Handout 8: The Review Essay
Part I -- Choosing an Article
Note well: There will be other handouts regarding the review article. Stay tuned.

Due Friday November 9 at 5 pm: Email message to me telling me what article you have chosen and why.
Due Tuesday, November 13: Photocopies of approved articles.

Your contribution to the ProPenCity web-zine will be a review essay. In the course of selecting and reading an article on technical/professional writing and communication from major journals in the field, you'll gain experiences that should be valuable to you in your future course of studies:

• Browsing in the Centennial Engineering and Science Library (CESL).
• Locating on-line sources.
• Gaining exposure to how technical/professional communication professionals talk about issues in the field.
• Gaining exposure to current issues in the field.
• Having the opportunity to pursue a technical/professional writing issue that interests you.
• Gaining experience reviewing, which includes assessing your audience, summarizing key points, selecting appropriate details for display, providing essential publication information
• Noting campus locations of articles and journals.
• Providing an audience-specific evaluation of an academic article.

Choose one article (not two). You may wish to begin by examining some of the articles on the list below, either at the CESL or via ProQuest or another database. I intend the list to be a starting place from which you may familiarize yourself with the types of titles that will work for this assignment. I'm familiar with some of the articles on the list and unfamiliar with others. So not every title constitutes a recommendation. Note: I have not provided full bibliographic information; that's your job.

You don't have to select an article from the list, but you will be wise to use the journals listed below. When selecting an article, keep in mind that it must focus on writing and/or communication, quite possibly in conjunction with a particular topic or issue, e.g., human services writing, international communication, science writing, gender, ethics, and so forth. Articles simply talking about technical or science issues of interest with no focus on professional writing/communication are not acceptable.

Aim for a 15- to 30-page article. The straight path to a good selection is this: Go to the CESL. Browse journals on the list below--both current and past issues--until you find something that interests you and that is not so loaded with technical jargon as to be off-putting. You want to stretch yourself, but not frustrate yourself.

Journals carrying appropriate articles and their abbreviations:

• Technical Communications Quarterly TCQ
• Journal of Technical Writing and Communication JTWC
• Journal of Business and Technical Communication JBTC
• IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication IEEETPC
• Business Communication Quarterly BCQ
• College English CE
• Technical Communication TC
• Written Communication WC
• Western Journal of Communication WJC
• Southern Communication Journal SCJ
• Science Communication SC

Sample articles:

Sam Dragga and Dan Voss, "Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations." TC recent

Andrisani, Gaal, Billette, Steward. "Making the Most of Interactivity Online" TC recent

Thurst, "A Study of Plain English Vocabulary and International Audiences" TC recent

Carol David, "Mythmaking in Annual Reports" JTWC recent

Michael J. Alhers, "The Technical Editor and Document Databases: What the Future May Hold." TCQ

Teg Meier, et al. "China is Hungry: Technical Communication in the People's Republic of China." TC 1999

Richard Johnson Sheehan and Scott Rode. "On Scientific Narrative: Stories of Light by Newton & Einstein." JBTC 1999

Rawney, Frances J. "Reading, Writing and Rhetoric: An Inquiry into the Art of Legal Language. BCQ 1999 (too short-you could use it in conjunction with another article on legal writing)

Chris Anson, "Distant Voices: Teaching and Writing in a Culture of Technology." CE 1999

Eric Kumpf. "Visual Metadiscourse: Designing the Considerate Text." TCQ Fall 2000

Barry Thatcher, "Writing Policies and Procedures in a US/South American Context." TCQ Fall 2000

Dorothy Winsor. "How Companies Affect the Writing of Young Engineers: Two Case Studies." IEEETPC 1990

Beverly A. Sauer. "Communicating Risk in a Cross-Cultural Context: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Rhetorical and Social Understandings in U.S. and British Mine Safety Training Programs." JBTC 1996

Mary Lay. "The Value of Gender Studies to Professional Communication Research." JBTC January 1994

Mary Lay. "Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication." JBTC 1991

Ellen Koseck and Susan Zonia. "The Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Perceptions of Human Resource Policies and Climate Regarding Diversity." JBTC July 1994

Sam Dragga. "Women and the Profession of Technical Writing: Social and Economic Influences and Implications." JBTC July 1993

J. Bryan. "Down the Slippery Slope: Ethics and the Technical Writer as Marketer." TCQ Winter 1992

J. Bryan. "Seven types of Distortion: A Taxonomy of Manipulative Techniques Used in Charts and Graphs." JTWC 1995

B. Orbell, "The DoD Tailhook Report: Unanswered Questions" JTWC 1995

C. Waddell, "Defining Sustainable Development: A Case Study in Environmental Communication." TCQ 1995

Ben Barton and Marthalee Barton, "Modes of Power in Technical and Professional Visuals." JBTC 1993

Charles Kostelnick. "From Pen to Print: The New Visual Landscape of Professional Communication." JBTC 1994

William Horton. "The Almost Universal Language: Graphics for International Documents." TC 1993

William Horton: "Overcoming Chromophobia: A Guide to the Confident and Appropriate Use of Color." IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 1991

Charles Kostelnick. "Supra-Textual Design: The Visual Rhetoric of Whole Documents." TCQ 1996