reframing

Let's get clear about what we're learning, shall we?!

It's time to reframe, to rethink where we are in the semester.

As it goes in life, things happen. We start on a course. We enjoy little successes. Sometimes, we hit obstacles, so we work to overcome trouble-spots (both individually and collectively). Eventually, we move along, hopefully with greater wisdom and increasing encounters with success.

As we approach mid-semester, we'll spend some thinking about these experiences as we cover where we've been and where we're going. As we do, I'll ask each of you to continue tending to your text production with a view toward shaping an increasingly professional ethos.

Toward the goal of asking you to engage in some guided reflection on your learning-to-date, please take some time to write a careful, in-depth blog post -- one that uses all of the affordances of the platform -- to consider the following questions:

1. Describe how you understand the meaning of "Technical Communication."*
2. Explain how a notion of Technical Communication as "Storytelling" is helpful in generative effective documents, reports, and other forms of communication.
3. Technical Communication is often considered to be defined by its role in generating procedural rhetorics and discourse -- or instructional materials that offer authoritative guidance. How might our storytelling frame help us generate usable, user-friendly documents that enact their informative, instructional intentions?
4. I used the hand-drawn, digitally manipulated image (above) early in the semester. I wanted to give you a sense of key concepts valuable to technical communicators. Do you identify more or less with any one or more of these keywords, following our course work? If so, try to explain how you are developing these new sensibilities. 

* Note: If you follow any of these links to help you (and you should!), please be sure to cite the source if you summarize, paraphrase, or quote it. Also note: These are links among many links -- what other useful resource might you find and share as you shape your answers in your post?
Use MLA.