Overview Technical communication is meant to be used and not just read. Good technical communication communicates information to an audience who will act on that information in a variety of ways:

in making hiring decisions, in following technical procedures, in developing research plans, and more. In this assignment, you will analyze a piece of technical communication to see whether or not it makes use of specific technical communication practices. Your analysis should demonstrate that you understand the basic principles of technical communication discussed in the first chapter of your textbook. The process you will follow in this assignment is relatively straightforward. I will provide you with analysis points based on Markel's introductory chapter. You will study a document and then determine to what degree it relies (or doesn't rely) on these effective technical communication practices. Markel writes that "[a]lmost every technical document that gets the job done" has these characteristics. Does your document "get the job done"? You will present your analysis in a memo to me./nStep 1: Choose a piece of technical communication to analyze. You will need to choose something that you can share online. Ideally it will be fairly short. If the document is long, focus your analysis on just a short section that you identify for us--ideally three pages or less. Sten 2./nStep 2: Evaluate your chosen document for usability--i.e, does it "get the job done"? This evaluation will involve reading the document carefully, paying attention to the features that enable use. I provide specific points of analysis below./nStep 3: Write a memo that organizes your rhetorical analysis in both a logical and convincing way. (I am your audience.) Your analysis should be in memo format (see Markel Chapter 14). Be concrete in your analysis. That is, use examples from the document as you make your key points. Be sure to analyze and not just describe the document. This will require you to evaluate and pass judgment on both content and design. Be sure your analysis is well organized. Analysis Points Markel offers a set of characteristics that are generally found in technical communication "that gets the job done," i.e.; is usable. Addresses particular readers Helps readers solve problems Reflects an organization's goals and culture Is produced collaboratively Uses design to increase readability Consists of words or images or both Use these characteristics to organize your analysis. Be sure that your analysis addresses each of these six characteristics