Assignment Dates

Three data sheets, shown as iconsWhat I Want You to Do

Choose an item related to food that you have personal access to and compose a technical description in the form of a fact or info sheet. You need an item that you can physically touch, use, and take photos of.

Examples of Objects

You will include specific details and relevant illustrations that describe what the item is, how it works, and its principal parts.

Why I Want You to Do It

Describing an item for someone who is unfamiliar with it requires you to think from someone else’s perspective. You have to outline exactly what it entails so that your readers understand. Technical descriptions are used frequently in the workplace as specifications and material safety data sheets (MSDS). They are also incorporated into other kinds of technical writing, when the reader needs more details to understand (such as describing an item in a report that recommends which production process yields the best results.

Show/Hide Relevant Course Objectives

Relevant Course Objectives

  • Analyze the rhetorical situation and determine the appropriate audience or users of written communication, considering the needs of global audiences and people with disabilities. [CLO 1]
  • Conduct research appropriate to workplace problem solving, such as literature review, evaluation of online resources, interview, and site inspection. [CLO 2]
  • Interpret research findings with understanding of ethical and human implications. [CLO 3]
  • Use conventions of various workplace genres, such as proposals, instructions, correspondence, reports, and slide decks, with understanding of how the genre conventions can be used as heuristics and as principles of arrangement. [CLO 4]

Where You Can Find Help

How You Do It

  1. Review the Technical Description Criteria to understand the requirements for the Full Draft.
  2. Skim through some of the student examples linked above and the information in Chapter 20 of the textbook (pp. 561–569).
  3. Choose the object that you will describe:
    • Pick an object your readers (college students at Virginia Tech) will want to know more about.
    • Select an object that you are familiar with to make the assignment easier.
    • Choose uncomplicated objects to keep the project manageable.
    • Do not choose a can opener, electric kettle, measuring cups, microwavable rice cooker, or Tramontina Dutch oven, since those items are used in the Student Examples.
  4. Obtain access to the object you will describe. Remember to take photos that you can use to illustrate your Full Draft.
  5. Use the information in the textbook and on the Tip Sheet: Technical Description to compose your technical description.
  6. Success Tip
    You should be able to answer “True” to each question before you submit your work to the Full Draft Submission. If you do not meet each of the criteria listed, your draft will be marked Incomplete and you’ll need to revise.
    Review your draft by comparing it to the Technical Description Self-Check.
  7. Choose one of these options based on your Self-Check:
    • If you answered “True” to every question, move on to the next step. You’re ready to submit your work.
    • If you did not answer “True” to every question, follow this process:
      • Return to your draft and revise so that you can answer “True.”
      • Review your draft with the Technical Description Self-Check after you revise.
        • If you answered “True” to every question, move on to the next step. You’re ready to submit your work.
        • If you did not answer “True” to every question, continue revising until you can.
  8. Submit your Full Draft here once you are ready. See How do I submit an online assignment? if you need help with Canvas.

How to Find Feedback After Your Submit Your Work