Welcome to TC 401!

In Style in Scientific and Technical Writing, students learn to tailor their writing styles for different professional audiences and situations. The course helps students to skillfully convey their intended meaning in a variety of genres to readers of professional documents.

The course provides students with an understanding of the logic behind effective stylistic decisions and the tools for making those decisions as they revise written discourse. Students work on examples that the professor provides as well as samples of their own writing.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the place of personas, context, and audience in achieving effective style.
• Identify and appreciate the role of syntax and semantics with regard to style in scientific and technical writing.
• Articulate the logic behind planned revisions (as shown through assignments and in-class participation).
• Construct sentences that reveal intended emphasis syntactically and semantically.
• Create cohesive and coherent paragraphs.
• Punctuate sentences effectively.
• Establish an appropriate tone.
• Achieve appropriate style for varied purposes, audiences, and genres.
• Revise quickly and appropriately.
• Honor ethics in prose.

Last updated: Sept. 21, 2006.          ©Copyright 2006. Jan H. Spyridakis. All rights reserved.