Tutorial on Writing 2 for ME4001, Introduction to Engineering

Lawrence Cleary

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, UL

Review

Last week, we looked at a text marked for clause structure as one way of answering the question, “How do engineers write?”

We saw that engineering texts seem to contain more of the red structures and fewer of the green structures than do literary texts.

We saw that the red structures in engineering texts were longer than in literary texts.

Microsoft Office Word 97 - 2003 Document

A Closer Look

What can we say about the function of blue, red and green structures? How do they make meaning?

Versatile Disc, or DVD, is the subject talked about. a collection of new optical disc technologies tells

us what DVD is. The green tells us that a collection of new optical disc

technologies have potential. The red tells us what the potential is: to significantly

improve the quality of a number of consumer electronics and personal computer products.

Microsoft Word Document

Organization of Information

What is each sentence about? What is each paragraph about? How is the information organized? Information usually moves from given

information to new information, providing context for the new information.

Exercise: Rewrite the paragraph graphed for given and new information in your colour-coded feedback so that it is more clear what your paragraph is about..

Microsoft Word Document

Microsoft Word Document

Microsoft Office Word 97 - 2003 Document

Microsoft Office Word Document

Text Organization

Cohesion largely depends on repetition and logical order.

What is the sentence about? How does the theme of this sentence

contribute to the paragraph, and does it have a logical relationship to the sentences preceding and following?

How is your information organized? Can you chart it?

What Do Engineers Say When They Write?

What do these sentences have in common? “The main purpose of this study is to compare the

differences between an idealised in-plane bifurcated stent graft model to a realistic stent graft fit model and to comment on the clinical implications of the results” (Morris et al. 2006, p. 20).

“I wish to share some of my reflections on the engineering profession and discuss how we can improve the climate and culture for the women who choose this non-traditional occupation” (Frize 1994, p. 15).

Language and Rhetorical Function in Engineering Reports

The Question is,… Why do they say it? When do they say it? How much of it do they say when they say it?

What do they do in the Introductions to their reports?

Microsoft Office Word 97 - 2003 Document

What do they say in Introductions?

Indicate the specific topic of the report Indicate the purpose of the report Indicate who are the appropriate or intended readers Indicate the main contents of the report Indicate the relevance of the report by

grounding it in the historical context, the theory surrounding it, and the importance of the subject, or

the situation that brought about the need for the report

Indicate the limitations of the study Microsoft Word Document

How Does Language Function?

What do Engineers do with language? Define things Describe things and illustrate how they function Explain things, giving reasons Explain, Recount and Discuss processes Discuss causes Classify things Compare and Contrast things Give examples Come to conclusions given what is already known