Assignment 2.

2: Instruction Set

Due: 10.6

Whether its telling users how to run a piece of computer software, training a new colleague in how to
operate a machine, or helping fellow scientists across the globe replicate your experimentclear and easy to
follow instructions are key to technical communication. Thus, building from Assignment 2.1, in Assignment
2.2 you will build a set of instructions that tells your reader how to write the genre youve analyzed. Indeed,
you might imagine using a time machine to send this set of instructions to your past self to make Assignment
2.1 a little easier. Following the production of this written instruction set you will give a brief 4 to 5-minute
presentation to the class on the key information of your instruction set.

Advice

Make things easy for yourself by drawing information directly from your genre analysis.
Imagine an audience who has never written this genre before.
Predict questions and problems your audience might have in writing the genre.
Calculate the ways in which your audience might like to customize the genre/make it their own. How
can you plan for this personalization?
Use two visuals.
Break the process down into manageable steps as to not overwhelm your reader.
Create an easily scannable and logically ordered text using the document design tips weve discussed
thus far.
Your task should be explained in around 3 single-spaced pages.

Contents: Should Follow Anderson 572-597

1. Introduction and Background
What will these instructions help me do?
Is there anything I need to know to be able to use these instructions effectively?
Includes subject, purpose of procedure, intended readers, scope, organization, conventions,
motivation, and safety.
2. List of Materials
Before she begins to write the genre/follow the set of instructions, is there certain information that
your reader needs to collect? In order to write a lab report, for instance, your reader will have to have
completed an experimentare there special things to pay attention to/collect while performing the
experiment?
Where do I gather materials from?
Are there tools I need? What are they and what do they look like?
3. List of Steps and Sub-Steps
Once Im ready to start, what exactly do I do?
Written for scanning, rapid comprehension, action-oriented headings, branching steps clearly
represented, notes on what might go wrong on specific steps.
How can you incorporate bits and pieces of the examples from your genre analysis?
4. Trouble-Shooting Tips
Something isnt working correctly. How do I fix it?
5. Glossary of Key Terms and Definitions
Key terms that you might have to use that I might not know.
Key websites and other sources of information that might prove useful.