Technical Communication Quarterly
452 articlesJanuary 1992
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Abstract
Traditional textbook rationales for the technical writing course locate the essence of technical writing in objectivity, clarity, and neutrality, and the need for teaching it in its usefulness to employers. Such rationales, however, are unable to accommodate a notion of ethics and responsibility: if the writer merely serves the interests that employ her by reporting facts in an objective way, how can she exercise choice when ethical problems arise? An alternative view is to see technical writing as always rhetorical and involved with potentially conflicting agendas and interests, with objectivity, clarity, and neutrality serving merely as stylistic devices in the writer's rhetorical toolbox. Technical writers are rhetoricians who continually make ethical choices in serving diverse interests and negotiating between conflicting demands. The recognition of the fundamental rhetoricity of technical writing is the first step towards accommodating a meaningful notion of ethics into the technical writing curriculum.
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Abstract
Clear and Coherent Prose: A Functional Approach. William Vande Kopple. Boston: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1989. 239 pp. Technical Writing in the Corporate World. Herman A. Estrin and Norbert Elliott. Oakville, Ontario: Crisp Books, 1990. Technical Writing in a Corporate Culture: A Study of the Nature of Information. Christine Barabas. Norwood: Ablex Publishing Corp., 1990. 313 pp. Creating a Computer‐Supported Writing Facility: A Blueprint for Action. Cynthia Selfe. Computers and Composition: Michigan Technological University and Purdue University, 1989. 146 pp. How to Write and Publish Engineering Papers and Reports. Herbert B. Michaelson. 3rd ed. Phoenix: Oryx, 1990. Better Said and Clearly Written: An Annotated Guide to Business Communication Sources, Skills, and Samples. Sandra E. Berlanger. New York: Greenwood P, 1989. 196 pp.