Computer programs for analyzing writing style have grown in number and sophistication over the past decade, and the coming decade will see more and more of them. In order to know the capabilities and limitations of such programs and to decide if any of them are right for you, it is important to understand how they work. In this article, the author draws on his background in computational linguistics to explain how computerized style analyzers accomplish the things that they do.

The author of this article directs his remarks primarily to teachers of literature who may be considering the teaching of technical writing. He shows the similarities existing among the forms of creative, expository, and technical writing. He then cites some of the differences: the interactions of writer, subject, and the audience; the use of graphics; and the emphasis of the practical rather than the aesthetic.

System design for communication packages involves assessing communication needs and designing a set of communication vehicles to meet these needs. An earlier article dealt with needs assessment. After presenting three axioms of communication system design, this article reviews the basic input for design—the needs assessment matrix—and then discusses the implications of this input and additional design considerations. Finally, the article presents a seven-step process that can be used to formalize communication system design. The charts and diagrams referred to are to be found in the earlier article.

System design for communication packages involves assessing communication needs and designing a set of communication vehicles to meet these needs. This article, which focuses on the first of these two steps, outlines three categories of data that are important to communication system design and proposes a system for gathering and correlating the data in these three categories. The tangible product of this gathering and correlating is a three-dimensional needs assessment matrix, which is used as part of the input for the actual design of the communication system. A later article will deal with the communication system design itself.

The use of cassette tape recorders in evaluating technical reports is spreading in college technical writing classes and may have application outside the classroom as well. The technique, which enables instructors to make more effective critiques of student papers, meets with favorable student response and need not be expensive. This report describes the use of cassette grading at the University of Idaho and makes suggestions for those who wish to try the method themselves.