The topics for the assignments will arise from your graduate research. In other words, you are expected to submit excerpts of the professional documents on which you are working (journal articles, theses, or dissertations) to fulfill the course assignments. For that reason, you should not take this course until you are far enough along in your research to begin documenting your work.

Title Page, Contents, and References (10%): Submit a title page that contains the following: (1) title of your major document for the semester, (2) a paragraph that identifies the scope of the document and justifies its importance to a general technical audience, and (3) a paragraph that identifies the document's audience and any unusual constraints (format, politics, and so forth). The following document is a sample. To this title page, attach a working table of contents that gives the first and second level headings of the major document (see the following example). Finally, attach a list of important references (no more than 1 page) for the document--see the following example.

Workshop Submission of Excerpt from Major Document (25%): From the major document on which you are working this semester, submit an independent section or chapter that is at least 6 pages (line spacing, space and a half). Make sure that this submission has at least two illustrations. For an example of a submission, visit the following site. To this submission, attach the title page from the first assignment. Also attach a working table of contents that gives the first and second level headings of the major document. Please place page numbers at the bottom of each page. If your work is being considered for the first workshop, this excerpt is due on Monday (February 10). Likewise, if your work is being considered for the first workshop, this excerpt is due on Monday (February 17).

Major Document (50%): Submit a major document or a substantial excerpt in the case of a dissertation or thesis. The minimum length is 12 pages (line spacing, space and a half). For an example, see the following document. The submission should include the following: (1) a title page with the document's title, a description of the audience, and a descriptive summary of the document; (2) a table of contents that gives the first and second level headings; and (3) an excerpt that includes at least 15 pages (line spacing, space and a half) and two illustrations.

In-Class Exercises and Workshop Critiques (15%): Throughout the class, you will be asked to perform in-class exercises and prepare critiques of documents written by others for the workshops.

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Writing, 3rd edition (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1996), 282 pages. (required)

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Editing (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2000), 159 pages. (recommended)

Strunk, William, Elements of Style (Geneva, NY: Humphrey, 1918).

Writing Center at Virginia Tech, http://www.english.vt.edu/~writing/center.html (Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Tech, 2002).

Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students, edited by M. Alley, L. Crowley, J. Donnell, and C. Moore (Blacksburg: Virginia Tech, 2002).