.3 Grammar, punctuation, and diction
    • A.3.1 Sentence grammar
    • Punctuation[Hac89, P][HO91, Appendix A]
  • A.4 Diction
    • Word use[Hac89, W][HO91, Chapter 27]
    • A.4.2 Tone
  • A.5 Spelling
• B. Grammar and format notes (read this appendix first)
  • B.1 Content errors
  • Discourse structure errors (see A.2.1)
    • B.2.1 Sections and section headers
    • B.2.2 Paragraphs
    • B.2.3 Pronouns
    • B.2.4 Tone
  • Format errors (see A.2.2)
  • Sentence structure errors (see A.3.1)
    • B.4.1 Faults in style
    • B.4.2 Faults in grammar
  • Punctuation errors (see A.3.2)
    • B.5.1 Hyphens and dashes
    • B.5.2 Quotation marks
    • B.5.3 Parentheses and brackets
    • B.5.4 Commas and related marks
  • Word choice errors (see A.4)
    • B.6.1 Commonly misused words and phrases
    • Sentence grammar affects word choice (see A.3.1)