Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2014

Engineering and Narrative: Literary Prerequisites as Indirect Communication for Technical Writing

Joseph Jeyaraj Pennsylvania State University

Abstract

While Engineering values direct communication, indirect communication produces a kind of literacy salient for engineers that direct communication may not offer in the way indirect communication does. This article emphasizes the inadequacies of overly emphasizing direct communication for Engineering majors and explains how teaching indirect communication in the form of literature has the potential to cover some of the inadequacies one can encounter if one were to overly emphasize direct communication.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2014-04-01
DOI
10.2190/tw.44.2.e
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
teacher development technical communication literacy studies
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (16) · 2 in this index

  1. Fox (2002)
    Beyond the "Tyranny of the Real": Revisiting Burke's Pentad as Research Method …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Frye N. (1964)
    The educated imagination
     ↗
  3. Kierkegaard S. (1992)
    Concluding unscientific postscript to philosophical fragments
  4. Kraemer W. G. (2009)
    The hypnotic literary genre: Poetry, trance, and hypnotext
  5. Kynell T. (1996)
    Writing in a milieu of utility: The move to technical communication in American engineeri…
Show all 16 →
  1. Murphy J. J. (1990)
    A short history of writing instruction from ancient Greece to twentieth-century America
  2. Polanyi M. (1975)
    Meaning
  3. Quintillanus M. F. (1933)
    The institutio oratoria of Quintilian
  4. Joseph Sister M. (2000)
    The trivium: The liberal arts of logic grammar, and rhetoric. Understanding the nature an…
  5. Taylor J. L. (1998)
    Poetic knowledge: The recovery of education
  6. 10.1080/1015549032000128243
     ↗
  7. Jeyaraj Joseph (2004)
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  8. Jeyaraj Joseph (2006)
    The Knowledge Society Journal
  9. Jeyaraj Joseph
    Connecting people with technology: Issues in professional communication
  10. Jeyaraj Joseph (2009)
    College Composition and Communication
  11. Jeyaraj (2010)
    British Indian Grammar, Writing Pedagogies, and Writing for the Professions: Cl…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Jan 2026
    LinkedIn in Business and Technical Communication: A Textbook Analysis Grounded in Digital Literacy ↗
    Sarah Moore; Kathryn Lookadoo
    modern rhetorical theory teacher development technical communication digital rhetoric social media literacy studies
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing graduate education two-year college teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality social media literacy studies race and writing gender and writing community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Dec 2024
    Teaching AI Ethics in Technical and Professional Communication: A Systematic Review ↗
    Nupoor Ranade; Marly Saravia
    writing pedagogy teacher development technical communication professional writing literacy studies race and writing
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2024
    Editors’ Use of Comprehensive Style Guides: The Case of Singular They ↗
    Jo Mackiewicz; Shaya Kraut; Allison Durazzi
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric multilingual writers grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing public rhetoric editorial matter