Minor Assignment 83/25/2018 The piece of science writing that I chose to analyze was the article for the Yellow Island Nature Preserve on the Washington State Nature Preserve website. I chose this article because it is a good example of the type of writing that I will have to emulate for my final project. While the article is rather short, (my guess would be about 300 words), it is packed with information. Each and every sentence in the article appears to have a purpose and it lacks any filler whatsoever. I'm addition to this, it employs some of the techniques that Montgomery outlines in chapter 19 “Science writing and science talks: communicating with and for the public.”
The first of these techniques used was ensuring that the first sentence or opening paragraph grabs the readers attention right off the bat. The first sentence of the article was “Summer is the perfect time to go visit the gem of the San Juan Islands – The Yellow Island Preserve!” This sentence does a few things to grab the readers attention right away. First is the use of descriptions. Calling the Yellow Island Preserve “the gem of the San Juan Islands” immediately peaks the readers interest in this location by making it stand out against any other possible preserves they are looking at. Second is the use of punctuation. Ending the sentence with an exclamation point not only makes the preserve seem exciting, but it also shows that whoever write this article must also really like the preserve, giving it some validity as a good spot. The second technique that I thought they use really well, was the use of simple language. The author, for the most part, avoided using the scientific terms for the pants and animals they discussed. This helps to engage with the reader, because they have an easier time understanding exactly what the author is talking about. While the audience may still not know exactly what animals the author is talking about, using the name “harlequin duck” allows for the reader to immediately know it’s a duck versus having to wade through the Latin of a scientific name. Use of simple language is a particularly important technique to use when writing for a gerenal audience, and is absolutely one that I am hoping to employ when writing for my final project. While an interesting or flashy into is also good for grabbing attention, if you lsoe the reader immediately after that with bogged down jargon, then what was the point of the intro. Especially for my final project in which I will be wiritng for a very broad audience, use of simple words will be on the top of my list. http://www.washingtonnature.org/yellowisland
3 Comments
Minor Assignment 73/21/2018 The article that I chose to read was “Why Do octopuses remind Us So Much of Ourselves” by Olivia Judson, published on the National Geographic website. In the article, Judson begins by narrating her experiences going face to face with different kinds of octopuses. The first one she introduces is the coconut octopus (Amphiotopus marginatus). She details how this octopus uses different kinds of shells, or coconut husks (as the name suggests), as hiding places. She then describes the feeling of looking into the octopuses eyes and feeling it stare right back at her. This type of personal story however only makes up a fraction of the article as a whole. Once the side story comes to a close the article becomes much more scientific as she dives into talking about how octopuses camouflage as well as how their nervous system works. Despite the change in focus, she continues to use writing techniques ans strategies similar to those that Montgomery outlines in chapter five of “The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science”.
The technique that she uses most often, and my personal favorite of the bunch, was the use of questions. She often introduces new topics with rhetorical questions, which stimulate readers interest, that she then immediately answers, giving satisfaction to readers anticipation. I have always found this technique a useful to help the reader feel engaged in the text, and draw them into the authors world a little. Especially when writing about topics such as the underwater environment, an area of study most people do understand greatly, the more you can increase the interest of the reader the better. Judson also implements the use of transitions extremely well. Between each of her more scientific sections, she introduces another personal story of her dives that relate well to the upcoming section. These transitions work on multiple levels. They allow the reader some time to relax from the more strenuous sections, as well as subconsciously priming them for what they will be reading about next. Both of these techniques I find work extremely well when writing for a generalized audience. They particularly help readers become engaged in topics that they otherwise aren’t typically thinking of. Due to this, I am hoping to implement both of these techniques in my final project to help bridge the gap between the scientific aspect of the nature conservancy and the more public friendly features. Minor Assignment 63/19/2018 Sam Kean, in his book Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, focuses on the creation of our atmosphere, and how it became the way it is today. He introduces this idea by stating that we have had many versions of our atmosphere throughout history. He then begins to present the different gases which have had a critical role in forming our atmosphere.
Although Kean is writing about a scientific topic, his audience does not seem to be the scientific community. This is evident by the fact that he often references basic level chemistry, instead of graduate or even college level content that many of people wouldn’t understand. Topics like the breaking of bonds and transition of electrons, that can be very intricate if you want them to be, are simplified down to one or two sentence explanations. This approach works well because his goals are not to teach anyone chemistry, but instead to supply them with the overarching view of our planets history in relation to the formation and dissipation of different atmospheres. He also adds a wealth of interesting historical stories that each relate to the gas he is currently discussing. Whether it be Nitrogen or Oxygen, each gas has a story along with it that allows people a deeper look into the history of gas and how it affects our planet. Personally, I particularly like the addition of historical stories in his book. It allows the audience to have breaks between the more scientific "textbook" sections, and makes the book an overall easier and more interesting read. There is a potential to add this technique to our final project, in that we can add our own personal stories in the site descriptions we write. This could help anyone reading the site to have a more personal look into what the different locations have to offer, instead of just the typical scientific information. I currently do not have any questions for Kean while he is here, but I would be interested to see his talk and hear what he has to say. AuthorSophomore Marine Biology Major, Roger Williams University Archives
April 2018
CategoriesAbout
The purpose of these blogs were to serve as a mode to turn in minor assignments for my Professional Writing Class. Many are responses to reading we did, and a couple are first drafts of various major assignments. |