End of Semester Reflection

I took this class to gain a greater understanding of the theory and practice of technical writing. The first half of the semester gave me a lot to think about the practice of professional writing in general. I appreciated that Cornelissen gave an international perspective. However, I felt he often avoided deep analysis of issues, more often relating stories on corporate communications without questioning the corporate perspective. He also focused almost exclusively on marketing and public relations, rarely touching on technical writing. 

The Industry Report I wrote in the first half gave me an outlet to focus specifically on technical writing. This assignment gave me a preview of the focus of the semester's second half. I found it difficult to pin down a definition of technical communication, even within one industry. My research for the report also helped me appreciate how marketing and other forms of writing can have blurred boundaries with technical writing. I had to carry this lesson into the Resume and Cover Letter assignment. All five of the job ads were for some form of marketing or journalism position, so I had to spin my own technical background into reasonable pitches. This forced me to think very carefully about how to present my experience. The ability to consider audience so carefully is a skill necessary not just in job-hunting, but in all communication.

I appreciated the deep focus on technical communication as a profession in the second half of the semester. I truly didn't know there was such a rich background of scholarship behind the profession, and the efforts to standardize it. The class responses to these readings were very interesting. While my own thoughts came from the perspective of a practicing technical writer, it was useful to see the perspectives of those with other jobs approached the same subject. I think future scholarship should focus on the realities of the 21st century workforce, which is often ambivalent, if not outright hostile, to formal certification. This is a discussion that a scholar of general corporate communication like Cornelissen can actually inform.

I wish we could have had some deeper discussion on these topics, but online classes inevitably limit engagement. I think this class managed as well as possible given the constraints. I feel like I got a good idea of my classmates' perspectives, even if I sometimes missed the nuances and depth of in-person interaction.