ABSTRACT

This important new text invites readers to step back from their busy professional lives and look at technical communication philosophically, to ask fundamental questions such as what does it mean to communicate? and how do language and graphics - the ""signs"" or ""tools"" of the technical communicator - relate to action in a technological world? Through this excursion in the theory of technical discourse, you will discover a fresh approach to reports, manuals, and proposals produced and consumed daily in business, government, and research organizations around the world. The authors examine familiar genres in two relatively new ways.

part I|1 pages

Signs

chapter Chapter 2|30 pages

A General Theory of Signs

chapter Chapter 3|27 pages

Representation in Document Design

part II|1 pages

Genres

chapter Chapter 4|17 pages

Genres of Technical Communication

chapter Chapter 5|18 pages

Generic Audiences in Technical Communication

chapter Chapter 6|18 pages

Generic Authors in Technical Communication

part III|1 pages

Communities

chapter Chapter 7|29 pages

Style and Human Action in Technical Communication

chapter Chapter 8|30 pages

Communities of Discourse

chapter Chapter 9|24 pages

Management and the Writing Process

chapter Chapter 10|26 pages

The Range of Instrumental Discourse