Brooklyn College TW100 Grammar, Usage, Mechanics for Technical Writers: Schedule

TW100: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics for Technical Writers
Schedule Page

Although most of the links have been removed, the following course schedule gives you an idea of what we'll cover in this course. (Remember that this is an 8-week course.) When you are ready, return to the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate Program course listing.

This is your main working page for TW100: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics for Technical Writers in Brooklyn College's Technical Writing Certificate program. Use this page to find out what to name your files, see when projects are due, go to the online textbook and resources for this course. See the syllabus links following the schedule for information about objectives, required and recommended books, grades, and other resources. (Exact units and sequence of units may vary slightly from instructor to instructor and semester to semester.)

On all quizzes, please select Brooklyn College as instructor.

This course starts mmddyy.

Your instructor is instructor_name at instructor_email.

Click the units you've completed and then press Send at the top or bottom of this page. Remember that this tracking chart is for your convenience; the instructor uses other information to determine whether you've done adequate study to pass this course. If you mistakenly mark a unit as completed, contact your instructor (or just wait until you've actually completed it.)

Check	Project (use these links to see project details.)	Due date	File names/comments	Completed
	Sentence diagnostic. Take the sentence diagnostic to see which areas of grammar, usage, punctuation, and style you may need to brush up on.	mmddyy	Leave up to an hour and a half for this diagnostic; when you have finished, print your results; your instructor will automatically receive your results and may contact about them. Complete this diagnostic by the date shown at the left.
	Study the following grammar-usage units as indicated by the results of your diagnostics and as directed by your instructor: Introduction. Read the introduction to the units on grammar and usage. Fragments. Study fragments and learn how to recognize and revise them. Comma splices & run-ons. Study comma splices & run-ons and learn how to recognize and revise them. Subject-verb agreement. Study subject-verb agreement and learn how to recognize subjects and verbs that do not agree and revise them. Pronoun reference. Study pronoun-reference agreement and learn how to recognize pronouns and their referents and make them agree. Pronoun case. Study pronoun case and learn how to recognize the case of pronoun usage and how to pick the right pronoun. Parallelism. Study problems involving parallelism and learn how to recognize and revise them. Problem modifiers. Study problem modifiers (dangling, squinting, misplaced modifiers) and learn how to recognize and revise them. Review. Review grammar-usage problems.	mmddyy	Complete these units by the date shown at the left. Your instructor automatically receives your results. You are welcome to treat these grammar, usage, and punctuation units as a quick-review refresher. But slow down for the sentence-style unit.
	Study the following punctuation units as indicated by the results of your diagnostics and as directed by your instructor: Introduction. Read the introduction to the units on punctuation. Basic commas. Study basic comma guidelines: introductory-element commas compound-element commas series-element commas restrictive-element commas Semicolons. Study semicolons and learn how to use them correctly. Colons. Study colons and learn how to use them correctly. Hyphens. Study hyphens and learn how to use them correctly. Dashes. Study other punctuation marks—including apostrophes, quotation marks, parentheses, brackets—and learn how to use them correctly. Other punctuation marks. Study semicolons and learn how to use them correctly. Spelling: similar-sounding words. Study the distinctions between similar-sounding words in the online textbook, and then use the exercises (the ones most commonly confused) to get some practice using them correctly.	mmddyy	Complete these units by the date shown at the left. Your instructor automatically receives your results. You are welcome to treat these grammar, usage, and punctuation units as a quick-review refresher. But slow down for the sentence-style unit.
	Read about description, definition and classification, take the quizzes, but do just one of the writing projects: Description. Use the description planner to study description; see the chapter, examples, assignment, and related materials; and then get some practice writing detailed descriptions of mechanisms or other objects. or Definition. Use the definition planner to study extended definitions; see the chapter, examples, assignment, and related materials; and then get some practice providing extended explanations of complex terminology. or Classification. Use the classification planner to study writing about classification (categories); see the chapter, examples, assignment, and related materials; and then get some practice providing extended discussion of categories.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for these units. Name the writing project for this unit your_name01a.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 01a to 01b. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Study the following units on technical-writing style as indicated by the results of your diagnostics and as directed by your instructor: Numbers. Study numbers vs words and learn how to choose between using a number (digit) and word for a number. Abbreviations. Study abbreviations and learn how to use them correctly. Quotation Marks. Study quotation marks and learn how to use them correctly. Capitalization. Study capitalization and learn how to use capital letters correctly. Apostrophes. Study apostrophes and learn how to use them correctly.	mmddyy	Complete these units by the date shown at the left. Your instructor automatically receives your results.
	Study the materials on sentence style and learn to spot these kinds of problems and revise them: Word choice: diction, denotation, connotation, jargon, gobbledygook, sexist language Passive voice, nominalizations, weak be verbs Wordiness, redundancy, conciseness Emphasis	mmddyy	Complete these units by the date shown at the left. Your instructor automatically receives your results. You don't have to do all these exercises, but do as many as you have time for.
	Read about both process and cause-effect, but do just one of the writing projects: Process. Use the processes planner to study process discussions; see the chapter, examples, assignment, and related materials; and then get some practice explaining natural or mechanical events or phenomena. or Causes and effects. Use the cause-effect planner to study writing about causes and effects; see the chapter, examples, assignment, and related materials; and then get some practice providing extended explanations of causes and effects.	mmddyy	There are no quizzes for these units. Name the writing project for this unit your_name02a.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 02a to 02b. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
Note: All work in this course must be complete no later than mmddyy.

Syllabus

Objectives

Study grammar, usage, punctuation, and style units as indicated by your initial diagnostic results when you started the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate and by the writing you do in this course.
Write up to four of the practice planners, ending with instructions.
Practice revising documents—your own and other—for the kinds of problems you study in this course.
Gain confidence using word-processing software to name, write, and revise documents.
Learn how to send and receive documents as e-mail attachments.

Books

These two texts are required:

BAO	Alred, Gerald J, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing, St. Martin. Any recent edition.
Williams	Williams, Joseph M. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, Longman. Any recent edition. (This version excludes the exercises, which are available online in this course.)

Grades

A: All studies and projects completed and approved by your instructor.
B: All studies and projects completed and approved by your instructor except for the sentence-style unit.
C: All studies and projects completed and approved by your instructor, except for the sentence-style unit and one of the writing projects.

Contact your instructor concerning credit for projects you have completed but are still not approved by the time the course is over.

Resources

TECHWR-L articles. Lots of articles on all aspects of the field.
Writer Write. Plenty of good articles!
Technical Writing, Help Authoring Tools, Jobs, and More. Good general collection of links and articles.
computerjobs.com: Technical Writer Jobs. Good resource links also.
EServer TC Library. Super collection of links related to all aspects of this field.

Table of contents for the Online Textbook.
Policies for courses in the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate program.
Online Technical Documentation site search facility.

Course Evaluation

Use the course evaluation form to give your opinions on the effectiveness of the study materials and organization of this course. (This evaluation is strictly optional, strictly voluntary.)

Information and programs provided by hcexres@io.com.